PITTSBURGH — Another season, another difficult opener against a team coached by a former pro coach. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt used to hear about all those easy opening games that colleges play, but he's yet to experience one.

"I think the majority of schools would like to go the other direction, play a few of the lesser opponents and gain confidence as a team, make some adjustments before they start hitting some of the big ones," Wannstedt said of the Saturday night opener against Al Groh-coached Virginia. "But this was on the books, so we play."

He can only hope the Panthers play better than his first Pitt team did in its opener last season, when Notre Dame quickly exposed Pitt's weaknesses on the offensive line, in team speed and execution in a 42-21 rout.

After that, as Pitt QB Tyler Palko said, "It was wham, bam, and we were 0-3." Pitt finished 5-6.

Wannstedt responded by recruiting what looks to be one of the best freshman classes in school history — the only problem is some of those new players may be thrown out there immediately. That's not an ideal situation against Virginia, which has sent a steady stream of players to the NFL in recent seasons despite going a worse-than-expected 7-5 last year.

"The team has done what we've asked it to do, and in that respect it shows a form of maturity," Groh said. "That doesn't mean the execution has been perfect."