Last year at this time, Bill Stull was just the back-up who had dutifully waited behind Tyler Palko. He was just the guy trying to ward off a couple of freshmen in strong-armed, athletic Kevan Smith and heralded QB recruit Pat Bostick.

Frankly, he wasn’t particularly interesting as far as a story went. It was assumed he would win the job because he at least was immersed in the system. Even if he wasn’t making a statement in practice, Smith and Bostick weren’t seizing the job. They, however, were more interesting as much more unknown quantities. Stull was a boring story. He was getting the job because he was first in line. Now, that makes a good hook for a puff piece.

This training camp, things are different. Bill Stull is coming off of a brutal injury that ended his season. Ligaments on his thumb were torn and ripped.

He needed surgery to repair a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament and a partial tear of the radial collateral ligament.

He can still describe in detail the two plays that doomed his season.

“The first play was a quarterback draw and I got stood up at the line of scrimmage and then they were trying to rip the ball out. That’s when I initially injured my thumb,” Stull said. “The next play we did a fake dive with a pitch to LaRod Stephens. I think that’s where it actually snapped or completely tore off the bone.”

Even though it was only Eastern Michigan, Stull showed that he had control and understanding of the offense. Especially in comparison to Bostick and Smith. Both of whom struggled no matter what the competition they faced.

That makes Stull much more interesting and a better story for the media. He is now a player coming back from injury that could prove to be a big key/difference for Pitt. Coach Wannstedt and OC Cavanaugh have stopped just short of saying he’s definitely the starter with statements like, “It will be Billy’s job to lose.” And.

“I think the redshirt last year will help him out,” Wannstedt said. “He’s bigger. I know his arm’s stronger. He’s more mature. Hopefully he’s smarter, but I was very pleased with how he performed and progressed at spring ball. Coming out of that, he was our most complete quarterback.”

Stull doesn’t disagree about the redshirt giving him a chance to get stronger.

“If you asked me about this right after the surgery, I’d still be pretty down in the dumps,” he said, “but you’ve got to look at the positive side of it. I feel the Man upstairs has a plan. I was able to redshirt and I think that year help me get bigger, strong and faster. That can only benefit me.”

And now Stull is the perfect fit for the offense, not just a stop-gap transition.

Here’s what Cavanaugh likes about Stull:

“He’s got a quarterback feel about him. The players rally around him. He’s really fearless throwing the ball and that’s a good thing.”

All it took was finding out that the guy standing first in line was also the best choice.