One might think the mention of Eastern Michigan's read-option spread, an offense deployed successfully against Pitt by West Virginia and South Florida, would strike fear into the Panthers.

Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt insists it does not.

He knows the Panthers' recent history of futility in trying to shut down teams which run a version of that particular offensive scheme, but he insists they are more prepared to deal with it and contain it.

"We made a concentrated effort to spend a lot of time practicing against it and looking at some different schemes that might give us the best chance to defend against it," Wannstedt said yesterday during his weekly news conference. "There are schemes out there [that have been successful against the read-option], but our scheme is no different than any other. You still have to get into position to make plays and make sure the quarterback is accounted for on every play.

"Our guys are well-prepared, it is not a surprise for us, and we'll play well."

Wannstedt's confidence in his defense is expected, but come Saturday it will be put to the test by Eastern Michigan. The Eagles run a similar offensive scheme to West Virginia's, which shredded the Panthers for 641 total yards and 45 points in November.

Eastern Michigan mostly uses four wide receivers to spread the defense and puts one running back behind quarterback Andy Schmitt, who has the option of running himself, passing or handing off to that lone back. In effect, Schmitt calls almost every play at the line of scrimmage, letting the defense's alignment and tendencies determine which of the two or three options per play he will use.

While the Eagles do not have the athletes the Mountaineers do at quarterback and running back, the Panthers often have struggled as much with missed assignments and poor tackling against spread and read-option teams as they have with controlling the speed of the athletes running it.

Middle linebacker Scott McKillop said the offense creates lots of gaps and running lanes in the defense. That means every player must know and execute his assignment on every play. If just one defender does not get his job done, it could turn into a big play.

"That offense puts a lot of weight on the quarterback's shoulders to make the right reads, but the problem for the defense is if there is one person not getting to their gap it could go for a touchdown," McKillop said. "[Schmitt] is probably not the caliber of athlete that Pat White is, but I'm sure he is a player, too, so we can't take him lightly and think he is not as good as Pat White.

"He is a good player, he can make plays, he can pass, he can run and he is going to take this offense and, if we don't play right, he is going to drive down the field on us every time. So we can't take him lightly because he's a great player."

McKillop and Wannstedt both said the Panthers have worked on tweaking their defensive scheme in the offseason to give it a better chance of matching up with the read-option offense, but neither would say what specifically has been the problem in the past. McKillop said every day during camp, as well as some days in the spring, the Panthers worked on defending the read-option because they will play three teams that use it this season.

Wannstedt believes part of the problem was a lack of personnel and speed on defense. He said this defense is deeper and more athletic.

One other area Wannstedt said the Panthers' athleticism and speed will show up is in the number of big plays -- sacks, interceptions, fumbles forced, tackles for loss -- that the defense makes.

"The faster, more aggressive and, for the most part, more athletic you are, the more turnovers you cause," Wannstedt said.

"The more confident our guys get, the more experience they get, the more turnovers we're going to see. We are a lot further ahead in those areas today than we were a year ago. We've created a lot of turnovers on defense and have had a lot of sacks during camp, so I look for that to continue."

NOTES -- Wannstedt said although Adam Gunn and Dorin Dickerson are listed as co-starters at strongside linebacker, Gunn will start the opener. ... Offensive lineman Mike McGlynn (shoulder) is not listed on the depth chart, but Wannstedt said he is "real close" to being ready to play. ... Punter Dave Brytus and kicker Conor Lee will handle kickoffs, unless someone with a stronger leg joins the team this week. ... Quarterback Bill Stull's backup has not been determined. ... In past years, Wannstedt has almost always deferred to the second half and played defense first when his teams have won the coin toss. He said, the new kickoff rules, which move the kickoff back to the 30 from the 35 and increase the probability of a return instead of a touchback, have caused him to rethink that strategy.