Wannstedt has Pitt football running toward opener

With less than a week remaining until Saturday’s spring game at Gateway High School, the Pitt… With less than a week remaining until Saturday’s spring game at Gateway High School, the Pitt football team got its first taste of full-speed scrimmage action yesterday at the UPMC Sports Complex.

“There’s no substitute for having the players out here in a full speed situation,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “So this was good today, we got just under 100 plays total. That’s what our goal was.”

The intensity was high from the start to the final play, as the third defensive unit produced a goal-line stand on running back John Pettiford, with the rest of the team gathered around, cheering and shouting as if the Big East title was on the line here in April.

That stop was representative of much of the day, with Paul Rhoads’ defensive units frequently getting the better of Matt Cavanaugh’s offensive teams, recording a number of sacks and tackles for losses, but failing to produce many turnovers, recovering only a pair of fumbles during the two-hour session.

One of the biggest battles of the preseason remains the battle for the starting running back position, although one back left enough of an impression in his coach’s mind to be mentioned in post-practice comments.

“Rashad Jennings … he has probably been as productive as any running back that we’ve had the entire spring, so I’m encouraged by that,” Wannstedt said.

Jennings, a true freshman who enrolled this January, played with both the first and second offenses during the scrimmage, but shone the brightest on one drive with the first team.

He began picking up a hard five yards on the first play, which he followed by converting a third-and-two play with a driving 10-yard run, breaking no fewer than four tackles along the way. He capped the drive with a long reception out of backfield, setting up a short Josh Cummings field goal.

Also working with the first offense in the backfield were Raymond Kirkley, who saw little action after the first series and Brandon Mason, who produced some yards on the ground later in the scrimmage.

“He’s probably the one back that’s made a lot of people miss. By that, I mean he’s got the most elusiveness of any back that we have, but today there were a couple balls on the ground,” Wannstedt said of Mason. “We’ve got to take a good look at film and make sure we’re securing the ball.”

While the big plays were held to a minimum, there were a few in the passing game during the scrimmage. Darrell Strong contributed with a 55-yard catch while playing on the first team, and fellow tight end Steve Buches followed that with a 15-yard touchdown catch on a play-action pass play.

Not to be outdone, the second team produced a Joe Flacco deep ball down the sideline to Derek Kinder, which drew a pass interference call in the end zone, and the third team completed a long pass from Matt Flaus to Allen Richardson, which set up the scrimmage-ending goal-line stand.

“We’re finding out who can make a play in the open field and who can’t, from an offensive and a defensive standpoint,” Wannstedt said.

On the defensive side of the ball, one of the biggest position battles is on the defensive line, where Wannstedt said everyone except defensive tackle Thomas Smith is going to continue to be rotated to find out who fits where.

“The one guy I should mention, because he really deserves it, is Chris McKillop,” Wannstedt added. “He is in the hunt for a starting position on our team, and I’m real encouraged, because nobody plays any harder. I think he’s found a home at defensive end, and playing defensive end in our scheme gives him the best chance to use his ability.”

Despite what he has seen in three weeks of practice, Wannstedt still wants a better idea of how his players will perform as a unit.

“Without having any preseason games [like in the NFL], this is going to be tough for me,” Wannstedt said. “In college, the first time you legitimately find out is when you line up and play for real. It makes it a little tougher to evaluate where we are as a team.”

The last chance for the Pitt staff to make those evaluations before school lets out for summer will be this week, with practices on Tuesday and Thursday, culminating with the spring game on Saturday.