Freshman quarterback Pat Bostick has scored high enough marks on his first two exams that Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh is ready to let him graduate to Football 102 when the Panthers (2-3) play host to Navy (3-2) Wednesday.

This is the class where quarterbacks go from just taking snaps from center and handing off to throwing the ball while the game is hanging in the balance.

Cavanaugh acknowledged that the Panthers have been very conservative the past two weeks, but said the move was necessitated because of the unsettled quarterback situation.

He said the fact that Bostick and Kevan Smith, who started the Michigan State game, are freshmen has made it difficult to put together more aggressive game plans.

But Cavanaugh said he believes he has seen enough from Bostick, who made his first start last Saturday in the Panthers' 44-14 loss at Virginia, to open up the offense some and trust him to take care of the football.

"I know it's not much fun for a quarterback when most of second-and-medium and second-and-long and third downs, we were handing the ball off," Cavanaugh said of the Panthers' game plan last weekend.

The Panthers trailed, 27-0, at the end of the first quarter and 30-7 at halftime, yet Bostick threw just three passes in the first half.

"We're certainly not going to let him cut loose and air it out on every down," Cavanaugh said. "But there's going to be a better balance, hopefully, in the play-calling. So I've got to do a better job of that, and as long as he's making good decisions and getting completions, we'll try to be a little more balanced.

"Last week, we went in trying to keep the game close and being very conservative and running the ball as much as we could, to give us a chance to win at the end. Obviously, that didn't transpire."

When the second half started, Bostick showed himself to be capable of running the offense. He finished the game 18 for 31 for 181 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Bostick also played very well in the second half of the Connecticut game the week before, when he came in relief of Smith in the Panthers' 34-14 loss.

Cavanaugh said Bostick's work ethic, desire to learn and study film, and his high football IQ have put him way ahead of the learning curve for most freshmen quarterbacks.

Cavanaugh said this week, Bostick is working hard to eliminate some of the mistakes he has made at the line, but he will continue to get better.

"Pat gets it," Cavanaugh said. "He knows what he's looking at, and I credit his high school coach, Mike Melnyk, for teaching him football. He analyzes it. He also communicates and visualizes very well.

"He's very bright about the game of football when he's on the field. It's usually something you have to spend a whole year teaching somebody, how to analyze tape, how to visualize schemes and talk about what we're doing versus what they're doing, and have a clear picture in your head of what it means."

Cavanaugh said Navy will provide Bostick with a great challenge, but not just because of its defense.

The Midshipmen run a triple-option offense, which means they control the clock and limit the other team's possessions. That makes it imperative for the Panthers to take advantage of every opportunity they get because they might not get many.

"We can't have those mistakes, those penalties that kill drives this week," Cavanaugh said. "But I believe we're getting better and the offense as a unit is improving, but we have to keep working."