The Pitt Panthers underachieved on the football field a season ago, but it wasn’t because of their offense, which was one of the more explosive units the Panthers have had in quite some time.
While plenty of people are excited to see what type of performance we will see from the likes of James Conner, Tyler Boyd and Chad Voytik under first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi, there are some guys up front to watch as well for the 2015 campaign.
One of those guys happens to be center Alex Officer, who has been named to the preseason watch list for the Rimington Trophy, which is annually presented to the best center in college football.
Officer, who stand 6-foot-4, 335 pounds, took over mid-season last year after starting center Artie Rowell was lost for the season with a knee injury.
As a redshirt freshman, Officer went on to start the final 10 games for the Panthers.
During that span, Pitt averaged 435.4 yards per contest, which turned out to be their highest total since the 1992 season.
Officer is an outstanding run blocker and it showed on the field as the Panthers averaged 249.5 rushing yards per game a season ago.
Photo Credit: Star-Telegram
