Ryan Turnley wasn’t just battling injuries in one foot all season last year. No, it was both feet.

Turnley initially got hurt against Utah. He says the injury was a shock to the system, particularly because he never really had one as serious during his career. The following week against UConn, he hurt his other foot.

“The thing about the one in the UConn game was that it was on a screen,” Turnley recalled. “I was pulling out to the left. I went to cut a linebacker, and it felt like the sole of my shoe ripped out, that’s the sound it made and the feeling I had. I got up on my feet, and I said, ‘It happened again. I can’t believe it.’ We completed the pass, and we ran a hurry-up no huddle, so I limped my way over to the line and snapped the ball. I didn’t have time to think about it. I went to the sideline, then to the locker room for pain medicine, and came back.”

Turnley ended up with torn plantar fascia in both feet. On crutches all week, but was in for every snap of every game. He converted to center last spring. As much out of need by Pitt as there was for an opportunity to play. He proved to be far, far better than anyone expected.

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The NCAA finally changed some of the rules for college basketball players in the summer. The old rule forbade any organized practicing overseen by the coaching staff. Some individualized sessions were allowed, but not the whole team at once.

The rationale was that summer practicing under the coaches control would make college sports too much like a professional sports system, and all the other justifications. This led to fascinating work-arounds. Like the head coach have his office built with big windows to oversee the practice court. And if he happened to be in the office when the kids came for their own voluntary practices, well, then he could stand and watch them through the class. And, hey, that banging on the glass by the coach wasn’t to get their attention. He just heard something on the TV that caused him to react.

The NCAA finally loosened the rules and allows the coach two whole hours a week to work with the entire team.

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His football career is almost certainly done, but he still has his life.

The 20-year-old had been seen by a doctor after he complained of a severe headache and numbness in his side, but no one suspected a stroke.

“Found a mass, a blood clot in the back of his head, and a small one on the left side which caused a stroke and left his right side weak,” Dan Burns, Derrick’s adoptive father, said.

Wow.

Scary beyond belief. The silver lining — and there really is one — is that he will be all right and this can be addressed early enough for him to get well and live a normal life. Yes, football is done for him. But he still can get his education (I am assuming that Pitt is going to do the right thing and honor his scholarship). He still gets to live his life.

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Still no confirmed reports on what sent Derrick Burns to the hospital.

Pitt football player Derrick Burns was hospitalized Tuesday with an unspecified medical condition, according to a statement released by the school’s athletic department.

Burns, a 5-foot-11, 235-pound redshirt freshman fullback, was listed in stable condition Tuesday night. More information about his condition was expected after tests were completed.

Rumors are he was life-flighted to UPMC. That there is a blood clot. But again, no confirmation.

Hopefully this will turn out to be a small problem, or one that was caught early enough. It goes without saying, that his football career takes a backseat to being able to live a long and healthy life.

Both J.J. Moore and Tray Woodall will have surgery tomorrow.

Moore will have surgery to repair the fractured bone in his right foot, that he suffered last week.

Woodall will have surgery for a sports hernia. The injury he suffered at the end of the Duquesne game.

A sports hernia typically begins with a slow onset of aching pain in the lower abdominal region. Symptoms may include:

• Pain in the lower abdomen
• Pain in the groin
• Pain in the testicle (in males)

Typically the symptoms are exacerbated with activities such as running, cutting, and bending forward. Patients may also have increased symptoms when coughing or sneezing. Sports hernias are most common in athletes that have to maintain a bent forward position…

That was not an injury that simply healed while Woodall was out. Woodall came back and played through the pain with a mix of pain-killing medications and just being tough enough to take the pain. Far tougher than I am.

The more I read about this kind of injury the more I cannot understand anyone who doubts Woodall’s dedication to Pitt and his teammates, or just how tough he is. He was definitely not at full strength when he returned and limitations were obvious, but he still went out there for the team.

Woodall’s surgery will have him rehabbing for the next eight weeks or so.

In tomorrow’s battle of preseason disappointments, Pitt has a chance to make sure UConn goes on the wrong side of the bubble. Creating a scenario where the Huskies would miss two straight NCAA Tournaments — thanks to their ban for next year due to bad academics. Don’t let UConn fans tell you differently. The Huskies earned it the same way they earned their NCAA Championships. Recruiting talent only, not worrying about grades, and shoving non-producers out the door at a disturbing clip. Then when busted complain that the metrics are the problem, that it wasn’t Jim Calhoun’s fault, that the issues are being addressed, that it is unfair to the present kids and that it is so0oooo unfair.

But I digress.

Anyways, Jim Calhoun remains at home recovering from some surgery on Monday for his spinal stenosis. Being back for Saturday’s game was always a longshot, but hard to rule out because: 1) it’s the season finale/senior day — along with the expected departures of Napier, Lamb and Drummond; and 2) Calhoun is such a stubborn bastard there was every chance he would show up with an IV still plugged into him.

Now, it appears more likely he will try to be ready to coach in the Big East Tournament.

UPDATE: And naturally, Calhoun showed up at the Huskies practice today. Didn’t run it or anything. But he showed up. So, maybe he will show tomorrow just for the ceremonies and to provide an emotional lift.

While the return of Tray Woodall to the line-up would not be the pure cure-all, it would definitely help. Well, it seems as if Woodall will be doing all he can to be out on the court for Saturday night’s game with Louisville.

Woodall, who has missed 10 of the past 11 games with an abdominal injury, said Thursday he is close to returning to game action.

“I definitely feel like I’m ready to play,” he said after going through a full practice for the first time since a game Dec. 27 at Notre Dame. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m going to go through two more days of practice, see how I’m feeling. Whenever I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.”

Not exactly definitive, but the general buzz seems to be that Woodall expects to be out there on Saturday.

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Well, in the past Pitt has survived spells of not having Levance Fields. Now Pitt will try to manage with Woodall. The reports are that Travon Woodall suffered an abdominal tear and will miss the next month.

There’s no sugarcoating that this is a big loss. He was playing 32 minutes a game. Shooting real well from the perimeter. The leading assist man on the team — a better than 2-1 A/TO ratio — and clearly the floor leader.

I can see Lamar Patterson getting some of the time running things as a point-forward type player like Brad Wanamaker. Patterson has good court vision and has 20 assists to only 8 turnovers. This could create times where both Patterson and J.J. Moore are on the floor at the same time. I would be somewhat intrigued to see that. Like it or not (and I don’t), Ashton Gibbs will get some more chances to play point.

Most of the minutes, though, should end up going to John Johnson, Cam Wright and Isiah Epps. The latter has not gotten much playing time after redshirting last year and still struggling to get on the court. He’s an actual point guard, but most stories are that his defense is lacking to be kind.

Going to be a hell of a first test with a road game on ESPN.

A morning spent prepping tailgate food for tomorrow. Chicken drumstick wings, spicy pulled pork, and the stuffing for Jalepeno poppers. If my friends aren’t befouling port-a-johns by 5pm, then I did something wrong. Luke has signed on to man the liveblog tomorrow night. I’ll be tweeting all game.

In case you missed it, Ray Graham had what is (of course) being termed successful surgery to replace the ACL in his right knee. Given the minimum six months recovery, it would appear that Graham will now return for his senior season. How quickly he can return to anywhere near his old style is unknown, but it is hard to bet against it.

It can be fun to speculate on the idea of a Pitt backfield of Graham and Rushel Shell — who was just named Sports Illustrated High School Player of the Week. But, that is a year away and the immediate concern is finishing out this season.

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Ryan Turnley has been outstanding at center for Pitt. When you consider how quickly he had to learn the position just this summer, he has been tremendous. Well, guess who else has been battling an injury?

Ryan Turnley – and this is something we obviously couldn’t report – didn’t practice much at all last week with that foot injury but he really sucked it up and played and I’d expect him to do the same this week. But say he re-injures that or something — what in the heck is this unit going to look like? You really have to give Spencer Leftwich a lot of credit for putting together a rag-tag bunch with a lot of injuries and youth and getting it to be somewhat cohesive and coherent.

Turnley was limping around out there and Coach Graham singled out Turnley for battling through last night.

I honestly don’t think the O-line can take one more injury. Behind Turnley at center are Greg Gaskins or Ryan Schlieper. Schlieper is probably going to start in place of Rotheram unless Nix is back soon. So, be afraid. Very afraid.

It’s not pretty. Not pretty.

Junior running back Ray Graham suffered a right knee injury that will require surgery. He entered the Connecticut game as the nation’s second-leading rusher (134.1 yards/game). Graham finishes the year with 958 rushing yards on 164 carries (5.8 avg.) and nine touchdowns.

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Matt Rotheram sustained a fractured left ankle and will undergo surgery. One of Pitt’s most versatile linemen, Rotheram played in all eight games this season and started the last two contests at tackle and guard, respectively.

Additionally, junior receiver Cameron Saddler will be out for the rest of the season with a fractured sternum. Saddler played in all eight games, starting seven, and had 19 catches for 207 yards (10.9 avg.) and a TD. He was injured following a 40-yard catch-and-run that set up Pitt’s third touchdown for a 21-3 lead over UConn late in the first half.
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Pitt has lost six prominent contributors to season-ending injuries this year. Previously injured players include sophomore safety Jason Hendricks (shoulder), senior offensive guard Chris Jacobson (knee) and redshirt freshman Salath Williams (shoulder).

All three are being declared out for the rest of the season. Still waiting to find out exactly what kind of knee injury, but obviously it isn’t a minor one.

Five players on offense. Add in Lucas Nix missing half the games to date, and over 25% of the original 2-deep to start the season on offense has or will miss at least 1/3 of the season.

Get well, guys.

Lots of things to like about that win. But a lot more that can really bring you down fast.

The obvious is that Ray Graham is injured. Still no official word, but seeing his knee buckle when he planted on it, and the way he went down does not make me optimistic. The pain he was in made me wince. The MRI is scheduled for today. I expect we will hear something around noon.

Unfortunately he was not the only loss. Cam Saddler was finally having a great game. There is no question the knee injuries in the past have completely sapped any burst or explosiveness, that he had coming out of high school. He still can be productive. Last night was the first time where he was catching passes in stride, allowing him to get yards after the catch. And then to suffer an apparent injury to his wrist. a fractured sternum.

Then there was redshirt freshman Matt Rotheram. Getting his first start, playing at Right Guard for this game. Rotheram had passed others on the depth chart in the previous weeks and was now starting. He went down with a leg injury, that would appear to be a season-ender. [UPDATE: fractured left ankle.]

If you are keeping track at home, that is 3 OL, 2 WR, 1 S, and 1 RB down for significant games.

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Salath Williams, a redshirt freshman WR is done for the year. Like Jason Hendricks, he sustained a season ending right shoulder injury during the Utah game. Unlike Hendricks, I didn’t even know Williams had gotten into the game (special teams?).

The irrational part of me thinks at times, that if it’s a lost/transition/bad season then the best thing is to get as much negative things out of the way in one year. That way things might balance out with some good breaks and luck in the next year. Despite my best efforts to think otherwise, I find my mindset has gotten to this point.

Injuries have been a big one this season. The O-line loses the two best, most experienced players, went down. Lucas Nix, is at best, a game time decision on Wednesday. By some remarkable coincidence, the O-line is now incapable of picking up a blitz.

Trey Anderson is now dealing with Tendinitis in his wrist (throwing hand), making Mark Myers the back-up and fueling more controversy (and more than a few assholes actually hoping Sunseri gets hurt/concussed).

Now Jason Hendricks injury from the Utah game has him done for the season. Taglianetti is going to be the starter at safety in his place.

As an aside for the gotta laugh at coach speak, UConn Coach Paul Pasqualoni on the Big East coaches teleconference call today:

“We anticipate seeing Tino Sunseri, who runs their offense extremely well, throws the ball well.”

Um…

For those eager to see what youth (and Talib Zanna) can do at the power forward spot, there will be a small window of opportunity. Nasir Robinson is expected to miss the next 3 to 4 weeks with a knee injury.  Nas will have surgery on his right knee tomorrow — actual injury not yet disclosed. He may be back in time for the season opener against Albany on November 11, but Pitt may be extra cautious with him.

Last year, Nas missed several games when he suffered a tear in the meniscus in his right knee. The same knee he has injured this week. Given that it is the second surgery on the same knee within a 12 month period (albeit, both seem relatively minor), there might be reasons to bring Nas back slowly.