Michigan State quarterback Drew Stanton might be a Heisman Trophy candidate, but even such a long since overwrought accolade as that essentially undersells him.

Stanton, the Spartans' 230-pound passer, also happens to be the best running back on his team, and only the supposition that he likely is the best receiver on his team as well kept Pitt from getting beaten by about 100-0 yesterday.

Except for the coverage sack that ended Michigan State's first possession, only his receivers dropping passes and his lineman holding Panthers could stop Stanton as he almost single-handedly took Pitt apart, 38-23, sprinting all over the Heinz Field lawn like a stray dog nobody could catch.

"Our front people controlled, pretty much, the game," said Michigan State coach John L. Smith after the kids in the green pants went to 3-0.

"They still threw a lot of things at us because they're very mobile up front, but having a guy like Drew kind of helps."

Ya think?

With a deft series of options and shovel passes and faked inside handoffs after which he simply bolted up the middle into a thoroughly confused Panthers defense, Stanton ran for 105 yards on 13 carries, converted 11 of 15 third downs (11 of 12 at one point), and emphatically stuffed this game into his pocket on a day when Michigan State appeared at least initially beatable.

"He made some real big, good checks," Smith said. "Drew came up to the line when we were at the 1, checked off, and the center was yelling no, no, no, like that wouldn't work. Drew walked in."

Stanton came to Pittsburgh with a personal 14-game streak in which he had thrown for at least 200 yards and one touchdown, an arcane statistical string that snapped yesterday when he threw for only 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Aside from that, he was riotously successful, especially with his feet.

"We had them third down a bunch of times," said an acutely displeased Dave Wannstedt.

"Third-and-3. Third-and-4. Third-and-5. Their quarterback -- I'd like to see how many third downs he converted running the ball. I'll bet it was half of them."

Actually it was only three, including that 1-yard touchdown, but Wannstedt was hardly delusional in thinking Michigan State pretty much controlled things all afternoon.

From the time Spartans running back Javon Ringer juggled an interception into the hands of H.B. Blades with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter until A.J. Jimmerson fumbled it away to Chris McKillop with 2:04 remaining in the game -- a span of more than 45 minutes on the game clock -- the Panthers did not stop Michigan State once.

The Spartans scored on six consecutive possessions.

The 99-yard Stanton-directed scoring drive that made it 38-10 with five minutes remaining was accomplished entirely on the ground, the very kind of indignity Pitt was thought to be able to avoid this season.

The Panthers had permitted a total of only 87 rushing yards in their first two games. Michigan State had almost four times that yesterday -- 335.

"I think we responded real well to a some adversity," Stanton said of Pitt's 10-0 lead.

"We never intended to run so much option, but a team that plays a lot of man defense like they do has no one to account for the quarterback.

"We just kind of adjusted to things as we went along. Our line was really doing a good job blocking, and our wide receivers did a tremendous job of blocking downfield."

By the time the Spartans erased that 10-point Pitt lead, the physical momentum had swung so violently that the Spartans felt they could move at will.

"By the third quarter, we just felt like we could go right down the field," Stanton said.

"There were some plays that we could have made, some throws I'd like to have over. But I kept looking over [to the sideline], and they kept calling that option, so, you know, let's just go with it."

Stanton already has his bachelors degree in the motion science known as kinesiology, and, as a body in motion, there simply isn't much he can't do.

Whether that can actually bring him the Heisman in the overheated politics of Heisman-campaigning isn't close to being clear, but, if it does, the fact that the Heisman depicts a running back won't be inappropriate at all.