Blogs

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Pitt introduced a new wrinkle to its offense, having tailback LeSean McCoy take direct snaps, in the third quarter at Michigan State. McCoy led the Panthers to an 11-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped by Conor Lee’s 41-yard field goal that cut Michigan State’s lead to 14-10 with 2:13 remaining. Trailing Michigan [...]

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Pitt freshman tailback LeSean McCoy, in his first career start, rushed for 115 yards on 12 carries, including a 64-yard touchdown. But Michigan State took advantage of two Kevan Smith interceptions for a 14-7 halftime lead Saturday before 68,620 at Spartan Stadium. Michigan State free safety Otis Wiley intercepted Smith and [...]

Michigan State attracted an average crowd of 67,536 to Spartan Stadium for its first two games, against Alabama-Birmingham and Bowling Green, or 501 more than Pitt drew to Heinz Field for the Eastern Michigan and Grambling State games combined this season. Michigan State also is having a “white out,” creating a festive atmosphere that should [...]

Where Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh is now calling plays from the booth, defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads has no desire or plans to leave the sidelines. After Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt on Tuesday offered his take on the advantages of seeing the game from a bird’s-eye view, Rhoads discussed today the advantages of coaching from [...]

After the Grambling State game, Kevan Smith noted that he was discussing plays between series with offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh on the headsets. What Smith mentioned in passing is actually a significant move for Pitt’s football program on game days. Cavanaugh has gone from calling plays while standing on the sidelines to doing so from [...]

With Jeff Long formally accepting the athletic director position at the University of Arkansas today, Pitt has named Donna Sanft its interim athletic director. A senior associate athletic director for administration, student life and compliance, Sanft is a 1974 Pitt graduate who was a gymnast for the Panthers and spent 12 years as Pitt’s gymnastics [...]

Pitt starting defensive tackle Gus Mustakas was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the Panthers’ 34-10 victory over Grambling State Saturday. A 6-foot-3, 273-pound junior, Mustakas was the Panthers’ second-leading tackler through the first two games, with 11 stops (two for losses). Mustakas can qualify for [...]

Dave Wannstedt started his post-game news conference by announcing that the Pitt Panthers were “happy to be 2-0,” although the look on his face betrayed that emotion. Wannstedt dwelled on Pitt’s mistakes in a 34-10 victory over Grambling Saturday at Heinz Field, primarily costly penalties and three turnovers. That’s a coach for you. They don’t [...]

Following the lead of a pair of freshmen in the backfield, Pitt rolled to a 34-10 victory over Grambling State this afternoon before 30,852 at Heinz Field. The Panthers (2-0) got big performances from redshirt freshman quarterback Kevan Smith, who replaced the injured Bill Stull (thumb), and true freshman tailback LeSean McCoy, who didn’t start [...]

Pitt used a defensive stand to keep Grambling State from scoring on a fourth-and-goal, then used a deep pass play to set up a 27-yard Conor Lee field goal for a 34-10 lead after three quarters at Heinz Field. Grambling was in scoring position after DeMichael Dizer intercepted a Kevan Smith pass at the Pitt [...]