A few items to get done.

During the game, I never took notice of Elijah Fields in the game. Turns out, it was because he never played a down. Obviously with Navy, there is no real call for packages that have 3 safeties, but to not even spell DeCicco was surprising. I know there had been talk of Fields coming in and essentially playing linebacker, but Greg Williams really had a great game so there was no need there.

Williams, who is the team’s fourth-leading tackler with 24 and has 1 1/2 sacks, finished the Navy game with four tackles, a tackle for loss and the pass breakup. He made a number of plays by forcing the play back into the middle where the Panthers had a host of defenders. The Panthers only gave up one big play to the outside of the field, on Navy’s first drive.

Pitt middle linebacker and defensive captain Scott McKillop, a fifth-year senior, said it has been fun to watch the maturation of Williams.

“I think having two weeks to prepare really helped Greg because I don’t know that he has ever seen this offense or played against it,” McKillop said. “But he is picking things up every week and he is getting so much more comfortable in what he is doing that he is now able to use his physical tools because he is not thinking so much, he’s just playing.

“He made a couple of big plays for us today, he’s so athletic and he just runs around and runs guys down. I’m happy to have him on our side.”

As he has learned to read the play, he can use his speed to get there.

Pitt’s defensive line really looked solid against Navy. It had to help with the linebackers playing closer and McKillop essentially shadowing the Navy fullback, Eric Kettani.

Mustakas said the key was winning the battles at the line of scrimmage and staying disciplined in his assignments. The Panthers made sure there was no confusing his job.

“We were doing periods with no ball-carriers,” Mustakas said. “They were saying the whole week, ‘Just don’t get bored.’ We were doing the same thing. We were just hitting the fullback every down, if he doesn’t have the ball or if he has the ball. Hit the fullback. Just little things that we stayed in our assignments, it showed off in the end.”

Mustakas said the bye week allowed him to rest his knee and last week was the first where it felt fine after practice. He is looking forward to making an impact and the Panthers will need as much from him, with Williams out indefinitely and backup Tommie Duhart sidelined after injuring an ankle against Navy. Redshirt freshman Myles Caragein got his first large dose of playing time and finished with four tackles.

A little worried about the depth now at defensive tackle.

Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of military in the stadium, but apparently it was noticeable how pleasant it was to actually go into the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Is something wrong here? I’ve waited anywhere from 15-25 minutes in “security” lines at Heinz Field at Pitt and Steelers games. I traveled to the US Naval Academy to see Pitt play this past weekend and I wasn’t touched by any security person at all. And guess what? There weren’t any security issues at the game. Please note I’ll be talking to Guest Services at Heinz Field the next game I attend.

Hey, it could be worse. You could have to deal with Ohio Stadium.

Before the season there were plenty talking about how good Pitt could be this year. Then, of course, BGSU happened. Now that Pitt is at 5-1 and ranked, the ones who pushed Pitt early can come back to them.

Stewart Mandel, SI.com (who picked Navy in this game, just for the record).

1. That LeSean McCoy is back. When Pittsburgh struggled early in the season, so, too, did its talented sophomore tailback, who averaged 80.7 yards his first three games, down from 110.7 as a freshman. Over his past three games, however, McCoy has put up 149, 142 and 156 yards, the latter coming in Saturday’s 42-21 win over Navy, which also included three McCoy touchdowns. By no coincidence, the Panthers, which have now won five straight following an opening-week loss to Bowling Green, have upped their scoring average from 21.7 to 34.0.

Pittsburgh appears to be rounding into the Big East title contender that many of us expected. The Panthers’ offensive line was their biggest question mark, and they did indeed struggle early in the season, but they must be improving now that McCoy is finding holes and QB Bill Stull is finding time to throw downfield. (He hit freshman WR Jonathan Baldwin for a 60-yard TD against Navy). Meanwhile, Scott McKillop and the defense held Navy to its lowest rushing total (194 yards) in two years. Pitt is far from a polished product but is now the favorite to win its league.

And Matt Hayes, The Sporting News, with regard to teams not ranked high enough in the AP poll.

No. 17 Pittsburgh: I’ve just got a strange feeling the Panthers could run the table or finish with 11 wins. The running game with LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling is terrific, and the stingy defense gets better with each week.

So now, at this point in the season, Pitt is looking more and more like the favorite in the Big East to go to a BCS bowl.

Odds of winning the league: 3-1

BCS-bound because: The Panthers have planned this team according to a championship formula: run the ball with a solid back, play great defense, especially up the middle, and sack the quarterback. RB LeSean McCoy and LB Scott McKillop might be the best at their positions in the conference.

St. Petersburg Bowl-bound because: Bill Stull still hasn’t shown he can win a big game with plays in the passing game. It’s tough to imagine Pittsburgh excelling with a quarterback who throws more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four).

The silly projections are all going to the Orange Bowl to play an ACC team.