EAST LANSING, Mich. -- So now you know what Shady McCoy would do if you handed him the football 25 times in one game, or centered it to him directly, or some combination thereof; he'd run for 172 yards, 64 of 'em on a single volatile burst up the middle for a touchdown, and Pitt would lose anyway.

McCoy made his second career start here yesterday, which in the full analysis was even more sensational than his first, when he merely scored three touchdowns on his first four carries. In a classically hostile Big 10 stadium with nearly 70,000 screaming for Michigan State to break him in two or three, McCoy shrugged off all the Spartan atmospherics that can be tangibly intimidating in all their various aspects.

(Even the MSU mascot, Sparty the Spartan, is a three-time national champion based on his performances in the Universal Cheer Association for the Advancement of the Notion that Americans Should Compete At Absolutely Everything. Who can forget Sparty's title defense in 2005 when he turned back challenges from Big 10 brethren Goldy the Gopher and Bucky the Badger? What's more, who can remember it?)

"Everything's happening so fast," McCoy said in the minutes after Pitt made 237 mistakes to Michigan State's 235 and lost for the first time this season, 17-13. "One minute you're taking the SAT's it seems, the next you're in a Big 10 stadium with a huge crowd and big, fast people chasing you."

In a star-crossed football season in which Pitt has already lost three starters to injury, the much-anticipated arrival of the freshman from Harrisburg would be a majestic highlight were it not timed concurrently with the fitful progress, a term used advisedly, of the Panthers' offensive line. Coach Dave Wannstedt finally has the kind of running back around which a coherent ground-based offense can be built, but he doesn't have the road-pavers.

"We have to bring that group along a little bit," Wannstedt said. "They are getting better. Our offensive line has improved week by week, but not to the point that we are happy or excited about it."

The coach pointed out that Jason Pinkston had his shoulder yanked out and was playing with one arm, and that part of the reason Michigan State sacked freshman quarterback Kevan Smith six times was breakdowns by the fullback and tight ends, but Pitt's primary blockers are the reason this team will remain less than the sum of its parts for awhile.

McCoy's performance wasn't the only thing wasted yesterday. Pitt's defense -- savaged by Michigan State for 335 rushing yards and 533 total yards one year ago today -- reshuffled those figures to 144 and 327 yesterday in the kind of fast-flowing accomplishment that would win for you nine games in 10.

Convinced by halftime that he could not keep freshman quarterback Kevan Smith upright, or, that if he could, Smith might still throw badly, or, if Smith didn't, his receivers might drop it anyway, Wannstedt opted to get Shady the ball via direct snap, giving him the option to hand off to a flanker coming back toward the formation.

This actually worked, which proved to be bad news, because Pitt doesn't much know what to do with an offense that actually works.

In the fourth quarter, for example, the Panthers ran three consecutive direct-snap plays that moved the ball from their own 35 to the Michigan State 8. I guess that was working too well because Pitt reverted immediately to putting Smith under center for the next five plays, which netted minus-4 yards. That throw-it-in-reverse panic resulted in a 29-yard Connor Lee field goal that pulled Pitt within a point, 14-13, with 7:47 to play.

Tommie Duhart, who blocked an earlier Spartans field-goal attempt, combined with Rashad Duncan, his Belle Glade, Fla., buddy, to stone Michigan State on a fourth-and-1 play that presented the Pitt offense with a chance at a winning drive with 4:04 to play. But, on the first play, McCoy handed the direct snap to T.J Porter, who fumbled as he was tackled by defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic. Four plays later, the Spartans stretched the lead to 17-13.

"You can't get mad at that," Duhart said graciously. "Everybody gave a great effort. If we cut down on the mistakes, there will be a lot of victories from this team."

That's right. You eliminate any six mistakes, and this might have been different. Oderick Turner dropped two touchdown passes, one that hit him in the belly as he crossed the goal line on a deep post pattern, and another that went through his hands right to Spartans safety Travis Key, who hauled it 31 yards to the lead Michigan State never relinquished. So who did Pitt go to on its last-gasp, third-and-9, three-seconds-left from 40 yards away -- Turner, of course.

Smith took the precaution of overthrowing him.

Can McCoy carry it 50 times?