The practices are split once again, with the older players and first-teamers practicing in the morning. The afternoon is with mainly freshmen and second-team.

The first two days of practice have come and gone. As per NCAA rules, helmets are allowed, but no padded clothing. Watch out for those girdles.

This means little work for the lines, other than with footwork. No hitting or real blocking so it is as much about seeing who has come prepared to deliver right now, and who looks like they worked hard in the offseason.

Lucas Nix is now set to be the starter at right guard. Displacing Joe Thomas in the spring. That means Thomas needs a new spot on the line. .

Especially for spots that are not set, like at left guard on the O-line.

“Joe’s got to find a spot,” Pitt offensive line coach Tony Wise said. “Lumpy has been going as hard as he possibly can and trying to do everything exactly correct, but now, there comes a point of playing the game.

“Can Lumpy take all that effort, all that strength and all that toughness and channel it to the point that he’s getting it done? Can Joe prove he’s dependable enough to where he can say I’m a better player than Lumpy is?”

Thomas took first-team repetitions ahead of Jacobson yesterday, a possible nod to Thomas’ experience and status as one of 18 scholarship seniors.

“He’s got to get better,” Wise said. “Playing is not playing well. We’ve got to get this across to these guys. Joe has played. When I came in and looked at the film when he was at right guard, yes, he did play. Playing well is a whole different story.”

Joe Thomas has the most experience of any offensive lineman, but as line coch Tony Wise said, he just has not done particularly well. It was one thing as a freshman, but he has never progressed up to this point. As a senior, it is his last chance.

Speaking of seniors and their last chance, Aaron Berry gets the stock story of the senior who wants to match his potential, stay focused and be a leader.

For his part, Berry, from Harrisburg, Pa., said missing the spring game was the sort of wake-up call he needed, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t let his teammates and coaches down again.

“I’m definitely more focused on football than I ever have been,” Berry said. “I think as a senior, I need to make sure I do everything to stay focused and on the right track so I can help this team win this Big East championship. My focus this summer has been finishing plays and getting in the weight room and just getting stronger.”

Berry said he understands and accepts his role as the leader of the secondary but admits it’s one he wasn’t always comfortable filling.

“I definitely feel like I am the leader,” he said, “I have been here the longest and have played the most and if I can just lead by example, the rest of these guys will all follow me.”

That lack of focus was most glaring last year on special teams when he couldn’t handle punt return duties. He seems to be getting some more chances in practice, but I don’t know if he will be the return guy this year. It should be something he wants because it would help his draft stock, but Pitt has lots of options.

Especially if Cameron Saddler shows to be fully healthy from his knee surgery.

One player who stood out was redshirt freshman receiver Cam Saddler, who answered questions about his surgically repaired knee by making a diving catch near the left sideline.

“You know who laid out today and made two great catches and bounced up, was Cam Saddler,” Wannstedt said. “He’s a guy who was hurt in the spring. He’s not just back full speed, but he’s making plays.”

Saddler was one of five players handling punt returns at the outset of practice outdoors. The others were Aaron Smith, Douglas, Greg Cross and Jarred Holley. Berry did the same in the morning session.

As for Greg Cross, we may never know.

Q: How will Pitt try to use Greg Cross this year? Is he still apart of the team? As an athlete, he should be used for something besides standing on the sidelines.

ZEISE: OK, let’s try and answer this one early on so we don’t have to address it again. Unless something changes dramatically (i.e. a rash of injuries or suspensions) Greg Cross will be the answer to this trivia question: “Name the ultra-athletic junior college quarterback who came to Pitt in 2008, scored a touchdown in a big game the first time he touched the ball and then was never heard from again.” I like the kid, he is a really nice kid who is humble, respectful and does everything they ask him to do. But he is clearly not in the plans at this point. He is a receiver and while he is athletic, he has a long way to go to catch up to the other receivers in terms of understanding the position, knowing when to come out of his breaks and catching the ball. It just isn’t his natural position and he is too far behind, at least from what I’ve seen, and there just isn’t enough time for him to catch up. If you look at it, the roles on this team are going to be pretty defined by about a week from today (after the first scrimmage) and at that point it becomes tough for anyone to move up the depth chart because they will begin working on Youngstown State and developing chemistry among the starters and top reserves. Now, I suppose he could redshirt and try to catch up over the next year, but given the receivers coming in and coming back, I don’t know if even that is a viable plan. The role he was brought in for — to be a change of pace quarterback in some special formations and situations — is a role he is perfect for, but it just hasn’t materialized.

One area the coaches can definitely get a decent feel on evaluating in the first couple practices are things like the punting and kicking jobs.

That’s what separates Hutchins from Harper at the moment. Harper has the stronger leg, as he set an Ohio high school record for longest field goal with a 61-yarder and considers anything within 65 yards in his range. But, Harper’s accuracy has been inconsistent.

“In high school, I just kept trying to improve my strength, and that’s what really impressed the coaches here,” said Harper, who has worked to shorten his steps and change his approach on field goals and extra points. “I realized that it doesn’t matter how far you kick it when it’s not going in.”

And that’s what Wannstedt is watching for most. He said the Panthers are charting every kick in training camp and posting the results for the contestants to see, so as to take his “gut feeling” out of the equation.

“The biggest thing with field goals is consistency,” Wannstedt said. “I’m not concerned with a guy that can kick a 60-yard field goal. Hopefully, we don’t have to go for many of those. The guy that can consistently kick that 20- to 40-yarder? That’s the guy.”

What adds another twist to the competition is that the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Hutchins also is the leading candidate to replace Dave Brytus as Pitt’s punter, which presents a potential conundrum. After having three specialists handle the kickoff, placekicking and punting duties, the Panthers could split the chores with a handful of players this season.

The coaches are also going to have to figure out the running game.

But Pitt running backs coach David Walker is not overly concerned about it, mostly because he has plenty of young and talented options to pick from.

“No concern at all,” Walker said. “It is a work in progress, and half of the fun is to try and build it and see if some guys will rise up and take the job. Now, obviously, if we didn’t feel the guys we have are capable, that’s a different situation, but this group — we are smart, we are tough and we’re athletic — so I am confident that whoever runs out there and gets the bulk of the carries will be ready to do a great job for us.”

In fact, picking the best one might be the toughest part of the transition because they are similar in talent and all seemingly capable of getting the job done.

“We’ve talked to the kids about it, and they all know they are going to get their opportunities in the next two weeks. They better make the most of them,” Walker said. “And they also know there won’t be any excuses for guys who are no longer in this program. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’re going to go out and find the best player, whether it is one guy or two or three, come Sept. 5 [the opener against Youngstown State] we will have it all sorted out.”

Chris Burns seems to be reasserting himself after the lackluster spring, while Ray Graham is inching to the Wannstedt doghouse.

Write it off as a freshman mistake if you will, but it’s the second time Graham has fumbled in as many practices.

And that’s a cause for concern.

In fact, Wannstedt recounted with backfield newcomers Kevin Adams, Jason Douglas, Dion Lewis and Graham the message he delivered to former Pitt star LeSean McCoy when he arrived as a freshman in 2007.

“I told all those running backs the same thing I told LeSean McCoy: He said, ‘Coach, what do I have to do to play at Pitt as a freshman?’ I said, ‘You’ve got to do three things: No. 1, you’ve got to hold onto the football. No. 2, you have to prove to this whole football team that you’re a tough guy. No. 3, you have to be able to go out and execute the game plan, know what to do,’” Wannstedt said. “I think that’s where we’re at with the Ray Grahams, Dion Lewis’, all these young kids. They’ve got to be able to accomplish those things before we put them into the ballgame for real.”

In other words, hold onto the football.

Because we all know how Coach Wannstedt feels about turnovers.

Wannstedt, though, isn’t close to having a favorite yet.

On Jason Douglas’ potential in the open field and taking passes:
“Yes, he is capable, but there is no difference between Dion Lewis, Chris Burns or Ray Graham. We have some backs that can all make that happen.”

On Chris Burns:
“Chris Burns had a good morning, a very good morning. We have to get him back to where he was last year at camp.”

The one thing I don’t believe will happen is “running back-by-committee.” This is not something Wannstedt believes in or likes. He believes a good back needs to be ridden, needs carries to get in a rhythm and is better for the offensive line. One of the four will be the starter and barring injury will average 20+ carries.

Aundre Wright has already looked good in practices and has a great chance to push past Oderick Turner in the depth chart. Or even push Turner to play better.

Zeise’s day 2 blog post, has me wondering if he finds all the tweeting at practices annoying or if he’s just tweaking.

And just when things got rolling along, the afternoon session was twittered away due to lightning and had to be moved inside the indoor facility. This caused the tweeters to twit furiously or something like that.

Regular tweeters at and about practices include Coach Wannstedt, Mendy Nestor, E.J. Borghetti, and Kevin Gorman.

J. Jones at Cat Basket has already produced several practice reports. Important daily reading.