OPINION

By Matt Hayes

updated 3:04 a.m. ET June 14, 2008

Matt Hayes

First, a disclaimer: Dave Wannstedt says Pat White is the best player in college football.

"It's not really close," says Pitt's straight-talking coach.

Now understand this: Wannstedt says his Panthers would've beaten West Virginia last year even with a healthy White playing all 60 minutes in the upset of the season.

"You hear 'If Pat White were healthy,' when people talk about that game," Wannstedt says. "I don't want to talk about ifs."

Lord knows he could. If Pitt hadn't lost starting quarterback Bill Stull for the season in the third quarter of Week 1, if Pitt hadn't been forced to play true freshmen at key spots because of injuries, if Pitt had made a play or two in four of its losses that were by a combined 18 points, maybe this surreal offseason hype wouldn't be so hard to believe.

Somehow, some way, one win -- a 13-9 punch in the gut in Morgantown -- has evolved into this:

"Pitt," says Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, "is going to be very good."

Why take Kelly's word for it? Because Kelly's team, ranked and rolling late last October, lost to Pitt in a game that became the turning point in Wannstedt's shaky tenure at his alma mater. The point where a program that had stumbled and bumbled through 29 previous games and lacked any semblance of an identity found itself and finally won a meaningful game. Cincinnati went on to finish 10-3 and in the top 20 in both polls.

Just how big was that win? The answer came a little more than a month and three tough losses later. Wannstedt loaded the entire team -- including all the redshirts in a highly rated freshman class -- on a bus and made the 75-mile trip to Morgantown for what those outside the program believed would be a beatdown from the opening kick. Instead, it became an epic game in the history of the bitter series.

"If we go down there and get our doors blown off," Wannstedt says, "it's a downer and a lot of these kids (freshmen) probably want to transfer."

They were all here earlier this month when spring practice began, when Wannstedt's biggest concern wasn't his job status or his team becoming bowl-eligible or the cloud of negativity that hovered most of the past two years. It was, of all things, reining in the hype.

"Let's face it -- we won five games last year," says All-American linebacker Scott McKillop. "We shouldn't be thinking about anything but putting one foot in front of the other."

But it's that next step that looks so tempting, so undeniably real.

Even though Pitt was 5-7 last year, it finished fifth in the nation in total defense, a number anyone outside the program would be shocked to hear. Seven starters return from that unit, including a defensive front that goes three deep at every position and has Wannstedt speaking in terms of -- ahem -- his days with the Miami Hurricanes in the late 1980s.

We're not talking Russell Maryland or Jerome Brown or Daniel Stubbs, but as new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett says, "Coach, we've got some players on that front four, if you know what I mean."

No wonder Pitt missed just two tackles that led to 8 yards in the win over West Virginia. "As good a defensive game as I've been around," Wannstedt says. Think about that when you replay the Fiesta Bowl in your mind, when you see all the tackles big, bad Oklahoma missed against West Virginia.

Now if only Pitt can catch up on offense -- specifically, the passing game. By the end of last season, its offense essentially was give the ball to electric freshman tailback LeSean McCoy and have everyone else stay out of the way. He finished with 1,328 rushing yards despite the fact freshman quarterback Pat Bostick struggled throwing the ball (13 interceptions, eight touchdown passes).

Stull, who was pushing senior starter Tyler Palko for playing time two years ago, will bring efficiency and leadership to the position and allow Pitt to use more of its offense. At one point last fall, offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh had whittled his playbook to a limited group of sets Bostick could handle.

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The week before the West Virginia game, McCoy scored three touchdowns against South Florida -- and Bostick gave two back on interceptions returned for touchdowns in an 11-point loss.

"We had nine guys at the line of scrimmage," says South Florida coach Jim Leavitt, "and (McCoy) was still getting his yards."

Earlier this month, McCoy met former Pitt great Tony Dorsett, who humbly stated McCoy will be better than Dorsett ever dreamed of being.

"He said if I stay levelheaded," McCoy says, "big things are coming my way."

That's the vibe on campus, too. No ifs about it.

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