Pitt’s defense rules during spring game


PITTSBURGH (AP) — As usual at Pitt in the springtime, the defense is ahead of the offense. Way ahead.

In anything but a surprise given how the offense stumbled during the Panthers’ 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl 31‚Ñ2 months ago, the defense dominated the offense during Pitt’s annual spring game Saturday.

The defense held the offense to 10 points, but a modified scoring system was used in which points could be earned for long runs and passes, first downs, changes of possession and turnovers. Even with all those different avenues to put up points, the offense was outscored 54-23 as the running game averaged less than half a yard per carry.

Still, that’s a better performance than in the Sun Bowl, one of the worst offensive days in Pitt history.

“I thought that in today’s game, there weren’t a lot of surprises,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We wanted to go out there and keep it pretty basic and see what we have. Something that was really encouraging to me was the development of our younger players. Obviously, our young guys are going to be with us for a while, and it was great to see them improving.”

Bill Stull, the senior-to-be quarterback who is being forced to earn his starting job again following a late-season slump, was 12-for-17 for 132 yards and one touchdown, a 54-yarder to Jonathan Baldwin on the third play from scrimmage. Baldwin, a sophomore, made five catches for 75 yards in a game played at Heinz Field.

The other two quarterbacks pushing Stull had rough games.

Pat Bostick, a junior who beat Notre Dame as a spot starter last season, was 4-of-10 for 31 yards and redshirt freshman Tino Sunseri was 5-for-15 for 38 yards. Bostick and Sunseri each was intercepted once. Sunseri led the only other scoring drive, which ended with redshirt freshman Kevin Harper’s 36-yard field goal.

Sunseri was sacked three times, Stull twice and Bostick once.

“It was hard to evaluate all of our quarterbacks,” Wannstedt said, reminding that they have been working only a few weeks with new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. “We didn’t want to do anything specific. All the quarterbacks got in their reps, but they were under a lot of pressure all day. They didn’t have a lot of time to throw.”

Without former star running back LeSean McCoy, who is eligible for the NFL draft this month, the Panthers’ running game never got going and was hampered by the sacks while gaining only 16 yards rushing on 37 carries.

McCoy left the team after gaining 1,488 yards last season and 1,328 as a freshman.

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