The reports immediately after yesterday’s scrimmage were closer to negative on the offense outside of LeSean McCoy. In the papers today, the stories seemed to have mellowed on the offense. Focusing on Bill Stull being the starter in all but official title.
Coach Dave Wannstedt didn’t anoint him as the starting quarterback for the Pitt football team, but junior Bill Stull is a step closer to earning the job after another solid performance in the Panthers’ second intrasquad scrimmage Saturday morning at the UPMC Sports Complex.
“I think it’s Billy’s job today, but I’m not going to name a starter yet,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got another scrimmage coming up (Wednesday) and a couple more two-a-days, but I’m pleased with the progress that Billy’s making. (So), it’s Billy’s job, and we’ll see what happens.”
Kevan Smith’s performance was totally skipped to instead focus on Pat Bostick as the other QB practicing with the 3d team.
Bostick was sharper at 10-for-13 for 79 yards and two touchdowns, with a long toss of 17 yards and no picks. He played almost exclusively with the third-team players Saturday morning.
“It was good for Pat,” Wannstedt said. “He got about 25 plays, and I think he did great. When you talk about just showing up four days ago and coming in and getting with his teammates and the media and all that’s involved with that, from the start I thought he responded well and got his feet wet.”
When asked if he thought Bostick — who left camp before it started and returned Tuesday — still had a shot at the starting job, Wannstedt said no. But he quickly added: “I think we just keep competing.”
Media requests to speak with Bostick after practice were — and I know this will be a shocker — denied.
The one constant was that LeSean McCoy has everybody totally impressed with his talent.
But, judging by his performance yesterday in the second scrimmage of the preseason, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes the starter.
McCoy, Pitt’s most-hyped freshman, put on a scintillating display of running skills. He rushed for 78 yards and scored a touchdown on 10 carries and was by far the star for an inconsistent first-team offense.
McCoy gave a good deal of credit to the O-line. Most aren’t buying it since Stephens-Howling and Collier were generally stuffed on most of their carries.
Considering the other talent at RB in the Big East — Ray Rice, Steve Slaton (and Devine), Donald Brown and possibly Mike Ford (at USF) — McCoy running wild forces a cynical thought that the Pitt run defense is still the same run defense. It’s just that Pitt may have a RB with similar talent.
Pitt has a lot of running backs with potential. LSH is the only proven back. At this point in his career, it would be silly to switch him to corner. It would take time for him to adjust to playing corner again. By the time he is ready, some of the younger guys will be ready to contribute at corner. He will play a lot the next two years and I think we will see equal touches between LSH and Shady. They can become a great combo.
Since when has PITT been in the position to SIT DOWN a 900 yard rusher. LSH is a proven commodity and did well behind what we all agree was an O line that wasn’t as good as this year’s should be. That and his 5.0 yds per carry are qualifications for a starting job.
Should McCoy get carries this year? – YES and probably pretty early on. But, Cavanaugh should game plan around LSH’s skillset to begin the season and segue into McCoy’s should he prove to be impossible to keep out of the lineup (which guys, hasn’t happened yet – certainly not on the strength of a camp scrimmage).
It’s a good position to be in and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have two RBs that put up good numbers this season – but just as in the QB battle- we shouldn’t approach this season with too much dependancy on unproven players.
Most good college programs have always split carries up between two and sometimes three different tailbacks. Louisville did it last year after they lost Mike Bush. USC had Reggie Bush and Lendale White, and God only knows how many backs will get carries there this year. WVU will almost certainly work Noel Devine into the mix with Slaton and they also get the ball to Schmidt quite frequently. Auburn used two tailbacks very well when they had Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown; those two were part of a RB trio before Brandon Jacobs transferred to Southern Illinois.
Please don’t take this to mean that I’m comparing McCoy, LSH, Collier and Collins to the likes of Reggie Bush and Lendale White. I’m only arguing that more often than not, college teams shy away from just one or even two backs. If this is a problem, this is a problem I hope Pitt has every year.
link to sports.espn.go.com
