This was supposed to be a season of learning and growing for Pitt sophomore defensive end Jabaal Sheard, and it certainly was.

But, as fate would have it, Sheard didn't have the luxury to sit back and learn from an older, more experienced player. He had to learn how to play in the equivalent of an all-night cram session.

"I never expected to have to play as much as I did this year," Sheard said. "I was really nervous once Doug [Fulmer] went down because I knew it would be on me to learn the position and make plays. As a competitor, that's what you want -- to be the guy -- but I didn't know if I was ready or not, I just knew it would be an opportunity to get on the field, so I focused and listened to the coaches and just tried to make the best of it."

Sheard, from Hollywood Hills, Fla., was always going to be in the mix for playing time, but, as a sophomore who played sparingly last year, he was expected to share time with Fulmer, a redshirt junior. The plan was to bring Sheard along slowly, let Fulmer take as many snaps as he physically could -- he was coming off a major injury to his right knee -- and hope Sheard would progress enough by mid-season to see increased playing time.

All that changed in training camp when Fulmer tore a ligament in his left knee and was lost for the season.

That meant the Panthers' options at defensive end opposite heralded redshirt sophomore Greg Romeus were Sheard and less-experienced players.

Pitt defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said he never had any question about Sheard's ability -- he just didn't think that Sheard, given what he'd be ask to do, would be able to play consistently at a high level.

"We like to rotate our guys, so that was the first thing -- he, and Greg [Romeus] for that matter, played way too many snaps," Gattuso said. "I think we have some other guys who are younger and will be more ready next year, but, this year, we just didn't have a lot of depth. So to ask those two to play that many snaps and then expect them to be as effective in the fourth quarter as they were in the first -- that's tough.

"But the great thing about Jabaal is that he not only got stronger as the game went on, he also got better every week. He made a lot of mistakes early but he learned from them and he'd even learn within games -- he might get fooled once, he wouldn't get fooled again, that's just the kind of kid he is."

Sheard added, "yeah, at the beginning I was getting by on my ability and trying to figure out what I was doing. But I feel like I became a much better football player by the end of the season, I understood things better, I understood the position better."

Gattuso estimated that Sheard, one of the most physically gifted players on the team given his size (6 feet 5, 275 pounds), athletic ability and speed (he runs the 40-yard dash in just less than 4.6 seconds), played about 80 to 85 percent of the snaps, a number he hopes to reduce some next season because it will help Sheard stay fresh. Sheard had 42 tackles, 9 for loss, 5 1/2 sacks, which tied Romeus for the team lead, and led with 10 quarterback hurries.

Gattuso said for Sheard to take the next step, he needs to spend the offseason "with [strength and conditioning coach] Buddy Morris as his best friend" because he needs to get stronger and work on his footwork.

All of that can wait, however, as Sheard said his No. 1 focus is helping Pitt get 10 wins this year with a Sun Bowl victory against Oregon State Dec. 31.

"I know this, guys like Scott McKillop, Eric Thatcher, C.J. Davis -- they've laid it all on the line for four years, and we all owe them something in return," Sheard said. "I know I don't, and the rest of the team, we don't want to let those guys down. They deserve to go out on a win given everything they've done for us younger guys and this program."

NOTES -- With preliminary grade reports complete, head coach Dave Wannstedt said yesterday he expects "one or two" will be academically ineligible for the Sun Bowl, but no starters: "Hopefully, everybody makes it to the trip, but [they] won't. I mean, I think there will be one or two guys that unfortunately we'll have to announce won't be with us because of academic reasons. I hope that's not true when the dust settles. Odds tell you, it probably will be." ... First-year defensive coordinator Phil Bennett has been mentioned as a potential hire at LSU, whose co-defensive coordinators both may leave, and elsewhere. Wannstedt said he anticipated Bennett would return for next year, "But I understand this business. Things happen. We're at a point in this program where we're going to lose a guy or maybe two every year. If that happens, you've got to adjust and keep going forward."