Panther of the Game: James Conner

So, James Conner is a beast.

It's true that Pitt's offensive line played extremely well yesterday, but the nimble feet, brute strength, and ability to find the end zone were too hard to overlook as Conner wins our Panther of the Week award.

Conner was unreal yesterday and his stats tell the story. He had 38 carries for 263 yards, and three touchdowns. Yes, you read those all correctly ... and Pitt still lost. Yes, you read that part correctly as well. Yesterday was a kick in the gut, so it is a shame that Conner's day is overshadowed a little bit by the heartbreaking loss.

If you want one play that showed you what kind of day the sophomore had yesterday, just go back to approximately seven minutes left in regulation with Pitt trailing by a touchdown and the ball. They were at the Duke 22-yard line and Conner took the hand off and was met by Breon Borders. Conner stiff-armed Borders in the face and then on Borders' second attempt to make the tackle, big number 24 shoved him out of bounds and to the ground for a 14-yard gain. It was like literally like watching a kid try and take down a man.

Pitt may be piling up the losses after a hot start, but I really hope people still watch, because watching Conner is a special treat game in and game out. Even if the Panthers are not winning, Conner always comes up with several runs that make you stand in awe of his ability to make even good defenders look small and weak.

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