Pitt's first spring scrimmage confirmed nearly everything suspected about the Panthers -- like the fact that the defense is light years ahead of the offense. But there were a few surprising individual performances as well.

"I would have been highly disappointed if our defense didn't come out there and play and perform the way it did today," coach Dave Wannstedt said. "I mean, the defense pretty much shut us down today, we just had a tough time blocking those guys. On one side you say to yourself 'we're going to be further ahead at some point with the offensive line' but at the same time, you expect those defensive linemen to dominate, and I thought that they pretty much dominated all day.

There were many reasons for that, which is why Wannstedt and the offensive coaches weren't too concerned about it.

For one thing, the offense was playing with a makeshift line because key members sat out with injuries.

For another, the Panthers played without their two starting tight ends due to injury, and Wannstedt chose to play starting tailback LeSean McCoy less than 10 plays.

All that said, the defense is faster than it has been in years and more athletic.

"We weren't great but we were very tenacious and we ran to the ball," defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said. "We have some fast guys out there and they worked hard. I think the thing that was impressive was we got some takeaways, we forced some turnovers."

The defense intercepted three passes, had five sacks and countless quarterback hurries. The offense mustered 109 yards rushing on 47 carries and 34 yards came on two carries. The leading rusher for the offense was backup quarterback Greg Cross, who rushed six times for 29 yards while playing one late series against the deep reserves.

Pitt's other quarterbacks were efficient when they could throw the ball.

Junior Bill Stull, favored to be the starter, took a number of big hits and continued to get up and play with confidence. He missed last season with a major thumb injury, and the coaches were anxious to see if he has mentally recovered from the injury.

"My thumb feels good, it felt good getting out there and I'm glad I got a chance to get hit a few times because it will only prepare me for the season," Stull said. "I got hit a few times and I think you really don't know how you might respond that first time until it actually happens. I took one hit directly on my thumb and got right back up.

"I just need to keep improving."

Beyond the starters, several young players caught the coaches' eyes with big performances. The list would include redshirt freshman safety Dom DeCicco, redshirt sophomore safety Elijah Fields, four redshirt freshmen linebackers -- Tristan Roberts, Brandon Lindsey, Greg Williams and Max Gruder and junior tight end Dorin Dickerson, who, Wannstedt said, may have found his best position.

"I think the challenge for us is getting all of those young linebackers onto the field. We've been looking to get faster at that position, and that's what we have done with that group," Bennett said.

"You watch a guy like Greg Williams, he is 6 feet 3, 220 pounds and runs 4.5 in the 40, so you better get a guy like that onto the field. And we also need to find a way to get DeCicco and Fields on the field at the same time; that's our next challenge."