Pitt rips Eastern Michigan

Check out a slideshow from the game Pitt’s worst nightmare was no longer a dream Saturday…. Check out a slideshow from the game Pitt’s worst nightmare was no longer a dream Saturday.

Quarterback Bill Stull left the game with a little more than five minutes left in the third quarter after a botched pitch to LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Stull immediately doubled over in pain and grabbed his right hand, his throwing hand, then was walked off the field to get X-rays of his right thumb.

“We don’t know anything [more] right now,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said after the game.

Stull was immediately replaced by redshirt freshman Kevan Smith, who attempted only four passes in the remainder of the game.

Luckily for Pitt, the guys on the other side of the ball were still Eastern Michigan – the team that went 1-11 last season – and Pitt still had a steady lead when Smith entered the game. Pitt won, 27-3, at Heinz Field.

“We’re fortunate we weren’t behind or playing somebody else where we would have had to rely on [Smith] more,” Wannstedt said.

Smith took the remainder of the snaps and mostly handed the ball off. He completed 2 of 4 passes for 18 yards but didn’t drop back much more.

He did, however, get crushed on a sack, most likely causing the 36,183 people at Heinz Field to gasp simultaneously. After all, the only quarterback left behind Smith, freshman Pat Bostick, left training camp for personal issues.

“Pat Bostick’s ready to go,” Wannstedt countered. “If Pat Bostick has to play, he’s ready to do that.”

Smith said he was ready, even when Stull, the consensus leader among the team and coaches when training camp broke, got hurt and had to leave.

“I prepared all week like I was going to play,” Smith said. “I think I played well. I think the team had 100 percent confidence in me. I was ready to play. It’s not like [the injury] came out of nowhere.”

Wannstedt agreed.

“Kevan handled it well,” he said.

Smith showed a little shakiness as quarterback, though, fumbling a snap from center Chris Vangas late in the third quarter. But guard Joe Thomas recovered and Pitt retained possession.

“That’s inexcusable,” Wannstedt said of the fumbled snap.

But Smith also showed some skill, throwing an easy 11-yard fade to Marcel Pestano in the right corner of the end zone in the third quarter. Pestano caught the ball slightly out of bounds, though.

“I’m still going to work my tail off just like I did this week,” Smith said, regarding the possibility that he has to start again next week at home against Grambling State at noon. “I’m going to prepare to start.”

Before he was injured, Stull had a solid outing in his first collegiate start. His statistics were as efficient as Tyler Palko’s were last year, indicating that he ran the offense correctly.

Stull completed 14 of 20 passes for 177 yards and a score and showed good mobility.

“Billy played very well,” Wannstedt said. “He didn’t miss many throws.”

Although Stull’s injury hampered the win, there were definitely positives from the game.

Redshirt junior Scott McKillop made a sturdy debut replacing H.B. Blades at middle linebacker, recording eight tackles, one sack and a tackle for a loss, and the rest of the defense performed well.

“I think we erased some doubts about stopping the run,” McKillop said about the defense. “Everyone was fitting in the right gaps.”

The Pitt D limited Eastern Michigan to 145 yards total on offense and only 39 rushing yards. Eastern Michigan’s leading rusher, Pierre Walker, netted just 30 yards.

Wannstedt relayed positive feelings of McKillop and the linebackers after the game.

“[McKillop] was everything we’d hoped for. Adam Gunn was good. We’ll use them all,” Wannstedt said of his corps of linebackers that also includes Shane Murray and Dorin Dickerson, who both played, Murray starting. “I like our defense.”

Wannstedt also liked freshman running back LeSean McCoy, who made a good first official impression, appearing as spectacular as advertised.

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