Quiet day for the local media regarding Pitt. Any attention regarding Pennsylvania college football seems focused on some other team further east. Their name escapes me at the moment.
Naturally it is time to talk about Conredge Collins since he actually got to play, and will likely play more.
On Saturday, Collins got on the field for the first time in his college career. Playing fullback, he had seven carries for 15 yards in Pitt’s 38-20 rout of Cincinnati.
“We need all the healthy backs we can get,” Wannstedt said. “We’ll get (Collins) on special teams next week and we’ll continue to work him in more. His playing time will pick up as time goes on.”
With Collins’ debut, Wannstedt and his staff were able to get a close look at two-thirds of their backfield of the future.
Tailback Rashad Jennings, recovered from a shoulder injury, cruised for 102 yards and a touchdown. LaRod Stephens-Howling missed his second straight game with a high ankle sprain.
When all three freshmen are healthy, it could be a potent combination.
“When we’ve got a game, when it needs to be pounded out, that’s me and Rashad,” Collins said. “LaRod’s got scatback speed. If it gets a little too tough in the middle, we can give it to LaRod and he’ll bounce outside.
“We’ve got weapons. We’ve just got to use them all at the right time.”
Okay, I admit it, I started to drool a little bit thinking about all three of them playing. If we get even a halfway decent offensive line in place, that could be one hell of a backfield.
Collins turned down Miami, among other schools, in part because Pitt offered him a chance to play tailback. However, with Stephens-Howling and Jennings in place, Collins appears to be slated for the fullback spot.
“I think the guy has talent and could be really special there,” Wannstedt said.
Wannstedt said he and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh will try to get Collins as many touches as possible. He pointed out that fullback Tim Murphy has been used often in one-back sets this season. And in the NFL, it is not unusual for fullbacks to get the ball in their hands.
“All the years that Matt was at San Francisco, Tom Rathman was their leading receiver and he was a fullback,” Wannstedt said. “When we were in Dallas, it was nothing for (fullback) Daryl Johnson to catch 75-80 balls a year and he was still getting his carries.
“When you have players, you have to find ways to get them the ball.”
Collins was considered Pitt’s biggest get as a recruit and when he was landed by Pitt so late in the recruiting year, it got everyone’s attention that Coach Wannstedt can recruit.
The point he made about how getting him to the NFL and how he and OC Cavanaugh like to use fullbacks seems echoed by Collins.
Collins reportedly chose Pitt because Wannstedt told him he would have an opportunity to play tailback. Most other schools wanted him as a linebacker or fullback.
But Collins said that’s not entirely true. The main reason he’s at Pitt is because he believes he can help the Panthers win a national championship.
He said he trusts coaches will use him in a way that he’ll have an opportunity to have plenty of success.
Another factor in his decision to come to Pitt was Wannstedt’s and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s NFL experience.
“I’m a team player. I want to win above all,” Collins said. “And the reason I came here is because coaches let me know that whether I played tailback or fullback, I’d get a chance to run the football and catch some passes. That’s all I asked for, an opportunity and coach Wannstedt gave it to me. If you look at what the fullbacks have done on the NFL level for him and for coach Cavanaugh in the past, I know I’ll have a big part in the offense at either running back spot.”
If you are looking for the upside to Pitt’s season being less than hoped for (and that is about as nice as can put it) to this point, it’s that Pitt and Coach Wannstedt are playing the freshmen and underclassmen more. Proving to recruits and potential commits that he is not just paying lip service to giving them a chance to make an immediate impact and getting the best players out there regardless of seniority.
Pitt may be out of the ESPN.com Bottom 10 this coming week, so now we’re in the “mediocre middle“?
Saluting the fluffy center of the 117-team Division I-A college football universe, where No. 59 is the ultimate goal in a poll that goes up and down, with all roads leading to the middle.
…
58. Pittsburgh (2-4): Knocked off Cincinnati in the first ever “River City Rivalry.” Did they have to invent a trophy to make Dave Wannstedt feel better about himself?
Well, it’s a start.
