Pitt needs a QB that can lead them to wins, is Nate Peterman that guy? Pat Bostick joins the show to discuss. Plus new weights listed for a bunch of Panthers.
Conner, who was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award during his 2014 ACC Player of the Year campaign, earned watch-list selection from the Walker Award for the third consecutive season after previously making the 2014 and ’15 watch lists as well.
Now cleared of cancer and fully recovered from the torn MCL that he suffered in the 2015 season opener against Youngstown State, Conner is primed to return to action for the Panthers this year as one of the focal points of Pitt’s talented backfield.
With 2,641 career rushing yards and 36 touchdowns already to his name, Conner begins his comeback campaign as one of college football’s most decorated returnees while he is also poised to move up in the top 10 in Pitt history in career rushing yardage and scoring. A native of Erie, Pa., the 6-foot-2, 235-pound redshirt junior Conner currently holds 10th in school history for rushing and sits sixth in the Pitt record books for scoring, tied with former Panther running back greats LeSean McCoy and Ray Graham with 216 points.
Conner’s inclusion on the Doak Walker Award watch list is his third such selection already this preseason after the Maxwell Award named him as a candidate for Offensive Player of the Year and the Wuerffel Trophy chose the Pitt running back as a contender to be college football’s community service champion.
The Doak Walker Award is annually presented to the nation’s top running back by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. Ten semifinalists will be announced in late November before the three finalists and eventually the winner are presented in early December.
Updated 2016 Pitt Football Watch-List Selections (13 total thus far):
Maxwell Award: RB James Conner
Chuck Bednarik Award: LB Ejuan Price, S Jordan Whitehead
Rimington Trophy: C Alex Officer
Ray Guy Award: P Ryan Winslow
Bronko Nagurski Trophy: S Jordan Whitehead
Outland Trophy: OL Adam Bisnowaty, OL Dorian Johnson
Jim Thorpe Award: S Jordan Whitehead
Wuerffel Trophy: RB James Conner, OL Adam Bisnowaty, LB Mike Caprara
Doak Walker Award: RB James Conner