Rod Rutherford, the slick WR-QB at Pittsburgh, may have struggled in the spring, but he has been sharp this August. In fact, the strong-armed 6'4" soph might even overtake David Priestley for the starting job.

"Rod's got a ton of talent and a great arm," says Panthers star WR Antonio Bryant. "Now, he is feeling comfortable with the offense and is ready to make plays. People think I'm aggressive, well, wait till they see him. The coaches will have to tell him not to hit guys so hard in practice."

BTW, Bryant's best friend, fellow Miamian Javonny Ward, a blue-chip recruit for Miami last year, who didn't get accepted into UM, may surface at Pitt. This week. The hard-hitting 6'1", 205-pound DB says he is awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse as to where he will be eligible.

Ward reports he got his degree from Miami Northwestern High late this summer after he passed his equivalency test. He says he probably will redshirt since he missed all of camp, even if he can get cleared to start with Pitt by the end of the week.

·Nick Saban's experiment of using smooth TB Dominick Davis as LSU's nickel back is looking like a stroke of genius. The Tigers are solid in the backfield, even if Derron Parquet does transfer to 1-AA Southern, and Davis looks like he could be an impact player now on offense, defense and special teams.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.