Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/204831
Game Preview: pittsburgh Nowhere To Run The Panthers' missing rushing attack keeps bowl plans in jeopardy F By Dan Murphy or years, the Pittsburgh Panthers have marched their way to successful seasons in a grinding fashion that suits the Steel City, heaping responsibility on the offensive line and a workhorse running back. When head coach Paul Chryst, who coordinated a Wisconsin offense that had the same approach for seven years, took over the program two seasons ago, he tried to re-install that approach, but so far all the pieces have not snapped into place. Chryst finished the month of October with a 10-10 record with his new team, one that is still searching for consistency while it tries to avoid a third consecutive losing season. Much of the turmoil on offense has been out of Chryst's control. Sophomore Rushel Shell, the next star in Pitt's running back succession, left the program this summer and eventually landed in West Virginia. That left junior Isaac Bennett and true freshman James Conner to battle for the carries that would have belonged to Shell. Conner developed into a pleasant surprise during his first half of a college football season. The 6-2, 230-pound Western Penn- Paul Chryst, who was 10-11 in his first 21 games as the Panthers' head coach, is still searching for consistency with his team's ground game, which ranked 92nd nationally (140.7 rushing yards per game) through Oct. 26. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH sylvania native averaged 5.4 yards per carry in his first six games. An injury kept him out of the Oct. 19 meeting with Old Dominion, and Bennett seized the opportunity. He ran for a