There have been plenty of oohs and aahs from the sidelines this spring after junior receiver Jonathan Baldwin makes a fantastic catch in practice. But even Baldwin's athletic prowess has a hard time matching the sideline excitement when fullback Henry Hynoski catches a ball in the open field and has his sights set on a cornerback or safety.

There is nothing quite like the anticipation of a collision that is going to be completely one-sided.

"I look for contact," said Hynoski, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound junior. "I'm the type of player who thrives off contact, especially when I see someone right in front of me. Chances are, I'm not going to sidestep you. I'm going right after you. You have to do what you do well, and that's what I do well."

Hynoski primarily has been a blocker in his first two seasons, but his role is going to expand in the fall. The Panthers lost two of their top four receiving threats when tight end Dorin Dickerson and receiver Oderick Turner graduated, and the coaches are looking for new weapons in the passing game.

"Henry is a guy who is a better player with the ball in his hands than anyone gives him credit for," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "With Dorin gone and Nate [Byham] gone, we've got to find some ways to get the ball to some people. One guy [defenses] know we'll get the ball to is Baldwin, and they're going to have three guys covering him, so it's pretty simple that we're going to have to find other people, in other ways, to throw the football to. And Henry is capable of doing that."

Hynoski was one of the most prolific running backs in the history of Pennsylvania high school football at perennial power Class A Southern Columbia. Hynoski rushed for 7,165 yards and 113 touchdowns in his career. As a senior, he rushed for 2,407 yards and 42 touchdowns.

After two seasons of being mostly a battering-ram blocker for Dion Lewis and LeSean McCoy, Hynoski is champing at the bit to being a bigger part of the offense.

"I'm thrilled about it," he said. "I love when the ball is in my hands. I was used to that all throughout high school. Now I have the opportunity as a fullback to run, block and catch equally. I'm just thrilled to death about it. I'm just very excited that I have the opportunity."

Hynoski's main job will continue to be the lead blocker for Lewis. But on a team with so much skill, from Baldwin's acrobatic plays at receiver to Lewis' stunning moves in the backfield, Hynoski brings a physical presence to the team that has its own effects on the defense.

"I feel my role on this team is to be a hitter," Hynoski said. "I just feel like if you make plays like that, when you run someone over, it wears a defense down, and it gets guys on your team pumped up. I'm going to have to do what I always do and that's block. But now that I'm able to block and run and catch and be the complete package, I'm really enjoying this a lot more."

NOTES -- Wannstedt saw some positives with his offense and negatives with his defense Saturday in the first live scrimmage of the spring. He said he was "very pleased" with quarterbacks Tino Sunseri and Pat Bostick and had high praise for his receivers and running backs. "For the most part, both the first and second units played fairly clean," Wannstedt said. "You didn't see the ball on the ground, no turnovers, very few penalties. When we play like that on offense, we're pretty tough to stop because of our balance." ... The defense was taken to task for not playing as well. Two starters were missing -- safety Dom DeCicco (foot) and defensive end Jabal Sheard (wrist) -- but that did not stop Wannstedt from challenging his defensive players. "You didn't have the defensive dominance that you expect," Wannstedt said. "Is the offense better? Sure. But we did not dominate and make enough plays by any means on defense. Hopefully [Saturday] was a wake-up call. It's a changing of the guard."... The injury to Sheard is not considered serious. He has a ligament injury and the wrist is in a cast, but Wannstedt hopes he can do some limited work in practice this week. ... Sunseri finished the scrimmage 13 for 18 with four touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. ... Bostick was 10 for 14 with one touchdown pass. ... The leading rusher was Ray Graham (29 yards) and the leading receiver was Mike Shanahan (52 yards). ... Tyrone Ezell led the defense with seven tackles and a sack.

Check out Ray Fittipaldo's Pitt B-Ball blog and Paul Zeise's Pitt Stop videos about football exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.