Friday, April 18th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Stull possibly to be Pitt’s starting QB
The Pitt Panthers and Dave Wannstedt have a major conundrum entering tomorrow’s Blue-Gold Game, the final event of spring practices. They still are not sure about who their starting quarterback will be at the start of the regular season. Yesterday, Wannstedt said that Bill Stull would be the starting quarterback if there were a game this weekend. The choice may raise some eyebrows, but is probably the correct decision.
Stull, a redshirt junior, has spent the most time in Pitt’s system and is the oldest of the quarterbacks, but he is probably not the best. Last year was supposed to be Stull’s year, with Pat Bostick maybe receiving some playing time toward the end of the season, with the two kind of splitting time this season if Stull was ineffective or Stull holding the job outright if he was good.
In the first game of the 2007 season, against Eastern Michigan, however, Stull went down to an injury. He had looked very solid prior to that injury, but it was one that would keep him out for the remainder of the season.
In the interim, Wannstedt attempted to turn to Kevan Smith to fill the void left by Stull, deeming Bostick unprepared for the challenges of being a Division I quarterback. Smith looked absolutely atrocious, embarrassing himself and Pitt during his time on the field and leading to Bostick’s being inserted into the lineup beginning with a portion of the Connecticut game.
Bostick was turnover-prone throughout the season, demonstrating the flaws that commonly plague freshman quarterbacks such as throwing into traffic or misreading a defense. He did, however, mature as the season went on and, along with fellow freshman LeSean “Shady” McCoy, led Pitt to a seminal victory over West Virginia (13-9, anyone?).
Bostick’s teammates know that he can lead them to victory, but he still hasn’t shown an ability to win games. That means that, as long as the offense is based around McCoy, Bostick will do just enough to not lose. It also means that Bostick may or may not have the ability to make the deep throw or to work in a pressure situation. Under Bostick, who went 3-6 as a starter, Pitt lost four games by a touchdown or less. As Bostick matures, Pitt may win some of those games, but this is a team with enough talent to hope for a legitimate bowl berth, if not a Big East Championship, this season.
That means that Stull needs to be the starting quarterback, with athletic transfer Greg Cross serving as the Tim Tebow, coming in during red zone situations in order to provide the Pitt offense with a more mobile dynamic from the quarterback. This season is essentially like last season, with Bostick ready to step in if Stull falters, but with Stull receiving the first crack at starting.
And that’s fair to all of the quarterbacks, but, more importantly, is fair to their teammates and to the Pitt fans.
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