Oltmanns: This year’s football team set to succeed, win Big East

It’s that time of the year again. Summer is over, meaning classes have started and the Pirates are 20 games out of first place. Maybe more importantly, college football season is starting.

For the Pitt football team, the season officially kicks off on Saturday, as it takes on Youngstown State.

Even though Pitt was picked to win the Big East, the buzz around this year’s team is lower than that of last season’s, which was ranked in the Preseason Top 25.But this year’s team has the potential to go further than last year’s and make it to a BCS Bowl Game.

The team is strong on both sides of the trenches and returns multiple starters at nearly every position, with a defense that has the makings to be dominant.

If that’s all true, then why all the talk of a down season for this year’s Panthers?

It’s because entering this season, there were two glaring questions that prevented the team from being ranked in the preseason polls — questions pertaining to the quarterback and running back positions.

But with training camp now over, it’s clear that Pitt will at least be fine at running back.

True freshmen Dion Lewis and Ray Graham have dazzled in camp, earning them the No. 1 and No. 2 running back slots, respectively.

At 5 feet 9 inches tall and 195 pounds, Lewis reminds me of Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who has a short and stocky build to go with a powerful running style. Meanwhile, Graham’s shifty moves have been making defenders look bad during the camp.

No one expects freshmen to pick up where LeSean McCoy left off, but there will not be as much of a drop-off in talent as people first expected.

The freshmen are running behind a strong offensive line that features seniors John Malecki and Robb Houser, as well as sophomore Lucas Nix, who has shot up the depth chart since he arrived.

Now onto the quarterback discussion that seemed to dominate Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt’s daily press briefings for the duration of camp: While Bill Stull was the starting quarterback coming into camp and still remains the first-string player, he didn’t do much in camp to solidify himself in that position. Redshirt freshman Tino Sunseri looked sharp for much of preseason practice and did enough to pass Pat Bostick — who is probably going to be redshirted — on the depth chart and put his name into the starting quarterback discussion.

The coaches said they want to slowly work Sunseri into game action. Wannstedt said, “We want to get [Sunseri] into as many games as we can.”

But, if Stull continues to struggle, why not just make the switch outright? It’s not like Stull knows the offense that much better than the younger quarterbacks now that new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has brought in a new system, and between the two signal callers, Sunseri had the better overall camp. Although there are two areas of concern on offense, the team looks better on defense.

The defensive line has at least three future NFL draft picks. Ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard should pick up right where they left off and create havoc off the edge on opposing offenses. Tackle Mick Williams is also very tough to contain, and the first team offense saw a lot of him in the backfield. Brandon Lindsey earned himself the primary backup defensive end position with his strong play for the duration of camp. That kind of depth can’t be understated as injuries are bound to happen over the course of a full season.

Linebackers Adam Gunn, Max Gruder, Greg Williams and Shane Murray will all get plenty of reps. Williams is another NFL-caliber player. And while Murray was a starter in 2007 before he injured his knee, he will come off the bench in games this season. This speaks to the caliber of players that Pitt has brought in since his injury.

In the secondary, cornerback and three-year starter Aaron Berry has become a lockdown corner while Dom DeCicco has looked solid at strong safety. Elijah Fields and Andrew Taglianetti will split time as the starting free safety for now, as both have competed hard all summer and deserve consideration to be the full-time starter.

Time for my prediction for the season. I have faith that one of the quarterbacks will break through, and even if they don’t, the team will be able to hang around in every game it plays simply because the defense is that good. I’m going to say the Panthers will finish 9-3 this season, win the Big East and go to a BCS bowl game for the first time in Wannstedt’s tenure at Pitt.

But, first they have to beat Youngstown State, as memories of Bowling Green still linger in the minds of Panther fans everywhere.