Desperate times call for desperate measures and that is exactly what we saw Saturday when the Panthers trotted that "Wildcat" offense out there against Michigan State. The traditional offense was terrible, redshirt freshman quarterback Kevan Smith certainly didn't have his "A" game (or his "B" game or his "C" game or even his "D" game for that matter ...) so why not just snap the ball to LeSean McCoy every play and hope he makes something happen? I liked it, but I don't think this is going to be the offensive wave of the Panthers' future. I'm sure they'll use the formation some every week but I'll be shocked if they go overboard with it because it was mostly a deal where they could throw it at an opponent who hadn't seen it after the half and catch them a little by surprise. Needless to say, this week against Connecticut is a must-win if Pitt wants to have any chance of making it to a bowl game.

Q: If Dave Wannstedt wants to run the Wildcat offense, why not use Maurice Williams at quarterback? He would at least pose more of a threat to throw then LeSean McCoy.

D.C. Anderson, Beaver

ZEISE: I got so many versions of this same question about the Wildcat offense I stopped counting, but all of you are missing the point about it and why it was used in the second half of that game. Wannstedt doesn't want to turn to this offense to become the base offense -- he just realized that his quarterback was playing poorly while McCoy was running the ball well so he tried to mix it up. Also, he knew if he waited until after the half, it would be more difficult for Michigan State to make the necessary adjustments to really stop it. Now, however, every defense has it on tape and will be ready for it. So to answer the question: Why wasn't Maurice Williams, Kennard Cox, Dorin Dickerson, Aaron Smith, TJ Porter, Mike Phillips, Adam Gunn, Shane Murray, Dom DeCicco, Darrell Strong or any other athlete on the roster who happened to play some quarterback in high school back there to run this offense ? It's simple. The goal was to get the ball into the hands of LeSean McCoy on every play.

He was and still is clearly Pitt's best offensive weapon, and the quarterbacks right now are Pitt's worst offensive weapon. Pitt is not going to become a spread team, they might throw a few wrinkles into this offense and perhaps occasionally use a guy like Mo Williams in a package, but this thing was unveiled on Saturday for one reason and one reason only -- this coaching staff was desperately trying to find anything at all that could help the team score some points, and after the first-half debacle they were very hesitant to allow Kevan Smith to throw the ball. I'm sure we will see some of this Wildcat stuff Saturday against UConn, but Wannstedt admitted today that this was a temporary fix and that if the Panthers don't get some things solved with their traditional offense, no gimmick in the world will be able to overcome it.

Q: I do not understand why Kevain Smith was kept in the game Saturday nor why Pat Bostick was not put into the game. Coach Wannstedt has already wasted Pat's redshirt, so why not play him Saturday against UConn?

Scott Rider, New Cumberland, Pa.

ZEISE: As bad as Kevan Smith was -- and by almost every measure he was awful -- Pitt was still in position to win the game in the fourth quarter. Further, I have read a bunch of questions from people angry that Wannstedt didn't make a quarterback change --- which is flat out wrong. Wannstedt did make a quarterback change: He put in LeSean McCoy instead of Pat Bostick, and that tells you a lot about where the coaches think Bostick is right now. Let me repeat this -- the coaches felt more comfortable turning to a tailback to replace Smith than they did turning to Bostick. That tells you there is more going on with that situation still than just football. Now, Wannstedt did say he considered at the half replacing Smith with Bostick but instead opted to try the Wildcat, and they had a little success with it so they rolled with it. He also said that he will give Bostick every opportunity this week to win the job at practice. The two will split time and if he is good enough to beat out Smith, he'll be the starter. This was more about game situation than anything else. I really believe if the game had been at home and had been a little more out of hand, Bostick would have been thrown in there, but it was on the road, in a hostile environment and Pitt still had a chance to win, so why throw another deer-in-the-headlights freshman into that mix totally cold, particularly given what he did the first time he was put in a game situation. He'll get his opportunity, perhaps as early as this Saturday, but the situation and circumstances last Saturday just didn't really make sense for coaches to throw him into the game