Is the O-line better? There’s depth at WR, but is there enough talent? Has Kenny Pickett been built up too much in the heads of Pitt fans, and how quickly will people try to tear him down after his first mistake? Is Darrin Hall going to be second half of last season Darrin Hall or will he revert to being something of a mixed bag at tailback? And will there be other backs that can step up?

How about the defense? Will the D-line finally be able to bring some consistent pressure up front? How about the secondary? There is depth there at last, but it almost has the same question as the WRs — how high is the talent? Really, you can point to depth everywhere on defense — which is something very new — but we’re all just waiting to see how they actually look.

Heck, there is a new punter. Even new returners (to say nothing of the new rules on kickoffs) this season.

I’m not overly worried about this game against Albany. I think it’s surprisingly cool that this game will happen (something I don’t think I’ve ever said about a 1-AA opponent).

But [Albany Head Coach Greg] Gattuso will have plenty of friends there.

He grew up in Beechview, went to Penn State and played on its 1982 national champion and was an assistant at Pitt under Dave Wannstedt from 2005-2010. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Duquesne for 12 years and remains the winningest coach in school history (97-32 from 1993-2004).

It was his friendship with Pitt assistant athletic director Chris LaSala that triggered Saturday’s game, which will be Albany’s first all-time against a Power 5 school.

“It was one of the first things I did (when he was hired),” Gattuso said. He called LaSala, and it wasn’t long before Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi gave it his OK.

“To come back to Pittsburgh to me is special,” Gattuso said. “It feels like I’m going to know everyone in the stadium.”

And he’s got a staff with a couple recent Pitt players in Nate Byham and Jared Holley. Along with his old friend and a Pitt player from the early 80s in Jim Sweeney.

There aren’t going to be a ton of answers in this game. Head Coach Pat Narduzzi has claimed that the playbook will be open on offense, but he’s said that going into every 1-AA opening game. And then, only gone so far as to show something slightly less vanilla then at the Spring game.