PITTSBURGH (AP) -In his last two starts, Pitt sophomore Pat Bostick has won at West Virginia and Notre Dame, succeeding in two of college football’s roughest environments for a visiting quarterback.
Some players go through a college career without winning twice on the road in such hostile surroundings. No matter, Bostick’s latest successful start – Pitt’s 36-33, four-overtime decision at Notre Dame on Saturday – probably won’t keep him in the lineup.
Bill Stull sat out the Notre Dame game with a concussion, but has been cleared to return when the No. 25 Panthers (6-2, 2-1 in Big East) play conference opponent Louisville (5-3, 1-2) on Saturday.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that I’m going to be ready to play,” Stull said Tuesday. “I don’t have any lingering effects of any sort.”
e didn’t lose it, either, despite throwing three interceptions and failing to get Pitt into the end zone in overtime.
Bostick was 14-of-27 for 164 yards and a touchdown during his first start since, as a freshman, he helped Pitt pull off the biggest upset in school history at West Virginia last December.
“You hope to recruit kids like that,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said, referring to players who can perform well as backups. “It’s probably something that some kids have and some people have. Some people don’t. We’re fortunate that we have a good group of men who are decent leaders on this team and have those qualities.”
Bostick apparently does, even if his coaches initially put him in a difficult situation at Notre Dame.
With Stull out, Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh planned to alternate Bostick and No. 3 quarterback Kevan Smith based on down and distance and which receivers were on the field.
A couple of ineffective series that helped Notre Dame open a 14-point lead quickly changed that, and Wannstedt went back to Bostick for the rest of the game.
ght it was because he was the best guy to give us a chance to win. We told him that and then it was, `Here we go.’ “
Now, Bostick could be going back to the bench as Stull returns. Stull, a junior, directed Pitt to five consecutive victories until getting hurt during a 54-34 upset loss to Rutgers on Oct. 25.
After releasing the ball on a pass play, Stull fell backward and hit his head against the heel of teammate LeSean McCoy’s shoe. Stull lay motionless for several minutes before being taken off the field on a motorized cart.
Stull wanted to play against Notre Dame – his teammates kept waking him up every morning last week, checking on his status – but team doctors felt he wasn’t recovered from the concussion.
“I feel good, a lot better than what I was,” Stull said. “The headaches are gone – no headaches, no nausea, no dizziness, no nothing. … The big test was for me was to lift, run around a little bit and see how I felt after that.”
Stull isn’t worried he’ll be thinking about the concussion the next time his protection breaks down and he must hurry a pass or is sacked.
“I’m not going to keep things like that in my head. We control our own destiny, and I really want to be a part of that. We have a good thing going right now and I know what’s at stake.”
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