Pitt's defense has dominated drills, but the offense stole the show last night in the annual Blue-Gold spring game.

The offense was crisp, made big plays and had its best performance of the three scrimmages held this spring. And though few, if any, of the 7,549 who attended actually understood the scoring system used, it was a big win for the offense (gold) against the defense (blue). The final score was Gold 60, Blue 25.

Part of the offense's dominance had to do with the fact that the defense was somewhat vanilla -- there were few blitzes and the cornerback didn't press the receivers at the line -- all four quarterbacks who played had big moments. The offensive line had its best day in a long time and the running game was productive as well.

"I joked [during the postgame interview] with the NFL Network that today was the first time I heard our defensive line getting yelled at and that kind of made me smile a bit," said quarterback Bill Stull, who, at least for now, has won the starting job. "I thought we were able to set the tone with that first drive, set the tempo for the scrimmage and that's what we wanted to do. I think it is pretty well known that the defense dominated the spring a little bit and we were just tired of getting our butts kicked every practice, so our attitude today was 'Let's just have fun and try to make some plays.'"

Stull and the offense did set the tone on the first drive. He completed five of his first five passes -- to five receivers -- and led the team on a 65-yard drive for a touchdown. The big play on the drive was a 16-yard pass from Stull to tight end Dorin Dickerson and the touchdown was scored on a 1-yard run by LeSean McCoy.

The offense scored on three of its first four drives and was consistently able to move the ball.

Dickerson was one of several pass catchers who shined on offense. He caught three passes for 35 yards, but the big star of the receiving corps was sophomore Maurice Williams, who caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Williams also had the biggest play of the game -- a 36-yard reception -- but that throw came from the most exciting player on the field, reserve quarterback Greg Cross.

Cross played only a few series, but he did provide a glimpse of his enormous potential, not only with his throw to Williams but with a 29-yard run on third-and-20 play that was the longest running play of the game. And the most impressive part of the run was it was supposed to be a pass, but the pocket broke down and his receiver wasn't open, so he improvised.

"That's just a confidence thing with me," Cross said. "Coaches are showing more confidence in my ability to make decisions like that and as a result I'm just feeling more and more comfortable out there. It was a lot of fun to get out there and run around and that's just sort of how I play the game."

Combined, the quarterbacks completed 25 of 40 passes for 251 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Pat Bostick led the way and was 11 for 15 for 105 yards. Stull, who wore a red (non-contact) jersey, was 7 for 10 for 56 yards.

Several running backs also played well, especially redshirt freshman Shariff Harris, who made a case for a move up the depth chart this spring. Harris rushed nine times for 65 yards and had a 15-yard touchdown run around the left end. LaRod Stephens-Howling rushed seven times for 52 yards, while McCoy saw very limited action.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said it was nice to end the spring on a positive note for the offense given the way it has struggled.

"I liked the fact that it was not sloppy," Wannstedt said. "A lot of times these games are full of guys getting sacked, throwing interceptions, penalty flags, fumbles -- but we were very focused and I thought as a result the game was pretty clean. I liked what our quarterbacks did, all four of them. I thought some players, like Shariff Harris, helped himself out and I thought Dorin Dickerson made some more progress and most importantly, nobody got hurt."

NOTES -- Pitt announced its Ed Conway Award (most improved players of the spring) winners: Tight end Dorin Dickerson, wide receiver Cedric McGee and defensive tackle Mick Williams. Also defensive tackle Myles Caragein and offensive lineman Chris Jacobson won the Pitt academic award for freshman academic achievement. ... Pitt had 13 players not in uniform and linebacker Scott McKillop (ankle) played sparingly in the first few series.