Pittsburgh was an early 6.5-point favorite in the Military Bowl on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Annapolis against East Carolina (ESPN).

The line has since expanded to 10 points as the Pirates have been hit with a series of significant personnel exits.

Running back London Montgomery reportedly became the latest ECU player to enter the transfer portal on Monday.

That means the Pirates will be without their leading passer, Katin Houser (3,300 yards), their leading rusher, Montgomery (742 yards), second leading receiver Yannick Smith (583 yards) and fifth-leading receiver Jayvontay Conner (333 yards), who have all answered the portal’s call.

That’s a lot of production that has left the program.

Pitt loses running back depth

Pitt is dealing with some attrition as well,

Running back Desmond Reid (278 yards) has declared for the NFL draft and Panthers ball carrier Juelz Goff (278 yards) is heading elsewhere.

That leaves leading Pitt rusher Ja’Kyrian Turner (652 yards) with little in the way of experienced back-ups.

The next leading ball carrier for the Panthers is freshman quarterback Matt Heintschel, who has run for 97 yards.

Leading tackler gone

Pitt sustained another personnel setback when junior linebacker Kyle Louis announced he’s opting out of the bowl for the NFL draft.

Louis had a team-high 43 solo tackles this season and 34 assists.

Defensive identity?

It appears ECU’s departures have been limited to the offensive side of the ball, which might speak to the defensive identity of the program under Coach Blake Harrell, former Pirates defensive coordinator.

Harrell was calling the defense last year in a 26-20 Military Bowl win over N.C. State and will return to that role on Saturday with Josh Aldridge leaving for South Florida.

Offensive carousel

Pirates running backs coach Rodney Freeman II will be calling the offense for ECU against Pitt.

It will be interesting to see if the Pirates look to maintain the up-tempo style that John David Baker favored before he returned to Ole Miss.

A slower tempo, fewer snaps and, in effect, a shorter game might be advantageous as ECU deals with some significant personnel voids on offense.

Wright time

Mike Wright Jr. wears No. 0 as a redshirt senior for the Pirates. Hopefully, his jersey won’t be indicative of his contributions in the season finale.

If ECU has to be without Houser, the versatile and well-traveled Wright has made starts at quarterback at Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Northwestern.

Wright had 2.874 yards passing and 1,313 yards rushing for Power Four programs.

The Pirates could adjust the package to accentuate Wright’s capabilities. The Panthers probably have been examining some tapes from Wright’s past stops.

Ditta

True freshman Chaston Ditta has taken some snaps for the Pirates this season, but it doesn’t seem likely he would play ahead of Wright if the bowl game is competitive.

Ditta is four for seven passing this season for 38 yards. Wright has completed three of seven for 13 yards.

Ditta was a hand-picked recruit by Baker from Austin, TX, but with JDB gone, Ditta may not have a strong advocate on staff.

Then again, if Pitt is preparing for Wright and Ditta gets the start, the Pirates might figure that’s worthwhile.

It’s sort of like the old Spy vs. Spy cartoon in Mad magazine.

That’s the kind of contingencies they deal with in military training in the neighborhood of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.

Which Pitt will ECU get?

Both teams are 8-4. ECU is 0-2 against P4 opponents.

The Panthers have been good enough to win, 42-28, at Georgia Tech and have been ranked in the Top 25.

The triumph in Atlanta on Nov. 22 was sandwiched between home losses to Notre Dame (15-37) and Miami of Florida (7-38).

Consistency has not been a Pitt trademark this season.

Common foe

N.C. State is the only common opponent. An ECU rally in Raleigh came up short in a 24-17 loss in the season opener.

Pitt took a 53-34 win at home over the Wolfpack on Oct. 25.

Forecast

The temperature is expected to be in the low 40s for Saturday’s matchup.

There may be showers during the night before the game, but the extended outlook is calling for no rain during the contest.