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Q: It is quite disturbing to continue to hear all the negativity circling the Panthers this season. From a real fan's perspective, all I see are good things. Pitt has a 3-0 start, there is great talent and coaches who know how to coach their players up. What gives?

Dave Yochum

Severn, Md.

ZEISE: Negativity? Have you been hanging around message boards again? I told you to stop that the last time!..No, seriously, I don't see the negativity that you are talking about. I think there are some real questions people have and while we think we know the answers to some, there is still not a lot really known about this team. I wrote in the preseason that Pitt would be 3-0 at this point and we likely wouldn't know much about the team because of the level of competition they will have faced. Not much has changed since then. We know this team can move the ball passing it, or do we? Will we still know that after this weekend when the Panthers face a defense capable of putting pressure on the quarterback? I think Bill Stull will be fine, but it is still a wait-and-see situation until the level of competition is better. So in short, I think maybe you are over-reacting with the emotions of a fan because objective people haven't been as quick to anoint this team a BCS contender just yet. And I've written this before -- while it is fashionable to label Pitt fans as overly negative, I'd argue they are no more or less negative than fans of other teams. The Steelers are a great example -- they are the defending champions and yet they lose one game and people want someone fired. It is the nature of being a fan. Those of us in the media aren't emotionally invested in these teams so we're able to look at things from a little more objective perspective and ask critical questions which may yield answers which are a little bit painful for the "rah rah" real fans to accept.

Q: Dave Wannstedt is supposedly a defensive football guru, as well as having a keen eye for talent since he coached in the NFL. Why, then, did it take an injury to Adam Gunn to get Dan Mason onto the football field as a starting linebacker? If Gunn doesn't sprain an ankle, Mason might have rotted on the bench the entire season, except for special teams. Wannstedt's job as head coach is to get the best 11 players onto the field. I think Wannstedt overlooking and bypassing Mason is a gross dereliction of duty.

Dan Lewis

Newport News, Va.

ZEISE: Well, that's a little rough. Dereliction of duty? Are you serious? Yes, in some cases it has taken Dave Wannstedt a little longer to get guys on the field as freshmen because he favors experience, but it isn't like Adam Gunn has been chopped liver. And Max Gruder has played well, too, so it isn't like he should have been benched. Dan Mason proved he can play this game at a very high level on Saturday and now he'll get his opportunities to get on the field. But he's still a freshman and he'll be the first to tell you that he made a lot of mistakes and got away with them. So while I agree with your premise to a point, I will say that Wannstedt made it clear early on that Mason's playing time would increase as he got more comfortable and gained some experience. So I don't agree that he would have rotted on the bench for the whole year because I think he would have gotten into some games and proved he belongs.

Q: I think Frank Cignetti is doing a great job at bringing Stull along at a good pace. I thought he played well against Navy. The thing that scared me was that I felt he stared down receivers quite a bit. Do you think this is something that the tougher defenses Pitt will face in their upcoming games will key on and do you see it being a problem?

Mike Thompson

Pittsburgh, Pa.

ZEISE: I don't know about that. I've been pretty impressed with his ability to look off receivers, throw to his check down receivers, to move in the pocket and scan the field. He has played pretty well thus far. I think this is something to keep an eye on moving forward, but from what I've seen thus far he has pocket presence and he hasn't been telegraphing his passes. And he's also done a good job of getting the ball out of his hands quickly when he's had a chance to make quick throws.