Apr 16, 2006 By Stephen Flinn For The 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The Panthers ended their spring practice season Saturday with a controlled scrimmage at Heinz Field that pleased head coach Dave Wannstedt. Wannstedt thought the scrimmage went well and was a fitting end to a positive spring session.

“You usually come out of the spring hoping the younger guys got a little better, which ours did,” Wannstedt said, “but this spring, not only our younger guys stepped up, more importantly, our veterans like the Tyler Palkos, the H.B. Blades, the Clint Sessions, the Derek Kinders stepped up too.”

Palko completed 17 passes on 27 attempts for 172 yards and he threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kinder, who was tight-roping across the back of the end zone.

“We did some good things today and did some good things this whole spring,” Palko said. “We still have a long way to go, including our attitude, but we showed small improvement over every practice this spring, which we needed to accomplish after going 5-6 last year.”

Backup quarterback Bill Stull completed 11 passes on 16 attempts for 183 yards including a 60-yard touchdown to Oderick Turner and a 1-yard touchdown to Marcel Pestano.

“Turner is a big-play guy and it was my job to take advantage of his skills and I also learn from Tyler Palko every day,” Stull said. “After this spring, I can tell the difference in our team because the coaches expect more from us now and we’ve been able to give more, I think because we now expect more from ourselves.”

Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling gained only 18 yards on 10 carries, but he led all runners in scoring with two touchdowns, a 6-yard run and a 1-yard burst on fourth down. He also caught three passes for 17 yards.

“It felt good to score today, especially from the goal line offense because that’s when the defense is most fired up,” Stephens-Howling said. “I think our offensive line will be able to open up some holes for us this year and I can’t wait for next season to start.”

Probable starting kicker David Abdul hit a 24-yard field goal and challenger Conor Lee hit a 49-yard field goal.

“It was good to see some success in the kicking game today,” Wannstedt said. “The nice thing about live scrimmages is it gives us better practice at our kicking game, which is an integral part of an offense.”

Blades showed why he is a Lombardi and Ronnie Lott Award candidate this season as he led the defensive charge this spring and excelled in the scrimmage with 10 tackles and one sack.

“I just tried to focus this spring on my responsibilities on the field, especially the mental aspects of the game,” Blades said.

“I know if I can step up, the entire defense will be a better unit, and we need to play better as a unit this year.”

Blades was moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker last year and did not adjust immediately to the switch, but is now more comfortable in that role.

“We caught ourselves thinking too much last year, but now I think we’re playing more like a unit where 11 are playing as one,” Blades said. “I have to lead myself and I know I can depend on the other players on defense giving their all too.”

One such player who gave his all this spring was linebacker Clint Session, who earned the Ed Conway Award for the defensive unit, which is given to the most improved player of the spring session.

Teammate Charles Sallett, a defensive end, led the scrimmage in sacks with six. The defense recorded 12 sacks overall. He was third on the team in tackles with nine. He noticed Session’s improvement this spring.

“I think we have more speed on defense this year, and even though we have a long way to go, we made some strides this spring,” Sallett said. “Also, Clint has stepped it up at linebacker and he will do anything to find the ball carrier.”

Offensive lineman C.J. Davis won the award for the offensive unit and Kenard Cox won the award for the special teams.

Linebacker Scott McKillop led the scrimmage in tackles with 14.

He felt the defense started a little slow this spring, but picked up ground fast as the spring progressed, especially at defensive line.

“Our defensive line did a great job this spring, which made all the linebacker’s jobs easier,” McKillop said. “It all starts up front, and the linebackers are also doing a better job getting to the ball and knowing where we’re supposed to be at all times.”

Pitt starts its season Sept. 2 by hosting Virginia.