The question caught Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop by surprise, so much so that he had to think for a minute about a diplomatic way to answer it ...

"Scott, is there any extra motivation for you as a senior knowing that you could become the first class at Pitt to lose four games in a row to Rutgers?"

"Um, yes, it could [provide some motivation]," McKillop said stumbling some as he answered. "I think we need to take it one game at a time, but the last couple of years Rutgers has had our number. The last time here I remember it was a close game but Ray Rice broke our back with a real long run, and last year we didn't execute very well down at the end of the game.

"I think we're excited to get back at home, and as you know we're winless against Rutgers and that is something that is important -- I don't think you want to leave your Pitt career and be winless against anyone."

Rutgers (2-5, 1-2 Big East) visits Heinz Field Saturday to face 17th-ranked Pitt (5-1, 2-0) on homecoming weekend.

The Scarlet Knights have struggled thus far but are coming off a hard-fought 12-10 win against Connecticut, and it is clear that the dynamics in this series have changed dramatically given their recent domination of Pitt.

The reversal of fortunes by the two teams has been stunning considering that Rutgers has doubled its win total in the series in the past three seasons as the Panthers had won 19 of the first 22 games between the two teams.

And the major difference in the games the past few years has been easy to see -- the matchup of the Panthers' offense and the Rutgers' defense has swung heavily in the Scarlet Knights' favor.

Under former coach Walt Harris, the Panthers were 7-1 against the Scarlet Knights from 1997-2004, and in those eight games they averaged 36.4 points per game. In three games under Dave Wannstedt, Pitt's offense has averaged only 18 points.

It should also be noted that head coach Greg Schiano took over as the defensive coordinatorbefore the 2005 season, but the team still runs the same defense.

Wannstedt said he expects to see a heavy dose of blitzing and a lot of different pressure packages coming from the Scarlet Knights, but he believes his offense is a little better equipped to handle it than it has been in recent years.

"I think when a team pressures you, they play a lot of man-coverage," Wannstedt said yesterday at his news conference. "It's really a group effort. Yes, the quarterback has to make the throws and the decisions, but we have to block first. The receivers have to get open. We're going to have guys up in our face and they're going to be running with us, so we've got to do a good job of running routes and getting open.

"I think as an offense, we'll be challenged much more so than we've been all year."

Pitt offensive guard C.J. Davis added: "They are the type of defense that will bring a lot of pressure. They are going to try to get after [quarterback] Bill [Stull] and create some confusion, and that means it is on my shoulders and the rest of the offensive line to pick up those pressures."

Wannstedt believes the offensive line has improved each week and that's a good start, but he also knows that this week the unit will likely be under the most pressure it has been all season.

"They seem to be playing better and better each week," Wannstedt said of the offensive line. "Last week was a different challenge because Navy was a 3-4 team and now Rutgers is a 4-3 scheme. Last week was a good challenge for our guys mentally as much as physically because Navy did a lot of moving around and I thought our guys handled it really well."

Wannstedt said that Rutgers is one of the best two-win teams in Division I-A and said that they could just as easily have five or six wins had it not been for some struggles on offense. He said the Scarlet Knights' defense has kept them in games.

"It will be a physical game. No question we'll see a physical team," Wannstedt said. "Their running game is off-tackle power. They'll also run the play-action. We'll see very similar philosophies on offense and defense as far as where both teams are coming from."

NOTES -- Wannstedt again defended the use of sophomore quarterback Pat Bostick Saturday. "We're trying to give our team the best chance to win this year and Pat is the backup, so if Bill Stull got hurt, we'd expect Pat to go in and he needs playing time.". ... The only two injuries are defensive tackles Mick Williams (concussion) and Tommie Duhart (ankle), and both are day to day. ... The Rutgers game will not televised.