Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt knows why the Panthers (2-2) are struggling but said he doesn't believe any good would come from talking about them.

He said the bottom line is winning and Pitt hasn't done enough of it, so to talk about the progress is likely to fall on deaf ears.

That's why he spent much of his weekly news conference yesterday trying to highlight the positives as well as remain optimistic that things will get turned around in time to salvage the season. He said the most encouraging sign was that the Panthers never showed any signs of quitting Saturday at Heinz Field despite being blown out by Connecticut.

"For me to try and sit here and explain the truth and what the facts are, most people don't want to hear that," Wannstedt said. "We just have to be successful on the field and then people will start believing in what we are doing. The tape I showed our team yesterday had six plays from the fourth quarter where guys gave effort. We said, with eight minutes to go in that game, the guys were playing as hard as if we were winning by 20.

"And if we give that effort, we'll get other things squared away as well."

Wannstedt said the Panthers have made too many mistakes over the past two weeks to win games. For example: 9 turnovers, 18 penalties, 8 sacks and, perhaps the most mind-boggling statistic of all, 4 of 29 on third-down conversions, which includes a stretch of 22 consecutive failed third-down conversions.

Wannstedt also said standout freshman running back LeSean McCoy would be featured more in the offense against Virginia. McCoy had only 11 carries Saturday and was not the starter at tailback.

"LeSean McCoy will start at tailback this week," said Wannstedt, who added that the plan was to get McCoy 25 carries last week. "At the same time, other people know that, and if you are playing a freshman quarterback and he comes off a game where he was struggling like we did at Michigan State -- Connecticut had nine guys up at the line, we have to be able to throw the ball to loosen them up.

"But I'm not a big fan of sharing carries with tailbacks other than if a guy gets dinged up or needs a breather. I mean, one of the reasons Ricky Williams retired is he said I handed him the ball too much so I know about one guy carrying the load, trust me."

Wannstedt said the tailback situation should be the least of the team's worries.

Injuries are limiting Wannstedt's ability to look at two trouble spots -- quarterback and the offensive line. And the news for the line just keeps getting worse as it appears right tackle Jason Pinkston's shoulder injury could prevent him from being much of a factor the next few games.

Right tackle Mike McGlynn (shoulder) has struggled because he missed all of training camp and has never really settled in at one spot. He is also not fully recovered from his offseason surgery but, because of a lack of depth on the line, was pushed into the lineup after sophomore right guard Joe Thomas struggled.

Wannstedt said the left side has played well but the right side, starting with center Chris Vangas, has been very inconsistent.

"We should be better [on the offensive line]," Wannstedt said. "We expect to be better and we have to be better if we are going to improve this offense. We just have to keep coaching those guys to get better and they will get better. They are just reaching for some confidence now and the only way they'll get confidence is to get some results."

NOTES -- Wannstedt said fullback Conredge Collins (shoulder) will play Saturday at Virginia. ... Reserve tackle John Bachman has moved to right guard and will back up Thomas. ... Wannstedt was asked who was responsible for some of the personnel decisions made in the game Saturday and answered, "I make all the personnel calls with the staff, the final stop is with me." ... He also reiterated that freshman quarterback Pat Bostick will start.