While wins haven’t exactly piled up in recent seasons in the fashion the Pitt Panthers would like, the one thing that has been a constant has been quality production from the tailback position.
Whether it be LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis, Ray Graham or most recently James Conner, the Panthers are usually going to be able to run the football effectively.
Redshirt freshman Qadree Ollison will get his opportunity to add his name to that list.
With Conner now out for the season and backup Chris James also nursing an undisclosed injury, Ollison is taking first team reps in practice and will get the lion’s share of the workload when the Panthers travel to Akron on Saturday.
After what Ollison did during Pitt’s opener against Youngstown State, he certainly deserves an encore to see what he can do for four quarters.
Ollison, making his collegiate debut, carried the ball 16 times for 212 yards (12.9 avg.) to help lead the Panthers to victory.
On his first college carry, Ollison broke loose for a 40-yard gain. He outdid himself on his third carry when he took a pitch and went 71 yards untouched for a touchdown.
That was plenty enough for Ollison to be named ACC Rookie of the Week.
“It was a great first game,” said Ollison. “The most important thing is we got the win. We really expect that whoever is in there can get the job done.”
However Ollison knows that you don’t make a career off one game and there’s plenty of work to be done, not only for himself, but the offense as a whole.
“There’s always room to get better,” said Ollison. “Especially as an offense. We have to take better care of the football, but there’s just a lot of little things we need to improve that will make us a much better offense.”
Ollison was a three-star prospect coming out of high school where he was the No. 1 ranked running back coming out of New York. He chose Pitt over scholarship offers from several BCS schools, including Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Boston College, Maryland, Iowa and Temple.
The situation he found himself in on Saturday was familiar to Ollison as during a high school playoff game as a sophomore, he replaced an injured teammate in a semifinal playoff game at Ralph Wilson Stadium and responded by running for 180 yards in three quarters.
This time he also came through when his number was called but he was having to fill the shoes of a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in Conner.
Ollison was ready though.
“Coach Narduzzi is always preaching about being the next man up and we preach that in the running back room as well,” added Ollison. “We’re all about equal to each other. You always have to expect the unexpected. Anything can happen.”
“Football is a physical game and when you’re number is called you always have to be ready. You can’t not expect you’re number to be called and not be ready. You always have to expect something like that to go down, especially in the game of football. You have to always be ready for it.”
When Saturday rolls around, Ollison won’t be sitting third on the depth chart as he will get a week of first-team reps as he prepares to make his first college start.
That will come against an Akron team that dominated the Panthers up front one year ago.
“The extra reps will be nice,” he said. “It certainly helps to get more reps in practice.”
As for replacing one of the nation’s best running backs in Conner, Ollison knows it won’t be easy.
He also knows he won’t be expected to do it all by himself.
“Other guys are going to have to step up and help try and fill the void,” said Ollison. “I’m not saying I’m that guy. It is going to have to be a collective effort.”
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
