It was just announced that Conner has won the ACC Offensive Player of the Year Award. Conner beat Jameis Winston 16-13. Naturally, he’s also the Offensive Player of the Year as well. Conner had a historic season in 2014 which included breaking Tony Dorsett’s record for rushing touchdowns in a season.
Not bad for a guy who was initially recruited as a DE.
There aren’t many Aaron Donalds out there and James Conner is currently pencilling his name in there in the midst of quite an impressive list of guys who’ve carried the rock for the Panthers also.
Some like Goldberg I only know from the Pitt history books or from listening to my Dad retell some of his grest stories from back in the day when he was just a kid himself, others like Heyward, Kevin Barlow or Swervin Curvin Richards, who might get lost in the sauce, unless you’re old enough to have been around following Pitt football back when they showed their skills to you in person, then you remember them, because they were really good and you just don’t forget the good ones. Then for the younger fans among us, what a great recent list of guys like Stephens-Howling, Lewis, McCoy and Graham, all you can say when remembering their contributions to the Pitt program is WOW.
Now we have the privledge to watch James Conner coming into his own, probably, in the future, to be included in the same breath with the very best Pitt RB legends like Curtis Martin and Anthony Dorsett.
Yeah a mediocre season to watch transpire at 6-6 but actually a lot of fun watching more Pitt history in the making, more GREAT Pitt history.
CongratS Conner and Hail to Pitt!
Pitt might not be making noise in the Coastal standings yet… But they sure as hell are cleaning up some ACC hardware through their sophomore season…
FINALLY PC GETS IT AND IS PUTTING HIM AT DE AGAIN
amirite
Eh Eh?
Congratulations to James Connor!
You and TB made the season
relevant. Your determination
is obvious. Another in a long and
distinguished line of Pitt running
backs.
USA TODAY..Pitt vs. Arkansas IndependenceShrvpr
S.I……..Pitt vs. Cincy Bitcoin-St Pete Fla.
Yahoo……Pitt vs. Cincy Military-Annapolis
????…….Pitt vs. Illinois Quick Lane-Detroit
Have seen 3 BC vs PSU Pinstripe-Bronx
Wonder if any of these will be right, or are they just trying to get hits to their page???
Ha Ha, they get me everyday!!!
Seriously, congrats to James, seems like a good kid.
Hitting The Juco Ranks
With Auburn RB commit Jovon Robinson leading the way, the 2015 junior college class is full of instant-impact players. Rankings:
I don’t see any players with ‘Pitt’ listed next to their names. 🙁
Guess we don’t need any instant-impact players.
He is also from my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania
I think and believe this kid can win the trifecta next year in the ACC – POY, O-POY and D-POY
SOP – Saluting & Overwhelmingly Proud!
ESPN has us as a slot-in. Doesn’t even predict which bowl but it won’t be an ACC bowl.
Yes the win over Miami was a long time coming but once again, we are bowl nomads. Remember last year we were in this predicament as well.
We’re not getting a top tier ACC bowl or even a third tier it looks like.
But we will get a bowl game. Rest assured, Stevie is on the ACC bowl committee.
(as opposed to former Pitt AD Jeff Long who is the spokesperson for the national playoff and our rival down the road, the one Stevie refused to play, who also sits on the committee.
We are so blessed to have Stevie on the ACC bowl committee.
H2P
yea well Paulie thinks Matt House was qualified to be a DC too.
If these really good programs like Auburn, USC, UGA for example, go after JUCO’s why shouldn’t a POW like PC.
A link was posted to the Raleigh News&Observer which layed out how Pitt gets to an ACC bowl(tier 2).
Basically involves Alabama beating Mizzou in SEC champ game.
Which gets a Big 10 team(MSU or OSU) into the Orange Bowl vs an ACC team.
And then that opens up the Citrus Bowl to an ACC team. Which is an either/or bowl acc/big10 vs sec.
Which leaves 3 ACC teams plus ND for the 4 Tier One ACC bowls. And 4 ACC teams (including Pitt) for the 4 Tier 2 bowls.
Don’t see why they wouldn’t want a Pitt/PSU matchup in Detroit, as it would get better than normal attendance AND I would imagine excellent TV ratings.
Do you guys think he will make it as an offensive player in the NFL?
He will make it in the NFL someway. He is a FREAKY GOOD football player!
Fun stuff
Next year he should be a good (adequate)college QB.
I think that if Conner can show he can catch the ball out of the backfield, (and he had a nice reception for 40 yds out of the backfield against Miami) Don’t have a clue why he wasn’t thrown to more often.
he can play RB in the NFL.
That way he can be BOTH a bruising inside the tackles threat, which would be great inside the 10 yard line AND be a threat catching the ball out of the backfield. So there would be no need for a specialist RB to perform both duties. Conner could do both.
Forgive me if I’ve mentioned it before, but Conner’s story resonates with me on several levels.
Like Erie Express, I’m also an Erie native. I’ve been living in the Pittsburgh area for almost all of the last 20 years, but I still have family there, so I follow the goings-on as much as I can. When a kid from a high school program lands at Pitt, I cheer a little more for them…even if they do hail from McDowell (I’m a Cathedral Prep grad and McDowell was our arch-rival).
But primarily there’s this…
This hits home. My wife lives with epilepsy and it is an incredibly scary illness. Seeing someone like Conner take steps to raise awareness for this illness means a lot, personally.
Since I’ve become a Pitt fan, there isn’t a player I’ve enjoyed watching more than James Conner. I wish nothing but the best for this kid and will always be a fan of James Conner.
Even looking back to the camp and opener this season I don’t think anyone seriously considered moving him out of the offense, even for a bit.
