You wonder what they talked about during the long, hot summer nights, the two roommates, alone in their South Side apartment. Bill Stull was coming off one of the worst games a quarterback ever had in Pitt's 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl. Criticized by fans and media, he wasn't certain to be the starter this season. Tight end Dorin Dickerson had his own issues. In his first three seasons at Pitt, he had a hard time finding a position let alone getting on the field. Many looked at him as a bust because he had been recruited by just about every school in the country.

You wonder what the two talk about now in that same apartment, the sports world's view of them having changed so dramatically. Going into the weekend, Stull was the fourth-most efficient passer in college football. Dickerson has caught 10 touchdown passes to lead all tight ends. Together, they have Pitt at 9-1 and on the verge of a Big East Conference title and a BCS game.

I went to that apartment to find out for myself.

I learned there's nothing quite like going through life's ups and downs with a best friend.

The Backyard Brawl

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"Everything that's happened to us -- the lowest of lows -- it's all going to be worth it by the time we leave here," Stull said last week as Dickerson nodded his head emphatically on the adjoining couch.

Stull, who had committed to Kentucky coming out of Seton-LaSalle High School before being wooed by then-new Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt early in 2005, wasn't so sure about that in January. He didn't just play lousy in the Sun Bowl. His grandfather, Michael Nemet, had died Dec. 18 on Stull's 22nd birthday. Stull, like many of his teammates, had come down with strep throat before the bowl game. His weight was low, his spirits lower.

Dickerson, who had been recruited out of West Allegheny High by Southern California and Florida among countless others, also had doubts after his sophomore season in '07 when he decided against transferring only because "I'm no quitter." He had been used as a wide receiver, kicker returner and linebacker in those first two seasons. He still was miserable after he was moved to tight end for his junior season in '08 because he played little, caught just 13 passes and knew he could do so much more.

"It was tough because you go from being All-American and All-World and having everyone want you to being nothing," Dickerson said. "You start to doubt yourself. But then, you realize that only you can change your situation. You look in the mirror and realize you have to grow up and become a man."

Stull and Dickerson spent many of those long, hot summer nights at Pitt's South Side practice facility, working out, throwing the football, studying game film, trying to learn new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti's system. Cignetti had come in bleeding enthusiasm and preaching, "Prepare, practice and play." Stull and Dickerson got a head start.

Stull found support in the highest of places. Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg and athletic director Steve Pederson telephoned him not long after the Sun Bowl to tell him they still believed in him. He said he'll always remember those calls just as he'll remember Nordenberg taking the time to visit him in the hospital last season after he had a neck injury in the Rutgers game.

Stull and Dickerson had support from their strong families, especially their parents, who felt their pain in the hard times. It was rough on Bill and Debbie Stull and Randy and Pamela Dickerson. It was especially tough on Stull's parents after he was booed by the Heinz Field crowd during the first series of the first game this season. Since then, they've watched the home games from a corner rotunda rather than be among the crowd.

"I'm just glad they can be in the stadium for me," Stull said. He wears his father's Marine Corps dog tag and says he, too, would have been a Marine if not for football.

But mostly, Stull and Dickerson found support from each other.

"I wanted to go in the stands and fight those people when they booed him," Dickerson said.

"I wouldn't want to fight him," Stull said, grinning, nodding at Dickerson, who is 6-foot-2, 235 pounds and looks as if he's chiseled from stone.

"He threw me a touchdown pass in that game," Dickerson said. "I'm so glad we could shut those people up."

The two have been doing it ever since. Stull has thrown for 18 touchdowns with just four interceptions. Dickerson has 43 catches for 496 yards and those 10 touchdowns.

"I knew I could play here," Dickerson said. "Not just play, but be a playmaker."

"All Dorin needed was a chance," Stull said.

"The biggest turning point in my life came when Coach Cignetti came here," Dickerson said.

"Dorin's ability really fit what Coach Cignetti wanted to do," Stull said. "He's a freak. He's 6-2, 235, runs a 4.34 and can jump over 40 inches. There's just no way a linebacker can cover him."

Stull laughed as only a quarterback who loves to see such mismatches can.

"It's stealing," he said. "That's what Coach Cignetti calls it. He says we all should go to jail because we're stealing touchdowns."

The fun and laughs continued until I mentioned to Stull and Dickerson that their ride together is nearing an end. Only a game at West Virginia Friday night, Senior Day at Heinz Field against Cincinnati Dec. 5 ("I hope I don't get booed," Stull said) and a bowl game remain. After they graduate in the spring with their degrees in communications, they will leave the apartment they share with former Pitt player Kevin Hughes and go their separate ways.

"We'll always find ways to get together and hang out," Stull said.

An NFL career seems like a lock for Dickerson, who should test off the charts for NFL teams and be a high draft choice. It no longer seems out of the question for Stull, who figures to get a tryout if he's not drafted in a later round.

"Every kid dreams of playing in the NFL," Stull said.

"I see those commercials that say there's a one-in-a-million chance your kid will become a professional athlete," Dickerson said. "And I might have that chance? Wow!"

The two have an idea what the pro lifestyle is like. Pitt shares the Steelers' South Side facility. But it's not seeing Ben Roethlisberger and Heath Miller up close and personal that impresses them so much.

"It's the cars," Stull said.

"Just walking through the parking lot every day gets me fired up," Dickerson said.

"Have you seen Hines Ward's Bentley?" Stull asked.

Of course, the NFL and the luxury cars must wait. Stull and Dickerson are thinking only about West Virginia ...

OK, so maybe they're thinking a bit about Cincinnati, as well. They're human, right? That game will decide the Big East championship, no matter what Pitt does at West Virginia.

"If we can win that championship," Dickerson said, "we'll never think about our struggles here the rest of our lives."

And if Pitt doesn't?

If it somehow comes up short against Cincinnati?

Stull and Dickerson hardly will leave Pitt empty-handed. They'll have their degree. They'll have their memories of a terrific senior season. And they'll have a friendship that will last a lifetime.