Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentions several pieces of news in his Pitt blog.
One interesting fact is that tight end Mike Cruz and Safety Jason Hendricks are both currently suspended for some disciplinary issues. Their status for the bowl game against Kentucky isn’t yet known, but it appears as if one or both could potentially miss it.
Zeise points out that Pitt has been unusually tight-lipped about the situation and has shut down all media access until after the end of the year. Obviously, with the bowl game, the dismissal of Dave Wannstedt, and the hiring of Mike Haywood, there’s lots going on.
Cruz and Hendricks have both played key roles for the Panthers and while their losses probably aren’t as great as Kentucky’s loss of starting quarterback Mike Hartline, they would certainly help balance things out a bit more. Cruz has been a considerable downgrade from last year’s starter, Dorin Dickerson, but nevertheless, he is the team’s starting tight end and has played some good games. Jason Hendricks has also started and played in pieces of Pitt’s games in the secondary. His loss would hurt the team a bit more as Brock DeCicco could probably fill in nicely.