To finish in third place in your conference only behind Miami and Virginia Tech is quite an accomplishment.

Well, that is exactly what the 7-4 Insight.com-Bowl-bound Pittsburgh Panthers did this season in the Big East Conference.

Behind the big play of sophomore wide receiver Antonio Bryant, senior quarterback John Turman and running back Kevan Barlow, Pittsburgh established a deadly offensive attack that helped them beat the likes of such big-name schools as Penn State, Boston College, and West Virginia.

The Panthers also racked up wins against Rutgers and Temple in Big East play, and Kent State and Bowling Green outside of conference play. The team’s four losses came at the hands of Syracuse, North Carolina, and the aforementioned Virginia Tech and Miami.

Bryant, a 6’2″ 185 lb. sophomore, is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award that is presented annually to the nation’s top receiver. His 1,302 yards receiving were a new Big East record, and his 68 catches and 11 touchdowns were both team highs.

Joining Bryant at wide receiver is 6’0″ 190 lb. senior Latef Grim who grabbed 39 balls for 595 yards and two touchdowns.

Barlow is a 6’1″ 235 lb. senior that averaged a lofty 5.3 yards per carry. He also rushed for 1,053 yards and eight touchdowns on 197 carries. Barlows’ backfield mate is 6’0″ 240 lb. freshmen fullback Lousake Polite. Polite is not much of a running threat, but is dangerous in goal line situations, where he caught three passes for touchdowns.

As for Turman, his 129 completions, 233 attempts, 2,135 yards, 19 interceptions and seven interceptions were all team highs. He also completed 55.4 percent of his attempts, and backup David Priestly threw for 829 yards and four touchdowns on 57-of-103 attempts.

Headlining the Panthers offensive line that averages 300 lbs. is first-team All-Big East center Jeff McCurley. Mark Browne, also a senior, joins sophomores Bryan Anderson and Khiawatha Downey and freshmen Jon Schall up front.

Pittsburgh’s top defensive player is junior defensive end Bryan Knight. Knight, standing at 6’2″ and weighing 230 lbs. had 74 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and received first-team All-Big East honors. Knight will be joined up front in the Panthers’ 4-3 scheme by senior Mike White, junior Joe Conlin and sophomore Ryan Smith.

Sophomore Gerald Hayes had a team-high 104 tackles from his sam linebacker position. Junior Amir Purifoy was second on the team to Hayes with 81 tackles from the middle linebacker spot, and sophomore Brian Beinecke collected 52 tackles and three sacks at wil linebacker.

Junior strong safety Mark Ponko led the secondary with his 71 tackles, but sophomore free safety Ramon Walker was the lone All-Big East selection from the secondary. Freshmen Shawntae Spencer makes the start at one cornerback, while sophomore Shawn Robinson, who had a team-best six interceptions and freshman William Ferguson will alternate at the other.

Panthers’ junior kicker Nick Lotz has connected on 10 of 15 field goals, and has a long of 48 yards. Pittsburgh will sport two punters: freshman Andy Lee and sophomore Jay Junko. Lee holds an average of 39.2 yards on 30 kicks, and Junko has a slightly lower 34.1 yards per punt average on 21 kicks.

Along with his receiving duties, Bryant will return punts and has done so for an average of 11.3 yards. Redshirt freshman Rod Rutherford has returned kicks for all 12 of Pittsburgh’s games, and will bring an average of 21.5 yards per return into the game.

Head coach Walt Harris is in his fourth season at Pittsburgh and has a previous head coaching stop at his alma mater Pacific University to his credit along with assistant coaching stints at Ohio State, Cal, Air Force, Michigan State, Illinois, and the New York Jets of the NFL.

Harris is 31-49 overall as a head coach, and 20-25 as head coach at Pittsburgh University.