Not sure what Dave Wannstedt was waiting for, but the Pitt coach finally announced that Bill Stull would be the Panthers’ starting QB this season.
Stull took the majority of first-team snaps in practices and clearly outperformed his competition, so this is hardly any surprise. The redshirt junior completed 14-of-20 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown against Eastern Michigan last Sept. 1 before tearing ligaments in the thumb on his right (throwing) hand in the third quarter, which ended his season.
"A lot of guys have injuries, and they approach the redshirt differently," Wannstedt said. "For some guys, it's a year off. For some guys, it's a year to sulk; for some guys, they take advantage of it.
"I think that's what Billy did. He's a little bit stronger. His arm is stronger. He was in every meeting last year, so it gave him another year to learn the offense and see defenses and try to make himself better."
Wannstedt kept the competition open to include sophomores Pat Bostick and Kevan Smith, both of whom struggled last season. Bostick started eight games last fall, passing for 1,500 yards with eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while Smith started three games and passed for 415 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. Pitt's pass offense averaged only 178.1 yards per game, which ranked 104th among 119 Division I-A teams nationally.Wannstedt said the competition for the backup between Bostick and Smith will continue.
The No. 25 Panthers host Bowling Green Aug. 30 in their season opener. Pitt is a 12.5-point favorite on WagerWeb.com.
"It feels awesome, but I'm just glad that I was able to prove to the coaches, myself and my teammates that I've earned the spot again," Stull said. "It's out in the open, and now I'm ready to move on to Bowling Green."
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