SDWC: Will Elijah Fields start and be near 100%?

Paul Zeise: I'd say right now he's somewhere between doubtful and questionable and if he does play I don't expect him to be 100 percent. If he can't go it will be interesting to see how the defensive backfield shakes out. If you look at the depth chart I would guess that Irvan Brown would start and Jared Holley would be the third safety -- but again, this is an injury situation so it will be very hush, hush until game time.

Pitt_s_It: Paul: Do you think it is odd that after several years of what is evaluated as good recruiting, Pitt has such weak defensive backs and a scarcity of good experienced linebackers ?

Paul Zeise: You know this is something Chris Peak from Pantherlair, a good friend of mine who lives and breathes recruiting, and I talk about often -- while the recruiting has been excellent in some areas, it has certainly lacked in some - and therein lies the flaw in some of the recruiting team rankings - they count stars but they don't take into account what positions are being filled and how well rounded a class is. I don't know about defensive back just yet because I think there are some good young ones on the team, but boy have they missed on some linebackers. I think this is a very good observation. I think Gruder and Williams and Mason are good -- but as we saw last week, if you have to go beyond that it is a little scary. You hope that Manny Williams will develop into a good player, but there are a lot of questions to be answered about a lot of the younger players at that position.

PittDC: What is the ticket situation for Saturday? Any chance of beating the Navy crowd numbers?

Paul Zeise: I haven't heard a specific number yet but yesterday I was told that they are expecting a crowd of 50,000 +. So that is a good start -- if it is a nice day, who knows, the walk up crowd and everything else, perhaps this could be a 55,000 or more kind of day, but I'm not sure it will get that high. It should be a good crowd though, especially given the later start time and nothing else really going on in town.

burgh87: Paul: With all the weapons at Stull's disposal, why can't he seem to spread the ball around to everyone, someones usually open on a down and out or a seam route. He shouldn't have a problem getting the ball to someone? Your thoughts?

Paul Zeise: I think he has spread it around pretty good. I mean, he's using Dickerson, Baldwin, the backs out of the backfield, Oderick Turner, Cedric McGee -- he's been throwing a lot of balls to open receivers, which means he is making the right reads and progressions. I don't know if this is a veiled way to say -- he's not throwing it to Nate Byham enough, but Nate will get his shots when he's open. I don't know how anyone could argue with what Stull has done thus far outside of a few bad passes at the end of the N.C. State game.

SDWC: With 5 of the remaining 7 games at home do you have a better feel for the season at this point? I really think they go 9-3 or 10-2 with a 6-1 conference record. I see a potential conference loss to either WVU or Cincy (not both) and the Notre Dame game is a coin flip. Making a BCS bowl may come down to the tiebreakers.

Paul Zeise: Yes, the home games down the stretch are very big for this team (though lately they've been better on the road it seems) but I'd say this -- we will know a whole lot more about this team in three weeks. Why? Because Pitt has never beaten Connecticut, Rutgers and South Florida all in the same season. If the Panthers are 3-0 in this stretch, then the 9 and 10 win projections will have a lot more validity in my eyes. I mean, really, they've played five mediocre or worse teams to this point and are 4-1 so while they've handled their business, it is really hard to figure out exactly how good they are. I think these next three games will provide stiff challenges to the Panthers offense because all three teams have excellent defenses so we will see if the offense is for real or was a product of playing five bad defenses. I'm leaning towards believing the offense is not a mirage and that it will continue to play well but again, that's why they play the games.

burgh87: Thoughts on a final score?

Paul Zeise: Hmmm, well let's see -- I predicted 41-0 Pitt over YSU (final was 35-3 so I was close); I predicted 17-13 Pitt over Buffalo (I was not close other than having the winner); I predicted 49-48 Pitt over Navy; (I was not close but did pick the right winner); I predicted 24-17 Pitt over N.C. State (hey, that was the score at one point in the third quarter ... but we all know how that turned out). and last week I predicted 27-17 Pitt over Louisville (That wasn't actually that bad and likely would have been close to the score had the Cardinals not fouled up a few late drives with dumb penalties) ... so you see a pattern -- I generally pick the right winner but am off on the score (and like I say, if I knew the score before the game I'd live in Vegas and own a sportsbook ...) so with that in mind, here we go -- Pitt 23, UConn 13.

MPM: Shouldn't we attribute some of the defensive backfield's problems on the lack of a consistent pass rush? The secondary played reasonably well against Louisville because the team had five sacks, and was consistently getting to the quarterback. If the front seven can reliably put heat on the quarterback, I think the secondary will be OK.

Paul Zeise: Yes absolutely, the pass rush wasn't as strong the first four games as it was against Louisville. That being said, the secondary has had a hard time covering guys all season so while a better and more consistent pass rush will certainly help, the secondary needs to start making more plays to defend and even pick off passes. There were a few times against N.C State when Russell Wilson threw the ball up for grabs and Pitt's defensive backs failed to make a play. That isn't on the pass rush, it is on the defensive backs.

TeeJay: I know this is a dead horse to beat but will Wanny ever change the 2nd half philosophy of 2 runs up the gut, a 3-yard screen pass and a punt when we have the lead?

Paul Zeise: I don't know, but Louisville was a good start as he did go to the air some more in the second half once Pitt got the lead. And it is hard to argue with the drive where he ran Ray Graham nine times in 12 plays because, well, they were ripping off chunks of yards and scored a touchdown. My sense is that this is just one of those "old dog, new tricks" type of things and it is never going to change dramatically as that is just who he is and what he believes in. But this season more than ever, with a defense that shaky, I'd say he better learn to open it up a little more in the second half with a lead and let his offense win some games for him or the N.C. State game (where Pitt loses a scoring-fest) could be repeated a couple of times before the end of the season.

AnotherTurmanINT: Looking back on it, was it a mistake to play Tino? They should have just played Bostick to get him out of here.

Paul Zeise: No, why? Sunseri already took a redshirt last year and there is nothing wrong with having two quarterbacks with at least some experience to compete for the starting job once the senior starter graduates. And Pat Bostick is actually the perfect kind of back-up quarterback for the next two years if he doesn't win the starting job. He is smart, he knows the offense as well as any of the coaches, he has a great attitude and is a team player who won't mope and whine and he'll do what it takes to help the starter be successful. He is a Pitt graduate assistant still in uniform -- mark it down, he is going to be a coach some day and I'll be surprised if he isn't a big-time success. He is just one of those guys who loves it and understands it -- and there is nothing wrong with having a guy like that around even if he is just holding a clipboard because I can promise you this - he has helped Bill Stull see some things on game day and he's even helped giving little tips and suggestions for plays

ImmaManIm40: Paul, we need these companion piece in the Redshirt Blog: 10 (11) most shocking WINS since 2002 -- heart breakers for opponent -- and 10 (11) worst losses in program history. Smizik can help?

Paul Zeise: I've been working on it - I just haven't had much time to finish it. I'm also working on my top 20 song suggestions for the marketing team.....

Cool_Hand_Nuke: Paul, what are the odds that we'll see the Utah series spur on more West Coast series? UCLA? Oregon? etc

Paul Zeise: Not great. I think teams would like to minimize travel to the West Coast for obvious reasons. I don't expect Pitt to start signing up to play Pac-10 teams, though the Panthers were working on a home-and-home with Cal, so who knows, maybe that will be coming down the pike as well.

TeeJay: Just looking at the teams how they stand today, do you think we have enough speed in the defensive backfield to keep up with Cincinnati?

Paul Zeise: I think that game more than anything else will be on Dave Wannstedt, Phil Bennett, Greg Gattuso and Joe Tumpkin. Yes, players have to make plays but scheme and gameplan against that kind of offense is going to be the key. The Panthers need to come up with a great game plan that day and I believe that the players are in place to execute it if it is drawn up correctly. That will certainly be a game where the coaching staff will earn its money. And if you don't believe me about scheme against those kinds of offenses -- how many people, me included, thought Pitt had enough speed to slow down West Virginia's offense in 2007? And the Panthers pitched a near shut out that day, mostly because the coaches put together a scheme that put that spread offense on the defensive all day long and the players went out and executed to near perfection.

Princell: If memory serves me correctly, the O Line is averaging less than a sack per game... With all this talk of a strong UConn defense, do you think we will see the strong O Line play continue, or is this a come back to reality type game?

Paul Zeise: I don't think the offensive line is going to be an issue. I said it at the start of the year, I think once this unit comes together and Lucas Nix gets up to speed, this unit is going to be pretty good. UConn may get a couple of sacks, but I don't think by any measure the Panthers offensive line will be overmatched. I'll be shocked if this unit doesn't have another good game.

WannyBall: Stull has been better than most people thought through the first 4 games of year. However, I still think this offense is missing out on throwing the ball down the middle of the field. They always seem to make big plays when they do every once in a while throw down the middle. Figured it would change with Cignetti but guess not.

Paul Zeise: They've thrown to the middle some but the two best players -- Dorin Dickerson and Jonathan Baldwin are generally on the sidelines, so why wouldn't you throw it there? Again, Nate Byham, who is in the middle of the field, will get his shots but right now Bill Stull is taking what he sees and getting rid of the ball quickly. That is a great start.

burgh87: Any elegibilty left for Polamalu for the Uconn game? Might need him..

Paul Zeise: Well, I don't think Pitt's defense will be the unit under fire this week as I don't expect the Huskies offense to be explosive or high-powered.

TeeJay: Any chance the hammerheads will get off Billy Stull's back so he can have a relaxed home game? I mean hasn't the kid earned a break from the booing?

Paul Zeise: Yes, I think he's played well enough that people will give him a good ovation and he'll feel loved again. Now, if he throws a few picks, all bets are off but you'd hope he's built up enough positive equity that he'll have the fans at his back no matter what.

WannyBall: What was up with Pitt going up 21-10 with a few big plays and then coming out on the next series and running three straight screens. They had a chance to knock Louisville out at that point. Conservative, conservative.

Paul Zeise: They knocked Louisville out with the long throw to Baldwin -- the Cardinals quit right after that play, it deflated them and it was easy to see. And then the real knockout punch came via Ray Graham running the ball nine times in a drive and scoring a touchdown. I really didn't have much of a problem with anything they did in the second half. I thought they turned up the heat when they needed to.

pol: Is it on Dickerson or the coaching staff that it took until his senior season to find a position for him to excel? He seems like a nightmare of there for opposing teams

Paul Zeise: I think a little of both. It is on Dickerson, however, that this isn't his last season as he could have taken a redshirt his first year and had another year to play. Of course, the way he is playing, he probably wouldn't come back for his senior year anyway as I think he has put himself on the radar to become a fairly high draft choice - especially once he goes to the combine and runs his 4.3 or whatever and benches 225 a bunch of times. And while it is easy to say the coaches messed this up, Dorin will tell you, he's far more focused and mature than he's ever been and that has been a big part of his success as well.

Farmer_Ted: Since Harris is hurt, Chris Burns is now the No. 3 tailback. What happened to Collier? hurt? transfer?

Paul Zeise: He's the back-up fullback behind Henry Hynoski.

Princell: The Panther defense last week still gave up two 15 yard personal foul penalties in the final Lousiville drive before the half last week that should have spelled 7 points rather than 3 ... When is Wannstedt finally going to say enough is enough?

Paul Zeise: I think he has been at his breaking point with all of the penalties. He had the officials at practice again yesterday and he again had a very stern talk about this issue so it isn't for lack of trying. I suppose a few demotions are in order, but in some ways that can become like cutting off your nose to spite your face because you don't want your best players sitting on the sidelines.

pitt_is_it: Do you think Chris Burns is going to be moved back to defense?

Paul Zeise: In the offseason, perhaps, though it doesn't sound like it was a successful transition at all so I'd say he is more likely to remain a running back.

burgh87: I know one game doesn't make everything better, but nice to see fewer penalties in the Louisville game ...

Paul Zeise: Yes, this has been a point of emphasis and I don't think they had any after the half (or maybe one). So it is something that the Panthers need to improve on each week but that was a good start.

ImmaManIm40: When's the last time you fielded a question about that new stadium planned in Panther Hollow? Do you miss them?

Paul Zeise: Yes, almost as much as script questions ...

WannyBall: Maximillion Gruder seems to me that he struggles in space in pass defense. Has the coaching staff thought about removing him more on passing downs?

Paul Zeise: No, they want him to learn to play linebacker and unfortunately the only way to learn is to experience it. There are some situations where the Panthers go to their bandit or nickel sub-packages but for the most part, Gruder is being baptised by fire and to his credit, he's improved each week and he'll continue to improve as he experiences more situations.

pitt_is_it: So if a 10-1 Pitt teams beats a 11-0 Cinci team is there any chance Pitt could actually sneak into the BCS title game?

Paul Zeise: Doubtful. A one-loss Big East team just won't have enough power points (strength of schedule, quality wins) not too mention won't like be higher than one loss teams from the SEC or Big 12 or even Pac 10, so I'd say there is almost no chance of that happening even if Pitt finishes 11-1.

Cool_Hand_Nuke: With every Hubris (WVU win, etc) having its Nemesis (Bowling Green loss, etc), what is this team REALLY going to have to do in the future to appease the masses and reduce the embarrassing hiccups in the road to proverbial "Next Level"?

Paul Zeise: Win those games they are supposed to win and beat mediocre teams like N.C. State, especially when you have a 14-point lead on them in the second half. Until Pitt consistently wins all of the games it is supposed to win, there is no next level being achieved.

Paul Zeise: Well it has been fun, but I have to run. Thanks for joining in and for the good questions, let's do it again next Thursday!!!

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