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Q: When are we going to see McCoy and Stephens-Howling in the backfield together? Candy Straub, Harrisburg ZEISE: Good question. I have no idea but it was something we were told would happen and it was worked on throughout training camp. Heck, I even wrote a story about it. Again, all of these things are situational and coaches have concerns about trying to do too much or get too many formations involved so it wouldn't shock me if we see fewer formations and whatnot as opposed to more. In fact, Dave Wannstedt said as much on Monday at his news conference, that the Panthers are trying too do many things on offense and that is taking him somewhat out of his comfort zone.

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Q: There was talk in the preseason of this possibly being LeSean McCoy's last year at Pitt. The way he has handled the ball so far this year, that does not even seem a remote possibility now with the way he carries the ball. If he has the "fumbles" in college, what will NFL talent do to him in the pros? Your thoughts? Kevin Oleksa, Johnstown ZEISE: I think that the season is early and if he has a strong finish to it he will be a highly regarded prospect. I know there are a lot of things to be concerned with but I don't think McCoy is one of them. He'll get on track, he is a good player, he has a track record of playing at a high level and I'd be surprised if he doesn't start to round into form over the next few weeks. You have to understand, every team Pitt plays is lining up to stop this guy and the Panthers lack of (a) aggressiveness, (b) execution and (c) imagination in the passing game has given no team any reason to believe that strategy isn't a sound one. The simple truth is this: Until Pitt's passing game can scare people into respecting it, rushing yards are going to be very difficult to come by.

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Q: How do the Pitt coaches feel about Jovani Chappel at this time? He seemed to struggle both in his pass coverage and in his open-field tackling versus Iowa. Bob Locicero, Frederick ZEISE: He had a mixed day, no doubt. The good things he did - -he was very physical, made some big tackles and did well in run support. He also did some good things in pass coverage. By the same token he got lost on a few plays, he got beat on the one deep play and there was at least twice where he stepped up to make a tackle and missed. Overall, though, I think he has played fairly consistently through three games. Not perfect, but solid. However, it seems as if coaches are leaning towards giving Ricky Gary some more playing time, so that probably speaks to the fact that they would like to see some improvement at that spot.