Stull hopes fortunes turn fast for Pitt football team

Photo

Billy Stull

By John Kovach

The Panthers were shocked by Bowling Green last weekend.

PITTSBURGH — Billy Stull was ready for a fresh start at starting quarterback for the University of Pittsburgh football team, when the Panthers played host to Bowling Green last Saturday at Heinz Field.

Stull, a redshirt junior from Pittsburgh and a native of Newton Falls, had made his first start as Pitt’s quarterback last year in the season-opener against Eastern Michigan, and turned in an outstanding performance to lead a 27-3 win.

He completed 14-of-20 passes — including his first seven throws — for 177 yards and one touchdown in 21‚Ñ2 quarters of playing time.

However, he injured his thumb on his right (throwing) hand and was taken out of the game late in the third quarter, had to have surgery, was shelved for the rest of the season and received a medical redshirt.

A year later, in his return Saturday, Stull enjoyed another strong performance statistics-wise with 29-for-51 passing for 264 yards and one touchdown, but he committed a costly turnover that led to his team’s defeat. He fumbled away the ball in the final quarter at the Pitt 17 when his team was trailing, 20-17, and the Falcons went on to score to upend the No. 25-ranked Panthers, 27-17.

Stull, the son of Newton Falls High graduates Bill Sr. and Debbie Stull, leads Pitt against Buffalo Saturday at Heinz Field at 6 p.m.

Coach Dave Wannstedt believes in Stull’s competency to lead the team, and that his quarterback is ready to pick up where he left off last year, but just needs some time to get back into the groove.

“You hate to have a young quarterback put in the situation he was in at the end of the game, having to run two-minute drills and make plays. That’s not the best environment for the first game out of the chute for your quarterback,” said Wannstedt. “I thought he played solid and did everything he could do. I thought his inexperience showed up, and there is not anything anyone can do about that. He’s just got to play. He needs the playing time. It was his first full-time game.”

Before the game, Wannstedt said that Stull was ready to pick up where he left off last year.

“Bill has performed very well. I think he’s back to where he was a year ago. He’s probably a little stronger and hopefully a little smarter because he’s redshirted a year,” said Wannstedt. “I thought he had a good spring and worked extremely hard. He’s had a good camp and there’s no question that he’s our number one quarterback right now.”

Stull (6-3, 215), a graduate of Seton-LaSalle High in Mount Lebanon, has deep Valley roots. He also lived in Canfield and Poland before relocating to Pittsburgh. His family moved to Pittsburgh midway through his sixth-grade year at McKinley Elementary in Poland.

Stull served his quarterback apprenticeship at Pitt as an understudy for three-year starter Tyler Palko. In 2006, Stull served as a back-up for Palko, and played in four games before winning the starting job in 2007.

While Stull was a senior at Seton-LaSalle, he became the first player to pass for 3,000 yards in one season with 3,310 yards and 40 TDs and only 15 interceptions.

kovach@vindy.com