I've had a few people ask for my overall impression of the spring game and I think it is very simple:

1. It was a great atmosphere for the fans, there was a lot going on and the athletic department needs to be commended for making what is mostly a meaningless exhibition of watered down football seem like an exciting event.

2. The game was set up for the offense to shine and the offense did shine. The defense was pretty vanilla, didn't attack much and didn't jam the receivers so naturally, the offense was able to accomplish some things.

3. By the same token - the offense did take advantage of some things and did prove that if there is minimal pressure on the quarterbacks - i.e. the offensive line can block someone - the offense can be pretty good. And there are a lot of very good football players on the offense, including some who won't sniff the field and that means this program is improving and getting deeper with talent.

4. Shariff Harris and Greg Cross are two of the most explosive players on the roster and both likely fall into the category of "wait until next year" as far as playing a big role in the offense. There are just too many good players ahead of them.

5. The secondary is very athletic but Buddy Jackson and Elijah Fields still have a way to go.

This is the final installment of the Pitt football Q&A until August. So just keep sending questions over the summer and we'll get started again when the Panthers go camping! Thanks for participating and have a safe summer.

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Q: Considering his success two years ago, I was very excited to get Derek Kinder back in the lineup this year. I haven't heard any mention of him at all this camp. Is he still injured? What is his status?

Bob Hatchel, Buffalo, NY

ZEISE: Derek is healing and he'll be fine come training camp. But he will find a much different lineup to try and break into. I'd expect him to become a starter but it won't be easy as the receiver position has become loaded.

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Q: How much do you think Pitt not having their own football facility is hurting their program? They only had a supposed 7500 people where a program such as Penn State had over 73,000 fans.

A. Wojack, Altoona

ZEISE: And here all this time I thought Penn State fans don't care about Pitt ... Look, the move off campus has not hurt Pitt's program contrary to the whining of a few die-hard Pitt fans who can't seem to come to grips with the fact that the 1970's are over. And contrary to revised history of some in that crowd -- when Pitt stunk at Pitt Stadium, the students didn't even come across the street to watch the games and fans certainly didn't go out of their way to come to the games. Heck, even when Pitt was good fans didn't flock to Pitt stadium in droves because it was hard to get to and there was nowhere to park. Heinz Field has obviously been very good to Pitt in recruiting and if the Panthers start winning with regularity, I'll be willing to bet attendance there will be better than it ever was at the old stadium because unlike Pitt Stadium, Heinz Field is (a) easily accessible (b) there is more than enough parking and (c) things like food services, available restrooms, vendors - the things that make the experience enjoyable - those things are all better, by a lot, than they ever were at Pitt stadium. The program is just fine and the game day atmosphere for big games has been fine.

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Q: Looking at how the defense progressed through the 07 season, clearly a big reason was that the players continued to get better and more comfortable with their positions. However, it also seemed clear to me that the philosophy changed later in the season to be more of an "attack" defense than a "read" defense. Does Phil Bennett want an aggressive/attacking D for this year?

Jim G., Humble, Texas

ZEISE: I'd say they will continue what they were able to do at the end of last season, which was pressure the quarterback and press the receivers. That is the style of defense Phil Bennett likes and now that it appears that they have the horses up front to pull it off, Dave Wannstedt is more comfortable with it as well. It is all situations, though, as every week requires a different style of defense depending on the style of offense it is facing.

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Q: You said that Buddy Jackson and Jovani Chappel will be battling for the other corner spot opposite A. Berry. I thought Ricky Gary played well last year and haven't heard anything about him this spring. How would you evaluate his spring so far and don't you think he can compete for a starting position?

Brian Koster, Donora

ZEISE: It seems like coaches are more comfortable with Ricky Gary playing the "field" corner spot as opposed to the "boundary" corner spot which is why they've had him primarily behind Aaron Berry while the other two compete for a starting job. Also it seems clear that Jovani Chappel is a guy who has earned the coaching staff's trust and unless Buddy Jackson has a great training camp, I'd expect Chappel to be the starter and he's played as much as Gary. I'm sure Gary will see his fair share of time, though, and if Chappel were to get hurt, he could move over and step in at that spot.

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Q: I keep reading about how this year's team should win at least 7 games. How anything short of a bowl game victory will be a disappointment considering the talent on this team. My question is how can these expectations be so high for a team that not proven anything? One win last year over WVU and all of a sudden we should be shooting for a 10 win season and bowl game victory?

J. Klein, Bethesda, Md.

ZEISE: I think expectations are based on a few things -

1. This team was indeed 5-7 last year but if you look closer it was really and literally only a few plays (dropped TD against Michigan State, the Navy overtime debacle, a late fumble by McCoy against Louisville, a ridiculously bad call by Big East officials against Rutgers) away from being more like 8-4 or even 9-3. And this despite the injury problems and the quarterback issues it faced, which contributed to a few of the aforementioned losses. So it was clearly an improved team even around the quarterback.

2. Most of the key players on both sides of the ball from that team, which was a little luck from being incredibly successful return.

3. The quarterback issue seems like it will be resolved and the defense, which got off to a rough start last season, should be much, much better than it was even at the end of last year.

4. At some point last season the head coach and the offensive coordinator seemed to finally fully grasp - and happily embrace - the important differences between the NFL and college football and it has been clear since then in the moves they've made and in the assistant coaches who have been hired and that to me tells me that the entire program is ready to take a big step forward. In short, there is plenty of reason for Pitt fans to expect this season to be an exciting one. I don't know if 11 wins is realistic, but seven -- with this talent (which this team is very talented and gifted athletically), with this coaching staff, which I think is very good and with the experience and talent returning -- certainly should not be good enough.