I haven't seen much bulletin board material before Pitt's games this year, but if Ray Graham needed more motivation for Saturday's game, he may have found it from Utah's running back.
The Utes' running back John White apparently isn't a fan of Graham. Heck, he doesn't even know who he is:Pitt's Ray Graham is second in the nation with 149.8 yards rushing per game. Utah's John White is third in the Pac-12 and 27th nationally with a 100-yard average.
The Utes' "Wolfman," though, isn't looking at it as an individual matchup in any way, shape or form.
"Nope. I don't even know who he is, honestly. I really never pay attention to other players and stuff," White said.
Yeah, I don't think that was the wisest thing to do.
Now, it could be worse. White could have been a defensive player. But you're a running back and you can't recognize that Graham is one of the top backs in the country? Dude would have been better off at least pretending he knew who Graham was before offering some insincere props.
For the record, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham knows who he is:
"He is an outstanding back," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "I remember looking at him last year when they had the Lewis kid, and we were looking at the next guy wondering why they weren’t playing him. This guy is really good, and he’ll be a challenge for us."
The Utes have been above average at stopping the run this year, ranking 19th in the nation, but they've also been a bit up and down. They allowed only 11 yards to BYU while giving up nearly 200 to Washington. Their job may have just gotten a bit harder, though - I've got to think this quote gets back to Graham and after a beatdown to Rutgers last week, I think Pitt will already be motivated as it is.