Rutgers Holds Off Pittsburgh, 37-29

Ryan Hart threw for three touchdowns and became Rutgers’ all-time passing leader Friday night as the Scarlet Knights held off Pittsburgh, 37-29, in a Big East Conference opener at Piscataway, N.J.

It was only the fourth conference victory in five seasons for the Scarlet Knights (3-1) under Coach Greg Schiano. It was Rutgers’ first victory over Pittsburgh (1-4) since 1998, a span of five games.

Tyler Palko threw four second-half touchdown passes for the Panthers, who closed to 37-29 with 7:26 left on Palko’s fourth scoring toss, followed by a two-point conversion pass to Darrell Strong. But on the Panthers’ next possession, Rutgers defensive end Ryan Neill sacked Palko on a third-and-nine play that started at the Rutgers 20, and Adam Graessle’s desperation pass on a fake punt fell incomplete.

Pitt had one more possession, but Palko’s pass was tipped by Rutgers defensive back Corey Barnes and intercepted by Brandon Renkart at the Rutgers 34 with 1:58 left.

Rutgers, one of the Big East’s original members in 1991, has had one winning season since, 1992. The school’s conference record over that span was 18-75-1 before Friday night, and it was 3-24 since Schiano arrived in 2001.

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A junior college transfer who was a contender to start at receiver for Arizona has acknowledged he received fraudulent credit for two classes at Los Angeles Trade Tech, the Tucson Citizen reported.

“The deal was, you go to class a couple of days, and that was pretty much it,” B.J. Vickers told the paper. “Then you get the grade.”

Vickers was declared academically ineligible to play at Arizona after Santa Monica College revoked his associate of arts degree because of a fraudulent transcript for two classes he took at Los Angeles Trade Tech.

“I know it is wrong. I was not thinking at the time,” said Vickers, a former Venice High standout. “I have learned from my mistakes. I take it as a learning experience for my life not to take shortcuts. You have to do everything at 100%.”

Vickers is retaking the courses in algebra and English 101 at Pima Community College, but under Pacific 10 rules will not be eligible to enroll at Arizona or any other school in the conference.

He had participated in spring and fall practice for Arizona and had gone through the team’s final walkthrough the day before the Sept. 2 opener at Utah when he was told he was ineligible.