PITT TOP TEN RUSHERS OF ALL TIME
| Name | Seasons | Total Yards | YPC | TD:Carry Ratio |
|
1973-76 | 6,526 | 5.6 | 19.7 |
|
2009-12 | 3,271 | 5.5 | 18.6 |
|
1988-90 | 3,192 | 5.5 | 34.3 |
|
1984, 86-87 | 3,086 | 4.5 | 28.5 |
|
2009-10 | 2,860 | 5.3 | 18.1 |
|
2007-08 | 2,816 | 4.8 | 16.7 |
|
1993-97 | 2,803 | 4.9 | 28.6 |
|
1974-77 | 2,748 | 5.7 | 16.5 |
|
1991-94 | 2,643 | 5.1 | 34.5 |
| 10. J. Conner | 2013-14, | 2,564 | 5.7 | 13.0 |
I find this listing interesting as it shows pure stats and, in turn productivity, yet you can’t tell what factors affected these RBs in producing those stats. Did the fact that Curvin Richards played two years with Alex Van Pelt cut down on the number of TDs he had? In 1989-90 they played together and during that stretch Van Pelt threw 31 TDs and Richards only scored nine so most probably yes.
In the QBs have big TD numbers it has affected these RBs opportunities to score on the ground . That makes sense and has been the norm at PITT over the last 40 years. Another thing to wonder about is how did playing with other good RBs at the same time cut into these guys’s productivity?
Tony Dorsett had Elliott Walker playing alongside him and Walker cut into carries that Dorsett would have had in 1975. Dorsett dropped to 255 carries and Walker chipped in with 161 that season. Even then Dorsett still had 1686 yards for a 6.8 YPC! The next season, our championship year, Dorsett jumped back up to 370 carries for 2150 and Walker dropped down to 85 attempts. Conner played alongside Isaac Bennett his first season and that cut into what Conner could have done. Bennett actually had more carries (171-146) and Conner had a slight lead in yards (799-797).
Imagine if Dorsett was getting that 370 carries back in ’75 when he had that great 6.8 ypc. He would have run for 2516 yards which almost matches the 2014’s NCAA leading rusher, Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin, who racked up 2587 yards on 343 carries behind that great OL which was a 7.5 ypc (!) and that is fantastic for that many carries.
What really jumps out is just how very effective James Conner has been with his running. His career YPC is great at 5.7 (ties Walker) but what is outstanding is his career TD to carry ratio at 13.0 However, if you look specifically at last season he had 26 TDs on 298 carries for an 11.5 Carry to TD ratio. That, my fellow PITT fans, was the best in the NCAA and it blows any other past PITT RB out of the water. All in all James Conner is pretty well ahead of our recent ‘star’ RBs by a wide margin when it comes to TD:Carry ratio.
| Conner | 5.7 | a TD every 13.0 carries |
| Graham | 5.5 | a TD every 18.6 carries |
| Lewis | 5.3 | a TD every 18.1 carries |
| McCoy | 4.8 | a TD every 16.7 carries |
| Bennett– | 4.7 | a TD every 22.0 carries |
The odds are that Conner will bolt for the NFL at the earliest opportunity and that is how things go these days. But should Conner stay for that fourth year and carry his current production through the 2015-16 seasons he would end up with:
| Dorsett | 1163 carries | 6526 yards | 5.6 ypc | 59 TDs |
| Conner | 888 carries | 5128 yards | 5.8 ypc | 68 TDs |
Basically, we have been blessed with some very productive kids over the last eight years and some true stars over the last 40..
Barlow had 234 total yards, 209 rushing
I remember it being a pleasnt fall day watching a pretty exciting game … lots of big plays
11/13/99 Pitt 37 ND 27 before 60,190
Batlow 19-71; Nick Goings 15-65
Barlow had 2 2nd half TDs including the one that put the game away with a couple minutes left
Don Nehlen’s last game
Barlow rushed 33 times for 272 yards
Year School Conf Class Pos G Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg TD
1997 Pittsburgh Big East RB 7 27 108 4.0 2 6 140 23.3 1 33 248 7.5 3
1998 Pittsburgh Big East RB 9 121 533 4.4 4 11 140 12.7 1 132 673 5.1 5
1999 Pittsburgh Big East RB 10 141 630 4.5 6 6 94 15.7 1 147 724 4.9 7
2000 Pittsburgh Big East SR RB 11 197 1053 5.3 8 13 134 10.3 1 210 1187 5.7 9
Career Pittsburgh 486 2324 4.8 20 36 508 14.1 4 522 2832 5.4 24
I was at that Pitt WVU game. Barlow was running wild and showed no signs of wearing down. Thought he had a real shot at TD’s 303 record.
If I remember right Harris pulled him halfway thru the 4th. At least I think. That was 15 years ago and I’m sure a lot of alcohol was consumed that day.
I do remember us givin it to the Hoopie fans as they headed for the exits
I’d like to know how many conference Players of the Year were on 6-6 teams? You just couldn’t ignore the season he had. Second best in school history, behind the Legend’s championship run…
Your sarcasm is second to none!
Also to have Elliott Walker at the same time as TD. Amazing. Dion and Ray at the same time.
Where is Boyd on his respective list, I imagine he has easily cracked the top ten.
We also had Charles Gladman the same time we had Ironhead.
Just wanted to be sure we covered all our bases.
Will not provide data for Brandon Miree or Bryan Thomas
Not a shot at Conner, but football is not played in a vacuum.
Boyd is currently 3rd in catches, 7th in yards, and even with a down season will finish as the all time leader in both categories. And likely will finish 2nd to Fitz in TD receptions…. Assuming of course he leaves after this season.
What point are you trying to make about Connor?
He’s not as good because the line is above average? The fact that he is so much more talented than his teammates, earning the bulk of the carries is somehow makes him less of a back? Or that his season was less spectacular because the passing game was below average?
If anything, it makes his year stand out even more, knowing that every team was gonna line up with 8 and 9 in the box to stop him… and they still couldn’t do anything.
I don’t know what your getting at…. but any attempt to lessen his achievement last year is akin to trying to lessen Donald’s the previous year…
They both had outstanding, historic, seasons…. In the vacuum, out of the vacuum, and more importantly, on the field.
Forgot about Gladman #32 if my childhood memory serves me well.
Remember Brian Davis. He could have been great if had the grades to stay in school
Heres a comparison
For whatever reason the link didnt work but plug in tulsa and pitt to compare instead of IU and Purdue
Even last season when he racked up that big yardage he just had 19 more carries than did his offensive backfield mates; 298 to 279 (Voytik, Bennett, James and Ibrahim. The reality is that of the top 25 rushers in the NCAA conner had six RBs get more carries than he did. It is his ypc average that really helps to get all those yards, not so much the number of carries.
So not only was his using his charity to target boys for his perversions/pedophilia, he was using the charity as a tax write off.
Assisted with by this slimebag legalman no doubt.
But hey we got a 2 star center coming in with offers from Norfolk State, Idaho, Moorehead State, Bowling Green and Loyola Marymount.
Nothing to worry about.
BREAKING: ESPN #60 PF (#17 overall) Omari Spellman has committed to Villanova.
Pitt plays Duke, Syracuse, North Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, Virginia, etc.
Villanova plays Xavier, G-Town, Butler, Marquette, St. John’s, etc.
The ACC games are featured on ESPN, 2-4 times per week.
BigEast games are floundering on Fox Sports with minuscule ratings.
Pitt plays at a gorgeous NBA type venue.
Villanova plays at a small fieldhouse.
Pitt is in Pittsburgh, which is head & shoulders and appears a lot as Top 10 city in best places to live, above Philthadelphia.
I just don’t get it.
Also the TD to carry ratio is obviously helped by not having a QB that needed to pad his TD numbers.
One of the criticisms of the decision not to run Lynch and throw for the TD was in the NFL and in college they usually try to make the QB the star.
Conner had a record setting year, I hope he does it again, but it was far from a balanced offense and we finished at 6-7.
Our status as a top tier program is falling fast.
Totally different dynamic going on in ACC basketball in regards to Pitt’s status.
When is the signing period for bball? I thought it wasn’t until April.
@gc – you indicated above that it was helpful to Conner to have an average to weak qb. I would argue that his accomplishment was even greater because opponents stuffed the box to defend the run, knowing the passing game was high schoolish.
The media is taking notice, by not even mentioning us any more.
Very sad to see this happening. But it’s clearly there.
Spellman recently took a visit to Villanova and they closed him.
Kid never even visited Pitt. 🙁
Even Pedo State is ranked above us. Double Oy
And of course the qb bust who the media gave the Heisman to instead of our own Larry Fitzgerald.
Pitt should have at least 3 Heisman winners.
Dorsett is one, Hugh Green and Larry Fitzgerald should have been, instead finishing #2 in the balloting.
The Legion of Doom may want to start getting on him about those guys as well.
Where’s Upitt???
Did Tiny even get ranked by Mel Kiper ?
Hey but Zeise insisted Tiny gave us our best chance to win I believe.
What does Mel know, right.
If Adams and Durand were playing you Dixon
critics would be jumping on the bandwagon. Get
off JD’s back.
You guys prove it is easier to go negative than be a positive
force.
You are so right. Add in Birch who would be a senior and this Pitt team would be a top 10 easily.
Don’t get me wrong, I am for JD and think Pitt will be really good the next 2 years, but he has had plenty of time to get another decent center(all he needs is someone who can defend.)
I have a sad feeling that if Pitt loses today, it will again because we could not defend the opponents’ big man.
Imagine Pitt this year with Christmas at the 5. Someone said this earlier, maybe Pitt and Syracuse can work a trade.
Until this team proves it can play 40 minutes on the road, I expect them to lose. Today is another L.
