LINCOLN, Neb. -- I'm telling you, it's not that bad.
Yes, Pitt lost a hideous-looking game to Nebraska on Saturday by the hideous-looking score of 7-6.
Yes, the Panthers are 0-3 for the first time since 1984 and only the third time in 33 years.
And, yes, it has been two games, eight-plus quarters, 132 minutes and 55 seconds of regulation time and 15 days since the Panthers scored an offensive touchdown (not that anyone's counting).
To find a string of offensive ineptitude this long, you have to go back to Johnny Majors' horrendous 1996 outfit.
But I'm telling you, this was a step in the right direction.
I'm telling you, Pitt will be 5-3 (OK, maybe 4-4) going into its game Nov. 3 at Louisville.
Why am I telling you that, besides the fact that Division I-AA Youngstown State, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida and Syracuse are next on the schedule, with Rutgers the only road game?
Because of the bonfire I saw in coach Dave Wannstedt's eyes, for one thing.
It must have been something about walking into an exceedingly hostile environment as a 10-point underdog that got Wannstedt's fire stoked. Maybe that's what he needed. Before that -- ever since he'd taken a job he initially refused, in fact -- he seemed oddly distant, emotionally removed.
Maybe I'm dead wrong about that, but he sure seemed like a different man after yesterday's game.
"I mean, I'm just, God, I mean, our guys just came here and wanted to win this game so bad," Wannstedt said. "It hurts. It really does."
So does watching Pitt's offense, but, I'm telling you, there were signs of life. That might have been the best front seven Pitt will face all season, and the Panthers managed 304 yards, including what should have been a game-winning drive that ended with two botched field-goal attempts from 46 yards.
True freshman LaRod Stephens-Howling was a revelation. His breakaway speed merits 20-25 touches a game from now on.
Quarterback Tyler Palko hung in against a stellar defense and rediscovered the long ball, connecting with Greg Lee on a 73-yard play.
Not that there weren't some major problems with Matt Cavanaugh's group. Palko and Lee crossed signals on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter, and the team went 1 for 14 on third-down conversions.
There were also some curious calls, not the least of which was an option-pitch to Raymond Kirkley on 3rd-and-10 at the Nebraska 24 early in the third quarter.
If you're going to run an option, why not have the speedy Stephens-Howling in the backfield?
Defensively, it was good to see Pitt in attack mode.
Look, any illusions about this being a Top 15 or even a Top 25 team were shattered in the first two games. But it can still be a Walt Harris-type team.
It can still go to a bowl and win seven games.
That would go down as a disappointment, to be sure, no matter the circumstances. But anyone who saw last year's team for what it was -- a fluky, lucky, .500 club masquerading as an eight-win club -- knows that Wannstedt didn't exactly inherit a juggernaut.
"We're not walking yet; we're crawling," Wannstedt said. "We got a long way to go yet before we're walking -- but we'll get there.
"We will get there."
If 'there' means on the winning track, I think he's right. I think he put his stamp on this team yesterday.
