Corey Davis and Brendan Carozzoni leave football team, will not play in bowl game

Well, here's a way to get out of going to Birmingham.

The departure bug is hitting the football team after it struck the basketball program last week. News broke recently that running back Corey Davis and tight end Brendan Carozzoni have left the football team per Jerry DiPaola of the Trib-Review. It's not yet known if they are staying at Pitt as non-football players or transferring to play elsewhere. What is known, though, is that the moves appear to be effective immediately and neither will travel to the bowl game (thus missing out on a pretty nice gift bag, I add parenthetically).

Neither were big contributors this season (neither even tallied a rushing attempt or a reception) and probably wouldn't figure into the future plans all that much. It should be noted, though, that both played a little bit in 2011. Davis, in particular, played a decent amount after some injuries at running back and even had a pretty solid game with four receptions for 58 yards in the finale against Syracuse. He also returned kicks so he offered a bit of versatility there.

Davis was going to be stuck behind Rushel Shell, Isaac Bennett, and probably Malcolm Crockett going forward. Shell and Crockett will only be sophomores next year so he was likely looking at a career of very little playing time barring some injuries. Carozzoni was in a similar situation behind J.P. Holtz and Drew Carswell. Both should be around a few more seasons and even though Paul Chryst loves him some tight ends, much playing time just wasn't going to be likely without an injury.

Both moves really make sense and here's to hoping they can find playing time elsewhere if they decide to transfer.

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