Pitt's secondary didn't play very well early on but seemed to right itself as the season was heading down the stretch.

Then Cincinnati came to town and all Bearcats quarterback Tony Pike did was throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-44 victory Dec. 5 at Heinz Field. Many of the same questions from earlier in the season about the secondary seemed to pop up again.

But Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt doesn't see it that way.

Not even a little bit.

Wannstedt said the secondary played consistently well after the debacle at North Carolina State -- Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson torched the Panthers for 322 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-31 victory -- and made far more good plays than bad ones, even in the Cincinnati game.

In fact, he is quick to point out that the Panthers were among conference leaders in interceptions -- 14, good for third in the Big East Conference -- and that they intercepted three of Pike's passes and were in position to intercept a fourth but dropped the football.

"We definitely improved in the secondary as the year went on," Wannstedt said. "I mean, Dom DeCicco is as good a safety as there is in the conference, he's a legitimate All-Big East safety. I think we found a player in Jarred Holley, I think he'll be special.

"Then our corners were all veterans -- and they all improved from that slow start as the season went on. So, it is going well for that group."

As the Panthers (9-3) continue to prepare for the Meineke Car Care Bowl Saturday against North Carolina (8-4), Wannstedt will begin to focus on trying to improve the unit for next year -- something that might be difficult considering starting cornerbacks Jovani Chappel and Aaron Berry are graduating.

Holley, who played safety this season, likely will move to corner and step into one of those two vacant spots and redshirt junior Ricky Gary, who has started a few games the past two seasons, will be the favorite to take over the other spot.

The unit will be bolstered by the return of safety Andrew Taglianetti, who had a season-ending knee injury in the second game. His return will allow coaches the luxury to move Holley and Elijah Fields will return to his bandit linebacker/safety role in the nickel packages.

So the parts are there but it is clear the secondary starters will have to play better and more consistently than they have this season if the Panthers' defense is going to grow into a dominant unit.

Wannstedt, however, refuses to say the group was a disappointment and said that contrary to popular belief, the unit wasn't responsible for any of Pitt's three losses.

"I don't think [the secondary] has been a disappointment at all," Wannstedt said. "If you look at the games we did win they made plays. And to reflect back then and say didn't we win a game, I definitely wouldn't look at the secondary and say it was their fault.

"They did have some penalties in the North Carolina State game but in the West Virginia game those guys played well, and if you look at the Cincinnati game, they had the one long touchdown pass but we had three guys covering him and the ball was underthrown but our guys played it great.

"In all honesty, from a position standpoint I wouldn't put them in any other category than anybody else."

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