The IUP exhibition game was notable since former Pitt assistant Pat Lombardi took less money and less prestige, but a slightly less stressful lifestyle to be the IUP head coach. Lombardi was one of Pitt’s effective recruiters in the Eastern part of the state and Maryland/DC/Virginia.

“I spent a lot of time coaching those players, so it’s going to be kind of neat to come back and watch them,” Lombardi said. “I’ve always looked at recruiting as a team effort. With a lot of these kids, it’s how they develop. My job is to identify the players. But we wouldn’t have gotten them without Jamie Dixon, Barry Rohrssen or Orlando Antigua or Pat Sandle. I take pride in those kids that are over there. But Gilbert wouldn’t be playing as well as he is this year if it wasn’t for the people who are on the staff now. It’s great how they’ve developed.”

Off a recommendation from Lombardi Pitt was the first major Division I school to offer Young a scholarship in 2004. That worked to Pitt’s advantage when Young became better known in recruiting circles and received offers from Georgetown and Maryland, two schools closer to his Maryland home. Young had an affinity for Lombardi and Pitt because they were the first to identify him, and he rewarded them by signing with Pitt.

Brown was a consensus top 100 recruit, and Lombardi, through his Philadelphia connections, got the inside track on Cook after he decided to transfer from East Carolina.

And for that service, Pitt beat on IUP to the score of 83-31. Sam Young led it against the guy who recruited him.

Young had a game-high 16 points and Blair had 12 points and 12 rebounds. The other Pitt player in double figures was reserve power forward Tyrell Biggs with 10 points. The question mark about the front line will remain until Pitt plays more serious competition, but their performances in the two exhibition games is a positive sign for coach Jamie Dixon as the Panthers get ready for the season opener Friday against Houston Baptist.

Young and Blair led the Panthers in scoring in the two exhibition games with 16.5 and 11 points a game, respectively.

“I feel like we’re ready to go,” Young said. “We have a lot of young but experienced players. I feel like we’re ready to take off and do a lot of big things, a lot of unexpected things.”

Not worried too much about the frontline’s offense. Watching them develop on defense will be the bigger issue.

Bradley Wanamaker looks like he will be a welcome defensive stopper off the bench in the backcourt. Zero turnovers again, and 4 steals and 5 assists. His scoring touch isn’t there, but that isn’t a surprise. When he was recruited/committed it was about his grittiness, defense and potential. The offense will take time, but I think we could use some extra toughness on defense. Especially off of the bench.

Sorry, I’m not going to get worked up over any aspect of “trouble” in an exhibition game. Let me point you to the IUP exhibition in 2005. How about the struggles with Carnegie Mellon in 2004?

So the big issue in the Pitt-Johnstown exhibition (and for the record, there’s a link to watch the exhibition free if you want) was that there were some issues with defense from the Center position/frontcourt. Whoah. Shocking.

Pitt-Johnstown center Chris Gilliam scored a game-high 23 points against Pitt’s young and inexperienced frontcourt players. Gilliam, a 6-foot-7 senior, went head-to-head against Pitt freshman DeJuan Blair and junior-college transfer Cassin Diggs, and got the better of them on the offensive end.

“We’ve got a lot of [work] to do because he torched us,” said Blair, the former Schenley High School star who got the start at center. “He was moving, and we weren’t moving that great. We can do a whole lot better. A Division II school [player] put 23 on us. We have to work extra hard on our post defense. But it’s only the first game. It will get better as the season goes on.”

Gilliam, who made second team in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season, was shocked he was able to score the way he did. He was 11 for 19 from the field.

“I never thought I’d do that against a Big East team,” he said.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon did not seem overly concerned about his post defense. He correctly pointed out that Gilliam had five points at halftime and, by then, the game was well in Pitt’s favor. But he acknowledged that the post defense is a work in progress.

If you want to make yourself crazy over an exhibition game, go ahead. It just means, that Blair, Diggs and others in the frontcourt have a better idea of what kind of effort is needed on defense — in a game and in practice/preparation.

Cassin Diggs also gets a puff piece as the latest JUCO player at Pitt, trying to reverse recent history of such players not having much of an impact at Pitt since Ontario Lett.

Ronald Ramon saw somewhat limited action as he nurses a sore ankle.

That means previews and seeing Pitt mentioned as one of the top-25 teams in most publications. Seth Davis at SI.com has a story with questions for many of the top programs.

Pittsburgh: Are the juniors ready to step to the head of the class?

I’m speaking specifically of the Panthers’ two junior forwards, Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young. Yes, there are a lot of expectations that 6-7 freshman DeJuan Blair will help make up for the departures of Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall, Pitt’s two leading rebounders the last two seasons. But anything you get from a freshman in that situation is gravy, especially since Blair could struggle with conditioning at the start.

Biggs and Young, however, have two years in this program under their belts, and don’t have much to show for it. Though they entered last season with much promise, Biggs and Young averaged 1.4 and 6.3 points, respectively, in Big East games (along with 2.7 and 3.1 rebounds). In Young’s case, those numbers were actually down from his freshman season. Pitt is well-stocked on the perimeter and has several big — though inexperienced — bodies to throw around inside. It needs Biggs and Young to provide consistent, versatile production if it’s going to challenge for the Big East crown.

Speaking of the heralded Blair, he seemed to have dropped a bit of weight. Even since the summer league.

Blair has slimmed down since the summer. He tipped the scales at 303 pounds when he first showed up for conditioning. But the AP Pennsylvania Player of the Year is down to about 270. “We’re still finding what his ideal weight is,” Dixon said. “But it’s going to be a big number.”

Blair seems a bit embarrassed about all the weight he had been carrying.

“I always look at the state championship (game tape) and say, ‘That was me? I was that big?’ ” said Blair, who acknowledges having been above 303 last season but won’t give an exact weight. “I didn’t look 300 at all, I carried it great. It didn’t matter if I was 300 or 200, I still played the same, still got up and down the court.”

Blair’s ability to post up against taller players down low, combined with his size and athleticism, is why he expects to be former Pitt star Aaron Gray’s heir apparent at center. Pitt’s offense revolved around Gray in the middle during the last two seasons, and it may do so around Blair very soon.

“He was a big factor on this team, and that’s another reason I came here,” Blair said. “They give the big man the ball.”

Blair said a lot of the right things on media day.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon always makes freshmen earn their way into the lineup, and there’s no guarantee that Blair will start in the season opener Nov. 9 against Houston Baptist, or in the Big East opener Jan. 6 at Villanova.

That’s fine with Blair, who grew up only minutes from Pitt’s campus. He feels at home there, and is determined to prove that he should start as a freshman on merit, not the reputation he built as a rugged inside player for 2007 Pennsylvania Class AAAA champion Schenley.

“He’s not going to say, ‘Oh, you’re coming in, I’m going to give it to you,’ ” Blair said. “That’s what I like about him. He’s not giving me nothing. He’s making me earn everything I got, and I’m learning from him. And there aren’t too many freshmen, I think, than can come right in and start (in the Big East).”

A great mix of confidence and work ethic in that statement. Just what you want to read from a freshman. I also like his eagerness to go out there and play where he would be out of position for NBA ambition.

“I want to play the 5, let’s get that out there,” Blair said, referring to the coaching vernacular for the center position. He cited the Big East’s reputation for toughness and the physicality of its play dating to the Patrick Ewing days in the 1980s.

“I would like to play the 5, play against the bigger, stronger guys like me. That’s why I picked Pitt, the Big East,” Blair said. “I think it’s the best conference in the whole United States. They battle and I like to battle.”

If he plays center, Blair would give up eight inches to UConn’s 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet, for example. But Blair predicted that he wouldn’t be overmatched physically against any Big East center.

“My arms are like I’ve got a 7-3, 7-2 wingspan,” Blair said. “I’ve got the same arm length as someone who is 7-foot, so that’s a bonus for me. I’m wide and I’ve got the arm length. I play like I’m 6-10.”

Of course, part of that is just wanting to get onto the court, and the center spot is the biggest hole in Pitt’s lineup.

Moving back to the issue of weight, conditioning and appearances. It seems that many of the players — once more — have slimmed down and reworked their bodies in preparation for 2007-08.

From point guard to center, Dixon rattled off the pounds shed.

It’s not strange for Dixon to talk about the conditioning of his players, but the remarks could be a telling sign.

Without Aaron Gray at center and Levon Kendall at power forward, Pitt’s most-experienced players are at the guard positions. And according to the players, the weight loss goes hand in hand with the Panthers shifting to a more guard-oriented, up-tempo offense.

“We’re going to be very different,” point guard Levance Fields said. “We’re going to be more guard-oriented. We don’t have that definite post presence like we had with Aaron and Levy last year. That’s the good thing about having veteran guard play, so it will be up to us to get things going.

“I’ve been waiting for this. Nothing against the system we’ve been playing. It works. It worked for the past seven or eight years. But now, due to the loss of Aaron and Levon, we’ll be more up-tempo, fast-breaking. It’s definitely exciting. It’s why me and Mike lost the weight that we did. We want to be able to get up and down the court as much as possible.”

Fields has lost 20 pounds since the end of last season and weighs in at 195 pounds. Cook is 212, down seven from his playing weight a season ago. And it’s just not the guards. Every player on the team has had their weight monitored strictly by the coaching and training staff.

“We’ve seen some dramatic changes in some guys,” Dixon said. “They’ve really responded in a positive manner. And they’ve exceeded those goals.”

I think there will be some added pressure on Pitt’s basketball team to do well this season by fans.  The disappointment of the football season, rather than make many appreciate what the basketball team has and will do; may cause some fans to expect more from the b-ball team. Some sort of bizarre, unconscious compensation of balancing things out.

In case you forgot, basketball practices are formally allowed to start this Friday. Pitt won’t be doing any Midnight Madness or anything like that. It will be a closed practice. Whatever. Even if expectations get dashed on that as well, it will be nice to have them dashed a few months into the season, rather than weeks.

Here’s a recruiting update from Van Coleman of CSTV.com.

Pittsburgh has had a solid start with three Top 200 signees headed by 6-foot-6 Top 100 talent Nasir Robinson, our No. 73 talent, from Chester, Pa. Two athletic backcourt talents 6-foot-2 Ashton Gibbs from West Orange, N.J. Seton Hall Prep and 6-foot point Travon Woodall will form a nucleus for future Panther backcourt success. They would like to add some size this fall.

Currently the Panthers are involved with 6-foot-8 powerman Dan Jennings from Mouth of Wilson Va. Oak Hill, along with 6-foot-10 Chatham, Va. Hargrave post Roscoe Davis.

Davis has interest from Kansas, Memphis, Ohio State, West Virginia, N.C. State, Maryland as well a the Panthers. They are among schools who’ve contacted Temple Hills, Md. Progressive Christian 6-foot-10 post Gus Gilchrist and have a more than casual interest in 6-foot-9 Orion Outerbridge of New Hampton, N.H. School.

Still trying to figure out how Pitt expects to have a 4th scholarship.

Of course, how about focusing on the here and now (ESPN Insider subs.).

Levance Fields, fresh off a two-week suspension following an arrest for aggravated assault, public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, is apparently in the best shape of his career with the Panthers. Fields was banned from all basketball-related activities around the program during his suspension (he’s heading to court Oct. 26 after authorities dropped all charges, except for simple assault, following his scuffle with police last month). The Panthers will need Fields to be in top shape to run their offense, one that will include plenty of dump-down passes to freshman DaJuan Blair. Blair’s aptitude for Jamie Dixon’s system and his overall work ethic have been welcomed so far at Pitt.

[Emphasis added.]

First exhibition game is October 31 against Pitt-Johnstown.

Yesterday I promised words and pictures for this post. That’s before I found out that my camera was not going to work with me in uploading the pictures I took onto the computer — so we’ll move along without pictures until a) someone sends some to my e-mail address, or b) I am able to get my own pictures to upload. Anyways…

Thursday night was the first time I had been to a Pitt Football Fan Fest, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We walked in Gate A (by the river, under the scoreboard) and were handed a roster by some cheerleaders, which turned out to be a handy tool during both the autograph sessions and the practice.

The seniors were sitting at tables on the south plaza (or what I call the “giant patio”) facing the scoreboard so that they could meet the fans and sign autographs. The combination of me not being big on autographs as well as long lines kept me from talking/taking pictures with any of the seniors. Over to the far left, near the tunnel the team comes out of, Stan Savran was doing his show, interviewing Dave Wannstedt and a handful of players.

Onwards to the Great Hall where the rest of the players were broken up by positions to sign whatever fans brought to them. Once again, I didn’t get in line but I was happy enough to just see some of the players up close in street clothes (read: game jerseys and jeans).

The autograph session that was supposed to last from 6:30 to 7:30 was ended ten minutes short. One of the security guys said, “The coach wants ’em down there” — not sure if he was serious or not. As he walked from his table to get down onto the field, I was able to shake Oderick Turner’s hand (my personal favorite player), and he thanked us for our support.

Between the autographs and the practice, we headed over to the team store. We were greeted by a display of about 8 shirts — every single one of them plastered with the new logo. I might be able to live if it was 2×2 inches but the thing was HUGE. I’m also wondering why they are selling replica jerseys that look nothing like the game jerseys.

The block PITT is nowhere even close to being the same size and the shades of gold are different on the replica compared to the real deal. I realize that’s exactly what it is, a replica, but a replica of what? Certainly not the jersey the players wear.

After grumbling to myself about not liking anything I saw over at the clothing tent, we moved to some seats a few rows off the field near the corner where the visiting fans usually sit.

The practice was basically a big joke; players going at 50%, no fun drills or anything. The first thing the skill players did was field punts/kicks, with one of the groups catching kicks from who I believe was Henry Hynoski. One thing that will stick in my mind was that the first time everyone got to see LeSean McCoy in action, he dropped his punt return. I didn’t really watch the practice too closely (and do any sort of real reporting like I could have), but instead chose to take in the whole thing and talk about the upcoming year with two friends: one being very cynical, one very optimistic — which leads to some interesting chats.

Fan Fest was something that I needed to attend simply because I was going through some serious college football withdrawal — thankfully the real games start in only a week.

Let’s see, things to note.

Bill Stull was named the starter at QB by Coach Wannstedt, to no one’s surprise.

“It’s pretty obvious Billy Stull is the starter at quarterback. He’s performed the best. Right now, he’s the most confident of what we’re doing. He has the most confidence of this football team. He’s has the most confidence of the coaches right now.”

As for who will be on the O-line and what that depth chart will look like, well, we’ll see.

Wannstedt’s words that Craig Bokor could move into the second team by switching to the offensive line proved prophetic, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

The knee injury to freshman left guard Chris Jacobson will require surgery, although Wannstedt didn’t rule out a return this season. Jacobson, a U.S. Army All-American from Keystone Oaks High School, was Pitt’s top offensive line recruit and was running with the second-team line.

Bokor has taken Jacobson’s spot, which further diminishes the depth on an offensive line that lost freshman tackle Dan Matha to shoulder surgery. The Panthers also have been without the services of redshirt sophomore guard John Brown, redshirt freshman guard Jared Martin and Purdue transfer Jason Kacinko, as well as fifth-year senior tackle Mike McGlynn, who could return sometime soon.

And just to keep everyone nervous, Jeff Otah and Jason Pinkston were held out of scrimmage today with (hopefully) minor dings.

New secondary coach Chris Ball likes what he is seeing from the starting cornerback positions.

“I call it swagger, some say that kind of confidence in yourself is cocky,” Ball said. “But it isn’t about being rude or disrespectful or not giving your opponents respect — the bottom line is to play that position, where you are out on an island and usually with the responsibility of covering a great athlete, you better be confident in your own ability and you better be mentally tough because you won’t survive if you aren’t.

“Both Aaron and Kennard have that swagger.”

Tight End Darrell Strong, on the other hand seems to have a bit more humility these days.

Wannstedt admits Strong was on thin ice, but he gave the Plantation, Fla., native another chance. Strong took advantage of his reprieve and is one of the reasons Pitt has as much quality depth at tight end as nearly any team in the nation, along with Byham and redshirt sophomore John Pelusi.

“If I thought Darrell was a bad guy, Darrell Strong would not be on this team,” Wannstedt said. “But Darrell is not a criminal. Darrell has done some immature things that he regrets, some foolish things. He’s not a bad person. He’s a good person. I like Darrell, and that’s why I’ve stuck with him. I think he realizes that, too.”

This is Strong’s last season. He definitely has a chance to go to the NFL, but he has to be on the field to get noticed. That means staying on Coach Wannstedt and OC Cavanaugh’s good side and show that he will do all the blocking and all the work required in the offense.

A question that has been asked here last week, gets asked in Zeise’s Q&A.

Q: Is McCoy running all over Pitt’s defense a sign that we are going to get the same old horrible Pitt defense against a talented back?

ZEISE: Good question, and that’s one that we really won’t know the answer to until they play Michigan State the third week of the season. But the run defense has stuffed the offense pretty much the entire camp and I really think this team is better up front, so I don’t expect every play to be an adventure and every decent back look like Walter Payton every week, either. The thing about what McCoy did is a little different than what the typical back has done to Pitt — McCoy got a lot of his stuff on his own talent. It wasn’t like the D-line was dominated or overpowered, as has been the case in the past. Again, only time will tell but I am starting to think this defense is going to be better than it has been for a few years.

Well, at least Michigan State will also be breaking in a new QB (plus, while Pitt is 0-5-1 against MSU, they are 2-0 against Dantonio).

At least there’s depth on the defensive line. Now, show that they can tackle somebody.

A bit of love for Jeff Otah and Greg Romeus.

I was lucky enough never to have my car booted while at Pitt. Know plenty who weren’t so lucky. So, I actually sympathize with the USF player who got booted — and subsequently removed the boot.

The Sporting News lists Pitt for fifth in the Big East and in the “Scouts’ Views” adds this.

I think it takes ex-NFL coaches like Pittsburgh’s Dave Wannstedt and Syracuse’s Greg Robinson two to three years to adjust to the college game. They just aren’t used to seeing a lot of the stuff that goes on in college football — especially on third down. This isn’t the NFL. We don’t automatically pass on third-and-5.

Great. Another prognostication that says “wait until ’08.”

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.

Moving through things quickly (and cynically) as I actually dared to live in the offline world today.

Conredge Collins is a fullback, but still hopes to be a tailback. Nothing new there. Just that he’s more willing to block at this point. Again, nothing new, since he said that last year as well. Does he mean it this time? Was he lying last year?

Scott McKillop is likely the starting MLB this season. He seems to feel a little put upon by the coded language of sports that doesn’t take his athleticism as seriously because he is white. Or something like that. Just a weird piece.

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop knows the words generally used to describe him as a football player paint him as gritty and smart, a hard worker, too. He also knows that such complimentary terms are based, at least in part, on stereotypes related to race and his position.

And while he understands that, he believes people sell his athletic ability short and, because he is one of the best all-around athletes on the Panthers’ football team, that bothers him.

“But I never hear people say I’m fast,” said McKillop, rolling his eyes. “And that’s the kind of stuff I use as inspiration to play faster and better, to show everyone that a stereotype is not always right and to show I can play just as fast as anyone.”

Okay. Fine. Moving on.

Two reports on the scrimmage today. Pittsburgh Sports Report had an account (hat tip to Sara D) and so did Kevin Gorman. The one thing both agreed is that LeSean McCoy looked really good.

Gorman’s post noted that McCoy is a complete master of the cliche.

As electrifying as McCoy was on the field, he remains humble off the field. Kid sounds like he was coached by Crash Davis for interviews.

I noted that habit of McCoy last week.

The PSR report was very hard on the offense, while Gorman seemed a little less harsh. Defense continued to look vastly superior seems to be the ongoing story. Pat Bostick did look good with the 3d team and already it seems that Kevan Smith could be passed by Bostick on the QB depth chart.

Johnny Majors was at the scrimmage and he was impressed by Punter Dave Brytus who finally had a good day at camp.

Punter Dave Brytus atoned for a miserable performance in the first scrimmage with three booming punts and a solid fourth one. Johnny Majors had these reactions to Brytus’s first two punts:

1 – “Good God Almighty, look at that punt!! Who is that kid??”

2 – “Look at this kick! God Almighty. This is the best punter we’ve had for quite some time.”

His first kick went just shy of 50 yards and had tremendous hang time. The second had even better hang time and traveled 45 yards. He hit another 42 yards and a fourth 39.

Naturally, Connor Lee completely struggled on field goal kicking to provide the balance.

Yes, I saw the Sports Illustrated bit about the Big East preview and Pitt picked for 6th with a 5-7 (2-5 in conference) record. What’s to say. I think 7-5 is just as possible but 5-7 doesn’t seem particularly absurd either. No Pitt players in the Big East top-10 players from SI, though that may be due to Kinder’s ACL injury.

Seems like there have been a few stories (at least) about Dorin Dickerson playing linebacker. Updates each week as he appears to keep improving and getting better. The latest on Dickerson getting closer.

Dickerson’s big-play ability has overshadowed his mistakes. To the naked eye, it’s easy to notice his closing speed in pass coverage and diving interceptions. What film study shows, however, is a linebacker who tends to over-pursue and has trouble shedding linemen’s blocks.

That’s where Gunn has an edge at the moment, although Wannstedt warned that Dickerson is “real close.”

“If you were just worried about a percentage grade, about who was right and wrong every snap, then Adam is going to grade out very high,” Rhoads said. “Conversely, when you are looking at a production grade, Dorin’s probably grading out a little higher because he’s making more plays. There’s a happy medium you’re trying to find there.”

The minute Dickerson shows any consistency, the job will be his. That’s one of Wannstedt’s favorite issues. Consistency.

Safety Eric Thatcher features prominently in this AP story about the defense hoping it is better than last year.

One of the defense’s biggest weaknesses last season was at safety as both Thatcher, the free safety, and strong safety Phillips were injured. Phillips played in all 12 games but started only five because of lingering effects of a severe ankle injury that occurred in 2005.

Pitt also looks to be deep along the defensive line, led by Gus Mustakas and Rashaad Duncan.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here that I like our depth on the defensive line,” Wannstedt said. “I like our secondary play.”

…

Despite that, Thatcher can already sense a difference between this season and last, and he likes the change.

“It’s going to be different, the camaraderie is a little different,” he said. “People had a tougher offseason, and they got used to it, seeing how high-intensity we have to be to be a really good football team. So we’ll see what’s up.”

Of course, if the post topic is defense, how can there not be the gratuitous shot at Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads. From Kevin Gorman’s blog post on the first scrimmage the other day.

The dominance of the defense in Pitt’s first scrimmage was rewarding for defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, perhaps the most embattled member of Dave Wannstedt’s staff.

The Panthers are trying to shore up a defense that allowed an average of 274.8 rushing yards and 467.6 total yards in the final five games last season and are doing so without the benefit of a bona fide superstar.

Now that Rhoads has taken over the duties of coaching the linebackers, there is an added emphasis on the play of the front four and how it affects the linebacker corps. That the defense kept the first-team offense out of the end zone until red-zone drills lifted their spirits.

A. There’s no “perhaps” about it. Name another member of the coaching staff that is even close to where Rhoads is in fan dissatisfaction. Who should be in it deeper than Rhoads?

B. Gee, if he’s responsible for the linebackers, as well as the overall defense, now he is concerned on how much they have to do? If it actually makes a difference this season, give Coach Wannstedt credit for recognizing that Rhoads likes to make whatever unit he has direct oversight look good and using it to help the defense.

When he had the focus on the secondary, he wouldn’t put them in a position to get burned at the expense of the rest of the defense. Now that he’s got the linebackers, he doesn’t want them looking bad.

Pat Bostick has been back for a couple of days but his practice has been limited since he can’t go to full pads yet, per NCAA regs.

Bostick will take third-team repetitions behind junior Bill Stull and redshirt freshman Kevan Smith, but he already took some second-team snaps away from Smith yesterday.

“They know it’s a competition, and I don’t think they’re going to get hung up on Pat getting some reps mixed in,” Cavanaugh said. “He would’ve been getting them anyway. … So, they all know they’re competing, and they all trust us as a staff that we’ll do the right thing. And we’ll play the guy that we believe is the best one. So, they’ll let it play out.”

Bostick has been offlimits to the media from the outset. He couldn’t talk at media day because NCAA regulations prohibit incoming recruits to do interviews until they’ve had a practice. Bostick left before practice began, and now Pitt is shielding him for a few days. Wannstedt believed Bostick will be ready to talk after Saturday’s scrimmage.

His teammates have been supportive.

To hear a few of his teammates tell it, Bostick received a warm welcome upon his return.

“He didn’t just leave because he wanted to,” senior offensive tackle Jeff Otah said. “The guy was going through some things. He kind of had to get himself away so he could get himself together. I told him, ‘It’s OK. We’re here for you; we’re family.’ Whatever he wants to talk about, I’m going to be here.”

Senior cornerback Lowell Robinson said he spoke with Bostick on the sideline during Tuesday’s scrimmage.

“He told me he felt good and he just needed that time,” Robinson said. “He said he went home, got his thoughts together, and he’s ready to come back and work hard. Once I heard that, I just left him alone. He didn’t go into detail.”

Both Otah and Robinson were JUCO transfers. New to the program and the situation when they came in, yet expected to be upperclassmen and contribute quickly. Given Bostick’s situation — despite being a true freshman — they probably can relate a lot easier to what he might be going through.

Bill Stull, though, is still the starter and it seems his performance has improved the last couple days.

Perhaps the late arrival of Pat Bostick has lit a fire in the competitive spirit of Stull, as the junior quarterback was at his sharpest yet throwing the ball.

“Billy is continuing to get better every day,” Wannstedt said. “I don’t know what his completion percentage was, but we really weren’t a whole lot different going into today’s practice as we were a year ago at this time, as far as completion percentage with all our quarterbacks. We’ve got a lot of work to do but we do see progress being made.”

Stull’s willingness to play through the pain and come back out on the field quickly after an injury to his thumb gets him more credibility and leading by example on the team.

“Everyone looks up to the quarterback position as the leader,” Stull said. “And you never know, they see you with a little cut on your thumb and they see you sitting out for a week, they might start to second-guess your toughness and start to doubt you. But sitting out was never an option, I wanted to see if I could tape it up and get back out there and be with my team.

“The one practice I had to sit out — to sit there and not do anything, for me personally didn’t work. I just want to be out there practicing 24/7 with the team.”

He’s going to have to be tough. Especially if the O-line doesn’t start coming together.

Last week Craig Bokor was trying to make the depth chart at DT. More importantly, he just wanted to stay at one position on one side of the ball after being yo-yo’d in his redshirt year, last season and even in spring. So much for that idea.

Redshirt sophomore Craig Bokor moved from defensive tackle to offensive left guard, and split second-team reps with true freshman Chris Jacobson.

“I think he can go over there and be a second-team player relatively quick,” Wannstedt said. “And then who knows from there.”

It’s one thing to move a kid to a different spot on one line. But to keep shifting him from offense to defense has to be killing his development. I’m sure the kid is saying all the right things and just keeps his head down and works hard. After a while, though, it starts to get unfair. The constant shifting may make him a useful utility player, but it also means he can’t stay settled and really learn and compete for a starting job. He’s always going to be a bit further behind.

To a lesser extent, freshman Aaron Smith seems to be dealing with the same thing.

Freshman Aaron Smith moved from cornerback to receiver, a position he initially played last August before a shoulder injury forced him to grayshirt. Smith was a third-team corner, but can help the receiver position, which was down to seven after losing senior Derek Kinder and redshirt freshman walk-on Francis Johns to torn ACLs.

“We recruited him as a receiver/athlete,” Wannstedt said of Smith. “We moved him just because of the depth situation. We’ll see what transpires.”

I realize the depth chart is important and I know most of the kids just want to play. The shifting doesn’t help their chances that greatly when they have to keep moving from one side to the other. Coach Wannstedt and the staff seem to really emphasize knowing the position before playing. It puts them behind and keeps them there. It only makes the depth chart look more balanced.

You probably know that Tuesday afternoon was Pitt’s first scrimmage — and the defense got the job done. In Wednesday’s Post-Gazette, Paul Zeise took the info (most of which we already knew) and started to sort out the depth chart.

Over the next week, it’ll become even clearer.

“This is a big week for us,” Wannstedt said. “We have another big scrimmage Saturday then, after that scrimmage, we’ll be able to zero in a little bit more. But we have three or four good days of work and then the scrimmage and by then I think the guys will start separating themselves.”

The QB situation is going to take more than the rest of this week to be figured out.

Junior Bill Stull has a firm grip on the starting job and has separated himself from redshirt freshman Kevan Smith and the rest of the pack. He will be the starter Sept. 1, but the wild card is freshman Pat Bostick, who Wannstedt said still has a chance to play his way back into the mix.

So even once the season starts (with Stull likely starting), could we still possibly see Bostick take over the starting job a few weeks into the season? And not many questions at the running backs spot, except wondering how many touches LeSean McCoy will get.

Zeise perfectly describes the fullback situation as, “Not much drama here — Conredge Collins is the starter…” One change at fullback I would like to see? How about getting Collins more carries. It seemed like it would have worked last year but maybe with the emergence of McCoy it won’t be necessary.

The theme with the wide recievers is how they’re being shifted after Derek Kinder’s injury. Turner, Porter, Pestano, and McGee are all being moved up and will see the bulk of the playing time there. Kinder’s absense could lead to more balls thrown towards the tight ends — which have already been covered at length.

All of the info on the offensive skill players isn’t anything new or surprising. Everything gets a bit more unclear when things move to the line, also noted in Chas’ post yesterday. Mike McGlynn can be mentioned at center, guard, and tackle and he’s the wildcard. Where he plays is determined by what he shows and how the other linemen perform. Nothing can really be set until we figure out what’s going to happen with him, but where ever he plays he’ll be counted on to be a leader and do a good job.

But the offensive line has to look better than it is. Who knows if the defense will be better against the run this year (I know, statistically and ranking-wise it will hard to be worse). It will be fine at this rate if other teams have an O-line like Pitt’s.

The starting defense held a decisive edge in Pitt’s first scrimmage of training camp Tuesday, keeping the first-team offense out of the end zone in the first four series.

“Offensively, we’ve got a ways to go,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “I would expect that. I was disappointed with the first three or four series offensively. We really didn’t get much going. On the other side, when you’re scrimmaging against yourself, you’re happy for the defense.”

The first drive ended in three plays, the second by an interception by middle linebacker Scott McKillop, the third with defensive tackle Gus Mustakas whipping fullback Conredge Collins down after a screen and the fourth with safety Eric Thatcher stopping Collins on third-and-goal at the 5.

…

LaRod Stephens-Howling led all rushers with 32 yards on seven carries, as the offense rushed for 81 yards on 38 carries, an average of 2.1 yards per carry.

“We stopped the run,” McKillop said. “That’s one of the big things of emphasis this year.”

Scrimmage stats are admittedly useless, but observations aren’t.

The defensive line dominated the offensive line most of the day and, not coincidentally, the defense dominated the offense as well. The offense had only one sustained touchdown drive, although the touchdown came when a defensive back fell down.

Kevin Gorman was more diplomatic in his blog, by interspersing Coach Wannstedt quotes that downplayed things or praised individuals or anything.

Although the offensive line struggled mightily, Wannstedt isn’t completely discouraged.

“I like the individual ability levels of the guys, but that’s usually the last group, unit-wise, to come together,” Wannstedt said. “It’s going to take some time. We’re not there yet. We’re going to need all of training camp before we get that group in sync and playing at the level they need to play at.”

The excuse that Mike McGlynn not being there on the line doesn’t make me feel better. That just scares me that the rest of the line is not close. If that’s the drop-off from McGlynn is that steep then it won’t matter how good LeSean McCoy is or how determined LaRod Stephens-Howling is. There won’t be anywhere for them to run.

The passing game will face a similar fate. No matter who the QB is, he will be new and any vaguely competent DC knows you blitz a new QB to get him to make a mistake. Especially when the receivers and tight ends are good enough to deal with coverage. It does no good if there is no time to get them the ball.

Really, is there a college coach who wouldn’t want to redshirt his freshmen if he could? They’d also like to be able to lock the players for all 4 years with 1 or 2 extra years of eligibility. Last year 16 freshmen played and 11 redshirted for Pitt (2007 Media guide, page 107). With 23 freshmen (including gray shirt Justin Hargrove but subtracting Kyle Hubbard), Coach Wannstedt can talk about it for the future, but it is likely to be a similar comparison this season.

In fact, the actual number of freshmen who see the field likely will be less than a handful, and Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said that is a sign his program is slowly getting to the point where it has enough depth to not have to rely on many freshmen.

He said that will be a welcome change from the way things have been in his first two seasons, when a number of freshmen were thrown into action out of necessity before they were ready. And while he believes there will always be a need for some freshmen to play, he hopes to get to the point where he has the luxury of redshirting most of his freshmen.

“It would be nice to be able to redshirt as many as we can,” Wannstedt said. “I’d hope to be able to do so. You’d like to get to a point where you have enough depth where you’re playing only four or five of the guys, particularly the skilled guys. We’ll redshirt as many as we can but we’re not there yet. We probably need two more recruiting classes. We’ve had two full classes since I’ve been here and need probably two more to really have the depth to start being a little more choosier about who we play and who we redshirt.”

Here are the players not likely to redshirt from the 23 because of depth and/or talent reasons:

• Justin Hargrove — DL
• Dom DeCicco — S
• John Fieger — OL
• Greg Gaskins — OL
• Jordan Gibbs — OL
• Chris Jacobson — OL
• Tony Tucker — DL
• LeSean McCoy — RB
• Maurice Williams — WR
• Aundre Wright — WR
• Aaron Smith — CB
• Buddy Jackson — CB
• Sherod Murdock — CB
• Henry Hynoski — FB
• Shariff Harris — RB
• Myles Caragein — DL

That’s 16 possible. Again, not all of them will, but based on the first week reports from camp, projected talent and (lack of) depth at positions these are the most likely to be on the depth chart and seeing playing time this season.

The battle for the remaining back-up Defensive End was the subject of this story. Chris McKillop and Joe Clermond are the starters and Greg Romeus seems to have one back-up spot nailed down. That leaves the other with redshirt freshman Tyler Tkach, and freshmen Hargrove, Tucker and Sheard.

“They’re different kinds of players with different strengths,” defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “The hard part is getting them comfortable, because in our system they’ve got to know both sides. The faster they can learn, the faster they can play.”

Sheard appears to have the inside edge. He worked with the second unit opposite Tkach in team drills Monday, while Romeus ran with the first team in place of McKillop, who was resting a sore hamstring.

Sheard was also the focus of the story. The hook is that Sheard was a swimmer and a lifeguard. He’s raw but athletic and talented according to Gattuso.

In Zeise’s brief Q&A yesterday evening he thinks a lot more of the balls that would have gone Derek Kinder’s way will be spread among the three tight ends.

Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com blogs briefly (Insider subs.) that he doesn’t buy the Ron Cook premise that Pitt will be better in the long run with Kinder out for 2007.

I disagree. To me, that’s like saying I was better off in the long run when I told my parents the truth behind what happened to their sofa while they were out of town when I was in high school. Sure, it opened the lines of communication, but did that year of awkwardness really make things better between us? No, of course not. Now Pitt is more likely to struggle in 2007. This will only further undercut Dave Wannstedt’s talk of being a top 25 program to recruits and make it that much harder to battle the West Virginias and Louisvilles of the world.

Good point, since we’ve been focused on wins and losses and the possibility of 2008 as the season actually gets close. Recruiting and perception-wise another sub-par season only hurts Wannstedt on the recruiting trail and whispers that he can’t do anything with the talent he recruits.