Stephens-Howling leaves game with bruised ribs

Freshman running back LeSean McCoy got his first collegiate touchdown, capping Pitt’s second… Freshman running back LeSean McCoy got his first collegiate touchdown, capping Pitt’s second drive on a 5-yard run with a little more than eight minutes left in the first quarter.

Then he got his second collegiate touchdown.

Then he got his third.

He didn’t start, but McCoy entered the game on Pitt’s second drive and assumed the lone back role when junior LaRod Stephens-Howling left the game midway through the first.

McCoy scored Pitt’s first three touchdowns, all within five minutes of each other. His stat-line for the first quarter: Five carries, 53 yards, three touchdowns.

McCoy finished with 107 yards, the first 100-yard performance by a Pitt freshman running back since Stephens-Howling did it against Syracuse two years ago.

Stephens-Howling leaves game

Stephens-Howling left the game with a team trainer because of bruised ribs with 8:11 left in the first quarter.

His status was not known after the game.

“He wanted to go in the second half, but we held him back,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Growing pains

Redshirt freshman Kevan Smith showed some of his youth at quarterback midway through the second quarter.

In the grasp of a Grambling State defender and going down for a sack, Smith failed to tuck the ball, holding it free in his right hand as if trying to flip it to a back before hitting the turf.

There was no back in the area and Smith fumbled, giving Grambling State a first down on the Pitt 17-yard line. The result was a Grambling State field goal.

“It was supposed to be a little flip pass,” Smith said. “It’s definitely my fault. I should have known to tuck it.”

Bostick makes shaky debut

Freshman quarterback Pat Bostick made an ugly collegiate debut with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

He collided with McCoy when handing him the ball on his first play and was intercepted over the middle on his second.

On the second series, he let the play clock expire for a delay of game penalty, forcing Pitt into a third-down-and-20 situation, leading to a punt.

McGlynn starts again

Fifth-year senior Mike McGlynn started the game at right tackle in place of sophomore Joe Thomas, who was unimpressive against Eastern Michigan last week and had been nursing minor injuries.

“It was good to get Mike McGlynn back,” Wannstedt said.?

McGlynn, still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, was held out of all of training camp and the majority of last week’s game but got in one play at the end to keep his consecutive games-played streak alive. It’s now at 37.

Grambling State band

The halftime snack-bar precession was much lighter than usual. Most of the 30,852 in attendance stayed to watch the Grambling State band, which played a popular halftime set before the Pitt band.

They got a standing ovation when they finished.

Special teams king

Pitt blocked its first punt in nearly two years when Brian Kaiser stuffed Grambling State punter Tim Manuel in the first quarter.