Aug 8, 2010 By Stephen Flinn for The 5 min read

PITTSBURGH-Pitt began preseason football practice Saturday in an effort to shore up some holes head coach Dave Wannstedt considers areas of concern entering this season, which include interior offensive line, interior defensive line and cornerback. “I thought we had good effort for the first day of practice,” Wannstedt said. “I was looking for new leaders to emerge on the team by seeing what players were the most-vocal and who was giving instruction on the field.”

The Panthers were picked as the pre-season favorite in the Big East Conference this year. They were also picked fifteenth in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll this week, the highest ranked team in the conference. Fellow Big East member West Virginia was also ranked in the preseason poll, picked 24th.

“This was as an exciting of a preseason as we’ve had for our team with all the rankings and predictions,” Wannstedt said. “Our players truly understand that preseason accolades are nice, but the most important thing right now is to have a great training camp, and that starts today as we get this thing going.”

The Panthers hope to make the most of camp this year, as they open the season on Thursday, Sept. 2 in a night road game at Utah.

“By opening at Utah, we’re going to find out real quick how good we really are with that first game,” Wannstedt said. “We won’t have a chance to ease into the season and knock off the rust, so we have a lot of work to do in 27 days [of camp] to prepare.”

They also host Miami in the third game and travel to Notre Dame for the fifth game, all before conference play begins.

The Panthers play four of their seven conference games on the road including at Cincinnati and Connecticut, two teams expecting to challenge for the conference crown. West Virginia will play Pitt at Heinz Field, but that is always a tough rivalry game, no matter where it is played.

“We have no margin for error this year with our schedule,” Wannstedt said. “We’re only going to be as good as the degree of how our entire team plays.”

Six starters return on offense, including sophomore Dion Lewis who rushed for 1,799 yards on 325 carries and 17 touchdowns last season as a true freshman.

“Even though I had a lot of carries last year, I feel good coming into camp,” Lewis said.

Junior wide receiver Jon Baldwin also returns. He caught 57 passes last year for 1,111 yards and eight touchdowns.

“Each year I’ve been here, I think our whole offense has improved, not just me,” Baldwin said. “We need to just continue to improve if we want to take the next step in being successful.”

However, the Panthers will be fielding a new starting quarterback, which could be instrumental in the success of the team this year. Redshirt sophomore Tino Sunseri was named the starting quarterback entering camp this year. He will be backed up by redshirt junior Pat Bostick.

“We have a great running game and can mix it up with a great passing game with all the weapons we have, so that makes my job easier,” Sunseri said. “I’ve been preparing for this opportunity and I think I’m ready.”

The offensive line will need to gel together in camp to provide Sunseri time to throw and to open up holes for the running game. Redshirt senior tackle Jason Pinkston is the anchor for the corps.

“I try to help out the other linemen any way I can and be a leader on the field,” Pinkston said. “We need to put it together this year and I think my experience can only help.”

Five starters return on defense including redshirt senior defensive end Greg Romeus. Wannstedt feels players like Romeus are held back due to rules prohibiting the players from wearing pads and engaging in full contact at the beginning of camp.

“Football is a full contact sport so I think we should be in pads from the start,” Wannstedt said. “What is (Greg) Romeus going to do in practice without pads?”

Jabaal Sheard will join Romeus on the defensive line as the other rush end. He was reinstated to the team this week after serving a suspension for his involvement in a late-night fight several weeks ago.

The remaining two defensive line positions will be up for grabs, as Wannstedt hopes players needed at those positions and others rise to the occasion during training camp.

“When you go into training camp, what you really need to get done from a coaching standpoint is to make each player focus to get their game to the highest possible level they can play, no matter who they are,” Wannstedt said. “To have players fighting for starting positions and see who seizes the opportunity, that is the fun of college football.”