Notebook: Wannstedt looks to get Cross more involved

Crossing quarterbacks Greg Cross’ first play for the Pitt football team couldn’t have turned… Crossing quarterbacks Greg Cross’ first play for the Pitt football team couldn’t have turned out any better: a 17-yard touchdown run to give Pitt the lead. His second play, which didn’t come until the fourth quarter, couldn’t have been much worse: a 10-yard loss on a rollout to the right side. Cross, who transferred to Pitt in the spring, brings speed to the quarterback position. But because Saturday was his first action behind center, Dave Wannstedt and the rest of the Pitt coaching staff are still trying to figure out when they should and shouldn’t use him. Still, Wannstedt said that Pitt needs to use Cross more. ‘We’ve got to do a better job getting him some more looks, handing the ball off and running some regular plays,’ said Wannstedt after Pitt’s win over Iowa on Saturday. Wannstedt added that Pitt had multiple sets to use Cross in but just couldn’t come up with the right time to get him in. In no rush Through three games, LeSean McCoy is still without a 100-yard game. He had 18 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown on Saturday, and he is averaging 3.8 yards per carry. That’s one less yard per touch than he averaged last year, when he was the Big East conference’s rookie of the year and ran for more than 1,300 yards. Pitt fullback Conredge Collins, who’s ranked as the top senior fullback in the nation by ESPN.com’s Mel Kiper Jr., had only two rushes for four net yards Saturday. Through three games, Collins’ touches are down from the past. He’s carried the ball three times for 11 total yards. Last season, Collins carried the ball 33 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also caught seven balls for 60 yards. In 2006, he carried the ball 29 times for 115 yards and had 20 receptions for 198 yards. Saturday marked his first reception of this season: a six-yard gain. Stullin’ out Quarterback Bill Stull’s attempts and completions have dropped in each of Pitt’s three games so far this season. In Pitt’s opener against Bowling Green, Stull attempted 51 passes. The next week against Buffalo, he let it go 33 times. On Saturday against Iowa, he attempted just 25 passes. Through three games, he has one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown and three interceptions.