Submit your Pitt football question

Q: What type of events and activities will take place at Fanfest? What is the cost to get into the event?

Mark Schilajew, Huntingdon, Pa.

ZEISE: The Fanfest is Thursday night (Aug. 21) at Heinz Field. Admission is free and parking in the Gold Lot 1 is available for $5. The doors will open at 6:30 and from 6:30 to 7:30 players and coaches will be available for autographs and photos. Then from 8 to 9 you can watch Pitt practice -- I'm sure it will be a light practice and will likely showcase the skill players and the newcomers like Jonathan Baldwin, I'm sure, will get a chance to make the crowd go "wow" a few times. Pitt's band and cheerleaders will be there as well and Joe Bendel will be broadcasting his radio show from Heinz Field as will Stan Savran's FSN TV show. In other words, if you are a Pitt fan there is probably something for you to do.

Q: Why are we not hearing much (I can't remember a single story) about Greg Cross and the "Wild Cat" offense? Have the coaches, seeking the element of surprise, asked you and your peers to keep quiet on the whole thing?

Timothy Lyon, Pittsburgh

ZEISE: They worked on it pretty much every day but the bottom line is that is sort of a gimmick offense that will likely be used on a game-by-game basis. I think the other thing is -- the conventional offense until the last few days has not exactly lit the world on fire and coaches wanted to get as much work with the starters together as possible. I will say Greg Cross has been an exciting player every time he has gotten an opportunity but again, I don't think this wildcat stuff will be used much more than sparingly most weeks. I'm sure there will be a game or two, however, where it seems like the matchup will work well and we might see a healthy dose of it. Cross will figure in to the mix some, I just don't think it will be a situation like Tim Tebow and Chris Leake (Florida's 2006 tandem) where Tebow came into the game in a lot of situations and played regularly that year.

Q: With Shariff Harris doing well and Chris Burns being as goods as advertised will there really be a place in future line ups for Kevin Collier?

Eric Wirtner, Las Vegas

ZEISE: It is going to be tough for Kevin. Heck, the more I see of Burns the more I think it is going to be tough for Shariff Harris as well! Seriously, Chris Burns is so much better than I -- and most everyone else, including the coaches -- could have imagined that he has been one of the real exciting surprises at camp. So Collier, who has also been slowed by injuries and has fallen behind, has to get back into the mix quickly this year in order to at least stay relevant and then have an incredible spring. I would think that with LaRod Stephens-Howling graduating and LeSean McCoy likely headed for the NFL after this year, the tailback spot will be one of the most exciting position battles of the spring, so it isn't like Collier won't have a chance - he just has to stay healthy and continue to improve.

Q: What happend to Buddy Jackson? I did not see him on the second team?

Frank Stosic, Munhall

ZEISE: Buddy is finding out the hard way that there are a lot of good football players on this team now and competition for jobs is intense. He sat out a few days with some sort of bumps and bruises and the three freshmen corners -- Jared Holley, Antwuan Reed and Ronald Hobby -- all passed him up. He is now in a battle to try to get back to the two-deep but those three young guys are all very good and have caught on quickly, particularly Holley, who I could actually see at some point pushing starter Jovani Chappel for playing time. Jackson is still in the mix but has his work cut out for him and as Dave Wannstedt and many old-school coaches like to say, "It is hard to make the club when you are sitting in the tub".