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May 17, 2012

Tied up today. So all I can do is clear some old tabs with some things to read.

Athlon ranked the best running backs in the Big East from 1-10. Pitt has 1 and 10.

1. Ray Graham, Pittsburgh (SR)
Rushing Stats:
164 att., 958 yards, 9 TDs
Receiving Stats: 30 rec., 200 yards, 0 TD

Graham was well on his way to a 1,000-yard season, but a torn ACL in Pittsburgh’s eighth game ended his 2011 campaign. Through the first eight games, Graham posted 958 yards, including 201 in the opener against Buffalo and 226 in a 44-17 victory over South Florida. His production was even more impressive considering the struggles of the passing attack and an offensive line that never seemed to jell. Graham did not practice this spring, but is expected to return in time for the season opener. The Panthers won’t rush the senior back into action, but as long as he returns at full strength, Graham should be the Big East’s leading rusher at the end of 2012.

10. Isaac Bennett, Pittsburgh (SO)
Rushing Stats:
58 att., 237 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving Stats: 14 rec., 88 yards, 1 TD

With Ray Graham coming off a torn ACL, it’s a good thing Pittsburgh has some depth at running back. Bennett became the Panthers’ go-to option in the backfield after Graham’s injury last year, rushing for 237 yards and two scores over the final five games. He posted back-to-back efforts of 69 yards against Louisville and West Virginia and rushed for 51 yards in the 33-20 win over Syracuse. Bennett will face competition for the No. 2 role in the backfield when highly-touted freshman Rushel Shell arrives in the fall.

As we are all very familiar, by now, Bennett was the star of the offense in the spring. Not to mention the only healthy running back with a start under his belt from last season. He also wants to be encouraging to the much-maligned offensive line.

This spring he has seemed like a natural, especially with the scheme change and the way Chryst is emphasizing the run. That did not go unnoticed in the running backs room. Bennett also has noticed a change in the mind-set of his offensive linemen as well.

“I’ve seen them have a greater passion this year,” Bennett said. “I just see the looks in their eyes when they line up for the huddle. Everybody is getting up there properly, they have a new motivation. That is the vibe I’m getting from them.”

Okay, then.

One of the few good stories from last year on the O-line was Ryan Turnley at center. He was converted to the spot in the summer and really made it his own. Then, as the injuries throughout the line piled up, he had to do more and played through his own injuries. Even though he is one of the few returning starters to the O-line (and the only returning starter who started every game last year), he was one of the most improved players from the start of the spring practices to the end.

Turnley, a center who will be a senior next season, won the team’s Ed Conway Award on offense this spring. The award is meant to recognize the player who improved most during spring practices.

“Coach Chryst came up to me before the spring and said, ‘We’re going to rely on you because you’re one of the seniors, you’ve been here, you’ve played before and we need you to set the tone and show these guys how to work,'” Turnley said after Pitt’s Blue-Gold spring game April 14. “I just went out every day and tried to work as hard as I could and it paid off.”

Turnley will be expected to provide an anchor for the Pitt offensive line this season. Last year, he played in every game for the Panthers despite dealing with a nagging foot injury all year.

Now fully recovered, Turnley displayed improvement and leadership to his new coach over the spring.

“Ryan earned that award,” Chryst said. “[The award] also puts a little bit of pressure on [him]. The bar is set high for him.”

I am hoping he has a better — and healthier — senior year.

Is Pitt a darkhorse contender to win the Big East?  Sure. Why not. Honestly, outside of Temple, UConn and Syracuse it wouldn’t be a stunner for the other five teams in the Big East to win it.

Finally, a bit more on one of Pitt’s 2013 commits, Shakir Soto.

Soto, a Pitt commit, was one of 400 high school seniors across the nation nominated for a spot in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He’s one of just 14 Pennsylvania players to be nominated.

“It just feels great,” Soto said. “It tells me that hard work pays off, and I’m being rewarded for it. I’ve been working at it for years, and everything’s coming into place. It’s just awesome. To be nominated, it’s just great.”

Soto has a strong academic drive. He’s a consistent fixture on the school’s honor roll and ranks 18th out of the 162 students in his class. He plans to major in nuclear pharmacy at Pitt.

Even away from school, Soto has the kind of compassionate personality that would make Gandhi blush.

Last summer, harsh rains flooded the Susquehanna River cascading into the Wyoming Valley. With G.A.R. Memorial located on a hill, people in the affected low-lying areas took refuge in the high school.

Soto along with a few others were among the first to pitch in for the effort. Without being told and not even asked, he was there passing out water and setting up cots for displaced families.





Is it September yet?

Comment by yup 05.17.12 @ 7:39 pm

I like my hogs hungry. Nothing will help Tino more than a healthy o-line and an aggressive running game.

What the hell is nuclear pharmacy? Dude is smart.

Comment by Chris 05.17.12 @ 8:46 pm

$45 Million to Shady! Don’t spend it in one place fella.

Comment by Gas 05.17.12 @ 9:47 pm

Scouts.com just came out with updated rankings. Each of PITT’s five recruits came in with three stars and Parrish was ranked the #3 FB in the nation.

Not too shabby so far…

link to pittsburgh.scout.com

Comment by Reed 05.17.12 @ 9:50 pm

Nuclear pharmacy!!??!!
Does it cure acne? Yes or no.

Comment by SFPitt 05.17.12 @ 11:27 pm

Nuclear pharmacy would be a pharmacist at a hospital that is in charge of nuclear tracers that people ingest to, for example, to view your circulatory system or nervous system.

Comment by Wannstache 05.18.12 @ 7:06 am

a bit of of good news … FB recruit Trenton Coles of Clairton, who went down with a bad knee injury late last FB season, just won his 3rd straight WPIAL 100 meter.

Comment by wbb 05.18.12 @ 7:31 am

Reed, I just checked out the Scout website link that you posted and it looks like Chryst & Company are addressing their immediate needs right off the bat. They have 2 offensive linemen, a tight end, a fullback and a defensive end and all of them are rated as 3 star recruits. So before anyone claims the “sky is falling” lets wait and see how these guys do. We need to give Chryst the benefit of doubt and see what kind of recruiting class they bring in next year with a full year under their belts. I think he’s doing pretty well under the circumstances. You really never know how good a recruiting class is until a few years down the road. Another thing to consider is Chryst’s track record in developing tallent. As Dokish pointed out on his blog, many of Wisconsin’s recruits were rated lower than Pitt’s coming in, and they by all accounts did pretty well.

Comment by Justinian 05.18.12 @ 7:59 am

How in the world does a HS student decide on that esoteric course of study in college?

Comment by Reed 05.18.12 @ 8:00 am

I’d like to see some highly rated quarterbacks showing interest in Pitt for the 2013 class. After Chad, we got nothing going forward into 2013.

Comment by Dr. Tom 05.18.12 @ 8:06 am

Dr. Tom, we have Voytek coming to Pitt in August, let’s see how he does. Although he probably won’t start as a freshman, if he adjusts to college and performs well, he’ll have 4 years of eligilibity. Meyers made a lot of progress and improved this spring so he remains an option as well. Now that they have more than a month, the coaching staff will have time to next year, to start targeting who they want to pursue down the road.

Comment by Justinian 05.18.12 @ 10:50 am

Soto…wasn’t he the villain in Karate Kid 2?

Comment by Jeff 05.18.12 @ 11:43 am

What’s going on with all of the tweets about the National Championship game being limited to only SEC, PAC12, B1G, and Big12 with the new playoff format? Saying ACC, Big East, ND will be left out in the cold.

Seems like their basically taking away AQ status from Big East and ACC! Haven’t found anything official yet, but this is not good news if accurate.

Comment by Hank the Tank 05.18.12 @ 12:19 pm

@Reed-While Nuclear Pharmacy may appear to be an esoteric field, it is a quite lucrative, “high demand” profession. I have friends in the field and they love their working conditions, compensation and quality of life.

Comment by jw in Raleigh 05.18.12 @ 12:49 pm

Just so you guys know, scott orndoff was nominated for the us army aa game too.

Comment by Pk 05.18.12 @ 1:23 pm

All the SEC and Big 12 are doing is ensuring a good game if their champs dont make the top 4. There will most likely be no AQ statuses. The ACC will always be in the mix with VT, FSU, Miami, GT, and Clemson

Comment by Tony C 05.18.12 @ 1:52 pm

@Reed & JW,
Such career advice often comes from a friend or relative who either works in the field or has intimate knowledge of it. That advice can be good or bad, depending on the aspirations, aptitude and talent of the person receiving it. One should be very careful in giving advice to young people, because they often take it on face value (pays well for example) without considering alternatives for which they may be better suited. Fields also change over time – whatever is hot today might be cold in the future.

Comment by 66Goat 05.18.12 @ 2:08 pm

ACC is definitely going to be a have not conference. Looks like it will be the Big 4 vs. everyone else. I guess Pitt should have went to the Big 12 when Pitt had the chance to.

Comment by Wardapalooza 05.18.12 @ 2:21 pm

Hope that was sarcasm, Wardapalooza….

Comment by JCE 05.18.12 @ 3:32 pm

Robert Foster’s top 3: Pitt, Bama and PSU?

link to blog.pennlive.com

Comment by Get the Glory 05.18.12 @ 3:33 pm

…oh, and I wouldn’t touch the Big 12 (read: Big Texas) with a 12 mile long pole. It’s as messy as any random shack off the backroads of West Virginia. Over or under until the OK schools get out from under Texas’ ruling hand: 2.5 years?

Comment by Get the Glory 05.18.12 @ 3:43 pm

I wish it was sarcasm. If you think the Big 12 is going anywhere think again. It was messy but not any longer. They just signed a much bigger TV deal than the ACC and they just made an alliance with the SEC. The Big 10 and Pac 12 also have a deal together. That leaves the ACC with only the Big East. I can’t wait to see Pitt playing in a December 20th bowl game on ESPN against South Florida or Rutgers. Sounds so AWESOME.

Comment by Wardapalooza 05.18.12 @ 3:51 pm

Wait a second Wardapalooza….the BigXII just signed a much bigger TV deal than the ACC? Do me a favor and let DeLoss Dodds know about that because just today, in response to the new bowl arrangement with the SEC press release, he stated that the BigXII’s media contract has yet to be finalized.

Comment by ECH 05.18.12 @ 4:19 pm

I doubt that Ward. The ACC will always have a tie in with the Gator Bowl and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta(plus the lesser ones like the ones in Charlotte & Nashville, still better than the crap the BigEast has) and Clemson packed em in at the Orange Bowl and spent tons of money in Miami. Despite the score of the game the Orange Bowl folks were pleased with the revenue generated.

My object back in August was PITT using the threat of going to the Big 12 to parlay that into getting an invite into the Big 10.
The Big 10 would have been much more concerned with a Big 12 school in Pittsburgh, at a school that recruits all of PA, NJ and Ohio and also giving Texas & Okla access to those regions as well.
Than the Big 10 is concerned with an ACC school anchored in Pittsburgh.

Hopefully others can see the difference.

Comment by EMel 05.18.12 @ 4:30 pm

Every time I turn around, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

I would think it also lessens any chance, allthough a long shot anyhow, of Notre Dame ever joining the ACC.

I say again, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!

Comment by Dan 05.18.12 @ 4:47 pm

At what point do the actions by these Universities turn the primary function of the institution from one of education to one of profit? And does that not then call into question their 501(c)3 tax advantaged status? The profit motive becomes beyond obvious in light of the fact that the SEC and BigXII will “own” this new bowl and whore it out to the highest bidder.

I really find it hard to believe that there will be only two schools (WVU and PSU) north of Columbia, SC and east of the Ohio River with “access” to the kind of dollars this supposed playoff will generate. Doesn’t this start to dip into the antitrust universe?

Comment by ECH 05.18.12 @ 5:03 pm

This is going to force ND into the Big Ten. Irish don’t have a top bowl deal with the BCS gone.

Comment by Chris 05.18.12 @ 5:16 pm

Trust me guys. Pitt made the right choice conference wise. The Big 12 is a Texas dominated conference with 4 schools and UT rules the roost. The Aggies finally had enough of the arrogance of the Horns and left. The Horns are much like State Penn and their cult Nitters down here. I root against State, the Domers and the Horns every time. Why? Because they are arrogant pricks. That is their mentality. I guess we’ll soon be exposed to the arrogance of the Dookies and Heels on the basketball side. The Hoopies chose the perfect conference for them. They like long road trips, they don’t mind bending over, they place little value on academics and the law, and they are all about following the buck. I like my school well rounded, respectful of tradition and history, mindful of the academic mission of a university, and cognisant of life’s greater purpose. Pitt is a wonderful university. I take great pride in my degree. H2P!

Comment by TX Panther 05.18.12 @ 6:14 pm

How does this sound at least we dont get shut out
the champ of the ACC plays the champ of the BIG
EAST on say dec 30 in the gator bowl unless the champ is in the four team play off in which case they would send the runner up and may be to keep the game importent ESPN sweetens the pay off to the gator bowl teams what else can we do outhet wise we are shut out of a major bowl you like or you dont like which one.

Comment by Frankcan 05.18.12 @ 7:27 pm

I may be the only PITT fan that isn’t concerned about this hardly at all. What I want is for PITT to play decent opponents on a regular basis. The ACC will give that to us even without FSU and Miami.

I’d love for the conference to stay intact but in the long run it just doesn’t matter all that much to me.

Now, if all the BCS talk is true and the ACC gets shut out of a chance at a BCS bowl then that concerns me but I don’t see that happening as there will be lawsuits galore for the exiled conferences and schools.

Comment by Reed 05.19.12 @ 7:43 am

Big East, ACC, Big 12, MAC, A10, Pitt just needs to concentrate and beat whatever team is playing against them that week! That’s been hard enough over the years. Win, and the rest will take care of itself.

Comment by goalie44 05.19.12 @ 3:13 pm

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