Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevan Smith got his first start Saturday when Pitt played host to Grambling and did enough to lead the Panthers to a 34-10 victory against the Tigers. Smith was not spectacular, but, considering the circumstances, his leadership and poise was evident.

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Tomorrow

• Who: Pitt (2-0) vs. Michigan State (2-0)
• When: Noon.
• Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Mich.
• TV: ESPN
• Line: Michigan State by 11.

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He completed 15 of 22 passes. One went for a touchdown and one was intercepted. He also lost a fumble on a play where his inexperience was exposed.

Tomorrow, Smith's poise will be put to the ultimate test as the Panthers (2-0) play Michigan State (2-0) at Spartan Stadium. It will be his first career road start. Spartan Stadium holds 75,005 fans, and the game is nearly sold out, which means Smith will be thrust into an incredibly hostile and loud environment in his second start.

That could be a recipe for a Pitt disaster. But coach Dave Wannstedt believes Smith's demeanor should render the crowd and noise meaningless. He said he is not worried because Smith is not easily rattled.

"Kevan will be fine," Wannstedt said. "The one thing about his personality is, he is completely the opposite of Tyler [Palko], who was about as emotional as you can get from a quarterback standpoint, and [Pat] Bostick is the same way. But Kevan Smith is on the other end of the spectrum -- he is about as even-keeled as you are going to find. When he throws a touchdown pass, he is pretty much the same as when something bad happens. That is good, so, when we go on the road, I don't expect him to react any differently."

Wannstedt said he doesn't want the game to become a shootout, so the Panthers will have to play good defense and run the ball effectively. At the same time, he is not worried that pressure will force Smith into bad decisions that lead to turnovers.

The Panthers practiced all week with crowd noise piped over a loudspeakers so Smith could get used to calling signals at the line of scrimmage. As the week went on, Smith said he became more comfortable tuning out the noise.

"It will be a great college atmosphere. That will be the biggest crowd I've every played in," Smith said. "But something like that really doesn't put pressure on me or my teammates really. I think once you get out on the field you kind of zone everything out, and it becomes just like practice and all you have to do is go out and execute the game plan."

The Panthers' game plan will tell a lot more about how much faith the coaching staff has in Smith. Last week, the offense was vanilla, which the coaches admitted was by design so Smith, who had little game experience in high school, was not asked to do much.

The coaching staff has promised a more aggressive offensive game plan tomorrow.

"We had a lot of things in the game plan last week that we didn't have to use against Grambling," Smith said. "We'll go into this week with as many things in the offense and we will use them as much as we need to. I'm confident I'm capable of doing whatever the coaches will ask us to do on offense."

NOTES -- Wannstedt said yesterday that tight end John Pelusi (shoulder) and defensive end Greg Romeus (arm) are definitely in for the Michigan State game. He is optimistic that LaRod Stephens-Howling (bruised ribs) is going to be able to play, but it will be a game-time decision. ...Wannstedt has not picked a starter to fill in for injured defensive tackle Gus Mustakas. He said it will either be Mick Williams or Tommie Duhart.