Jogging onto the field on Saturday afternoon, quarterback Greg Cross prepared for his first snap… Jogging onto the field on Saturday afternoon, quarterback Greg Cross prepared for his first snap in a Pitt jersey. A few seconds later, he sprinted into the end zone and then back to the sidelines with his first major collegiate touchdown: a 17-yard rush to the left side. If you weren’t paying close attention, you might be confused at what you saw. So let’s take a look at the set Pitt showed. Pitt lined up in a shotgun formation with Cross and starting quarterback Bill Stull both in the backfield. Here’s where it gets tricky. Stull originally stood behind the center, with Cross to his left. Stull checked out the defense and nodded at Cross. Cross then moved into the quarterback slot, with Stull immediately to his right. Receivers Oderick Turner and T.J. Porter lined up on the left side, with Cedric McGee and Derek Kinder on the right. Not sure what to expect, the defense stayed back. Stull then went in motion to the right sideline, acting as a fifth receiver. Center Robb Houser snapped the ball to Cross, who dropped back momentarily, then sprinted towards the left side of the line, making three defenders miss and cutting through the corner of the end zone for the score. That’s not too bad. There are three reasons this play worked. The obvious one is that Cross is a gifted athlete and is capable of making defenders miss. The second is that the offensive line blocked well enough for Cross to get out of the backfield and into some open space where he had the opportunity to make some moves. The third is the most important: The Iowa defense respected the Pitt passing game. If it weren’t for that, the play never would have worked. Pitt started the drive with three consecutive passes, completing the first for a gain of five yards and the second for 20. Tailback LeSean McCoy then rushed for nine yards, and after being stuffed on third down, faced fourth and two. Stull completed a pass to Conredge Collins for a first down, then to Porter on the next play to move the chains again. In the first nine plays of the drive, Stull completed four of his six passing attempts. That showed Iowa that Pitt could, and would, throw the ball. On the 10th play of the drive, Cross entered and did what he does best: run. If Pitt didn’t move the ball down the field by passing the ball, Iowa never would have backed its defense up. The Hawkeyes would have loaded the box, eliminating any chance of a Cross touchdown. But there’s more. This play had the chance of working either way. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said after the game that both quarterbacks had options, meaning if the defense would have loaded the box, Stull would have been the quarterback, and Cross would have motioned out. In that case, the play likely wouldn’t have been a designed draw, but it would have had options with the five-receiver set. With Stull’s accuracy in the short game, this play might have worked, too. But if the defense is spread out, the field was wide open for the run. One Pitt player said the play was designed completely as a draw for Cross. The receivers were simply there as decoys. This means Pitt still isn’t entirely comfortable with Cross’ decision-making or throwing ability. But this might change. If Pitt can continue to complete passes early, it will have a chance to run plays with Cross more often. And if these plays start showing passing options as well, the offense could see some real explosion. Imagine if Cross becomes comfortable making more throws. If the defense assumes Cross is running, he’ll be able to roll out and make the toss to a receiver in single coverage. If they drop back and cover the receivers, he’ll do what he did on Saturday. Either way, Pitt needs to get Cross into the playbook a little more. He needs to be making handoffs and some shorter passes. This way, the defense won’t always know what’s coming at it. After the game, Wannstedt said he plans on doing this. If opposing teams know Cross is running on every play, it will mean more 10-yard losses ‘- like the one we saw in the fourth quarter on Saturday in his second career play at Pitt. We’ll likely see a good amount of Cross on Saturday against a Syracuse defense that can’t seem to keep anyone out of the end zone. It’ll be a good chance to try some new things and give Cross some experience. And if the dual-quarterback threat can be more consistent in the game plan, it will just mean more and more problems for the opposing defense. –Pitt football questions? E-mail Mike Gladysz at [email protected]