Pitt junior defensive tackle Gus Mustakas is the Ed Conway Award winner for the defense.

The award, which is voted on by the coaching staff, goes to a player on offense and defense who shows the most improvement in the spring, and Mustakas was deserving. A starter last year, Mustakas has consistently been the most dominant defensive player on the field.

Mustakas, however, had a different take on the award.

"I guess that means I sucked last year," Mustakas said laughing. "I'm just joking. And actually, I think this award goes to the whole [defensive] line because we've all worked so hard in the offseason. I feel like we got so much better and the good thing is we can even work harder now in the offseason to improve even more."

Mustakas came up with another solid performance yesterday in the Blue-Gold spring game at Heinz Field. He had six tackles, 2¹/₂ for losses, 1¹/₂ sacks and forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Chris McKillop.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said it was fitting that Mustakas finished the spring with a strong performance.

"It was nice to see Gus play so well," Wannstedt said. "He has had a fantastic spring and just really made a lot of plays. And really, when you look at it, our defensive line as a whole has played well and it is getting closer to where it needs to be."

McGlynn to center?

Mike McGlynn has been Pitt's starting right tackle the past three seasons, but he sat out spring drills with a shoulder injury. As a result, sophomore Jason Pinkston has been the first-team right tackle and has filled the role admirably.

Pinkston's emergence at tackle might mean McGlynn could be moved to shore up the center position, which is shaky. That could mean McGlynn would move to center or he could move to guard with junior C.J. Davis shifting to center.

"We have to look at getting the five best offensive lineman out there," Wannstedt said. "And really, Mike McGlynn gives us the most flexibility to move someone because he is the leader of that group and he can play a number of positions for us. He has the most knowledge of our offense."

Injury report

The Panthers had 14 players miss yesterday's action with various injuries. The good news for the Panthers is that nobody is seriously hurt.

Among the more notable players held out were center John Bachman (knee); defensive tackles John Malecki (shoulder), Mick Williams (shoulder) and Jared Martin (shoulder); tight end Darrell Strong (shoulder); McGlynn (shoulder) and defensive end Doug Fulmer (knee).

Quick hits

Sophomore linebacker Dorin Dickerson had an interception of a Kevan Smith pass. ... The Conway Award winner for offense was senior tackle Jeff Otah. ... Smith (offense) and defensive end Tyler Tkach (defense) were the freshman academic award winners. "Kevan had about a 3.8 GPA and Tyler was about 3.5, so they both did a great job," Wannstedt said. ... Neither quarterback was impressive. Bill Stull was 8 for 18 passing for 89 yards and an interception, and Smith was 11 for 22 with two touchdowns and an interception. A more disturbing trend is that their numbers seemed to get progressively worse as the game wore on.