Top Ten Pitt Football Moments of 2013 - #6 James Conner's bowl game performance

I really hate doing things like these, so I offer it with the following precursor: Things are bound to have been left off this list. Some intentionally because there simply wasn't enough room and maybe a few unintentionally that I simply forgot about.

Also, some of these are games and not necessarily individual 'moments'. That's just the way it is, though, boys and girls.

Irregardless of all of that, over the next ten days, I'll be bringing you the top ten football moments of 2013 as I see them.

No. 6 - James Conner's bowl performance

This one's fresh in our minds, obviously, and it's still kind of hard to believe. Playing against the fifth-ranked defense in college football, running back James Conner managed to put together Pitt's best rushing performance in a postseason game. The true freshman had an incredible 229 yards to go along with a touchdown, surpassing Tony Dorsett's bowl record.

The big night, though, was made even more special by the fact that Conner played defense as well. With an injured Bryan Murphy, Conner stepped in to play some defensive end and was clearly a handful for opposing linemen, even drawing a holding penalty in his limited snaps on the other side of the ball.

As I wrote over the weekend, it's still not known where he'll suit up next fall, but either way, Conner gave a bowl performance to remember to help Pitt get to a 7-6 record on the season. For his efforts, he won the game's Most Valuable Player award.

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