There was never a question about middle linebacker Adam Gunn's talent. But after watching the Panthers' defense in back-to-back weeks -- one without him and one with him. -- there is a very strong case to be made that not only is he a good player, but perhaps he is the Panthers' most valuable player, at least on defense.

Consider two weeks ago the Panthers lost to North Carolina State, 38-31, and the defense was shredded for 530 yards -- including 322 through the air. Gunn, a sixth-year senior, was injured and didn't play that game and the defense -- and in particular the linebackers -- looked lost for the entire game.

Then Gunn returned to the lineup Friday for the Panthers' 35-10 victory at Louisville and the defense looked like an entirely different unit as they shut down the Cardinals (held them to 305 total yards) and even pitched a second-half shutout.

And yes, while there were some other mitigating factors in the two performances -- North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson is far better than any player on Louisville's offense and he got hot; and Pitt's defensive line played its most dominant game of the season by far against Louisville -- Gunn's influence on the game was easy to see.

That's despite that he only made four tackles and registered no other meaningful statistics -- no tackles for losses, no pass break-ups, no sacks.

So what exactly did Gunn's presence mean for the defense?

Simple, his experience and his overall knowledge of the defense enabled him to help get the other players around him -- particularly the two young outside linebackers, sophomores Greg Williams and Max Gruder -- into their positions and helped them recognize their assignments before the snaps.

That, according to everyone involved, made all the difference in the world for the Panthers because a week earlier, when freshman Dan Mason played in the middle, he was trying to figure out what was going on as much as the other two linebackers.

"After the debacle at N.C. State I thought that Max played well and Greg Williams finally played a game that was worthy of his ability," said Pitt defensive coordinator Phil Bennett yesterday at his weekly session with the media. "The thing that was huge was having Adam back. Just having his experience and his presence, especially with our underneath coverage [North Carolina State exploited Pitt's linebackers with short crossing routes that led to big gains], that we didn't have the week before was huge.

"We showed them a tape from the week before -- the same routes -- and then this week and the way we distributed ourselves and how we played it and it was a remarkable difference."

It should be noted that Mason played the week before against Navy because Gunn was injured and the Panthers' defense played extremely well.

But as Bennett explained, Navy runs the triple-option offense and runs the ball almost exclusively, so Mason didn't have to think about coverages and dropping back into coverage because he was running forward the whole game.

"I would hope my experience counts for something," Gunn said. "But defense is a team effort, we all need to help each other. The difference between me and a kid like Dan [Mason] is experience. I've seen just about all there is to see so I can help the other guys out, but they help me out as well. It is the ultimate team game, we all need each other."

Gruder said it was indeed helpful to have Gunn back because he has been in so many situations that he was able to see things happen before they developed. He said so much of what linebackers are asked to do is predicated on them being in the right place at the right time and having a player like Gunn to direct traffic made a big difference.

"We all have a lot of confidence in Dan Mason, but he's still learning, so having a sixth-year senior in there in Adam was definitely comforting because he knew everything that was going on," Gruder said. "He's a great leader, he knows the ropes and we all really look up to him both on and off the field. He is always trying to get Greg and I and Mason in here to watch extra film because he knows that's how we'll get better."

NOTES -- Chris Burns has been moved from defensive back to running back. Burns began the season at running back but moved to defensive back when it became clear that he was behind freshmen Dion Lewis and Ray Graham on the depth chart. Wannstedt said yesterday that Burns was moved back and will be the third tailback this week for the game Saturday against Connecticut. "We just didn't have time [to get him ready to play at defensive back]," Wannstedt said. "And [tailback] Shariff Harris has been slowed with an injury so Chris needs to be ready to go." Burns will also return kicks.

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