Coming off a season in which they finished next-to-last in rushing offense in the Big East,… Coming off a season in which they finished next-to-last in rushing offense in the Big East, the Pitt Panthers have a lot of room to improve.

And they have the talent to do it.

The Panthers return their starting tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling and starting fullback Conredge Collins, who will both be juniors. Behind them will be a few competent backups and ballyhooed freshman LeSean McCoy.

McCoy, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound tailback, comes to the Panthers from Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y., where he gained 547 yards on 77 attempts and scored four touchdowns last season.

But that’s not where McCoy earned his star reputation. At Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa., McCoy finished as Pennsylvania’s ninth all-time leading rusher with 6,640 yards and 75 touchdowns. During his injury-shortened senior season in 2005, he ran for 859 yards and 10 touchdowns in just more than three games.

McCoy looks to push for significant playing time during his freshman campaign, but he has a few rungs to climb in order to supersede Stephens-Howling as the starter.

Stephens-Howling enters the season coming off two successful campaigns in which he has led the Panthers in rushing. Last season, which was his first as the full-time starter, he ran for 893 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Described as “explosive” and “a big play waiting to happen” by Pitt running backs coach David Walker, the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Stephens-Howling looks to lead the Panthers again in rushing.

Walker’s first description of Stephens-Howling may be a little misleading, seeing as the “explosive” running back he described ran for more than 100 yards in a single game only three times last season and accumulated more than half of his touchdowns in those games.

Stephens-Howling failed to reach 100 yards rushing against lackluster opponents like The Citadel, South Florida and Toledo. But early-season games against Eastern Michigan and Grambling State could boost Stephens-Howling’s level of play and allow him to build momentum for later in the season against tougher opponents like Virginia, Michigan State and Louisville.

He’ll have McCoy and Kevin Collier pushing him for time as well.

Collier, a sophomore, enters the season following a successful 2006 campaign in which he ran for 115 yards on 33 carries and scored two touchdowns as a solid backup.

Collier also can be an out-of-the-backfield pass catching threat to the defense as he averaged six yards a catch in limited playing time last season.

Many also expected to have sophomore Dorin Dickerson in the backfield, but the versatile athlete bulked up over the winter and expects to compete for a linebacker spot.

Rounding out the tailback depth chart are true freshmen Shariff Harris and Greg Williams, but neither projects to see significant playing time.

At fullback, Conredge Collins returns as starter to be one of the Big East Conference’s top players at the position.

Not only is he a strong blocker, the 230-pound Collins has great hands and vision to make him one the most versatile fullbacks around. Last season, his first as a starter, he averaged four yards per carry and nearly 10 yards per reception. He also scored four total touchdowns.

Backing up Collins is former backup and part-time starter at tailback Shane Brooks. The bruising Brooks, out of Duquesne High School which was closed in June, finished second on the team in rushing last season with 218 yards on 50 attempts.

His power attributes and running style make him an ideal fullback, and with little depth at fullback, the converted Brooks falls in as the backup on the depth chart.

Brooks could be surpassed, though, by incoming freshman fullback Henry Hynoski, who was Pennsylvania’s Class A Player of the Year for Southern Columbia.

Walk-ons Adam Atiyeh and Chris Bova will also compete at the position.