Pitt Panthers’ James Conner Runs Wild On Boston College In Road Win

The Pitt Panthers, fresh off a 62-0 annihilation of the Delaware Blue Hens last Saturday, traveled to Boston College (1-0) to face a tougher Eagles squad on Friday night.

This was the first meeting between the two teams since both were in the Big East, as Boston College is in the Atlantic Division of the ACC, while Pitt is in the Coastal.

Pitt didn’t have too many problems during their first road test of the season.

Sophomore running back James Conner carried the ball 36 times for 214 yards and a touchdown, while redshirt sophomore quarterback Chad Voytik threw for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore wide receiver Tyler Boyd finished with five receptions for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Pitt started the game on offense, and Voytik showed his mobility picking up a first down on the first third down of the game. Pitt tacked on three points on a 49 yard field goal by Chris Blewitt.

Boston College senior QB Tyler Murphy, a Florida transfer, displayed his mobility during the Eagles first drive, rushing for 63 total yards, including a 51-yard scamper to the 1 yard line. Tyler Rouse punched it in the end zone to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead.

Boston College didn’t show too much offensive promise after their first drive of the game.

A questionable holding call ended Pitt’s next drive, after Voytik connected with Manasseh Garner for 33 yards deep into Boston College territory. The penalty killed the drive and forced a punt. For Pitt, LB Bam Bradley came up with a big sack to hold the Eagles to a punt on the next drive.

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Voytik made a poor pass that was intercepted by Steven Daniels to give BC some great field position, but the Panthers held strong, forcing a missed 46 yard field goal. After the first drive of the game, the Panthers defense locked down on BC.

Conner ran over multiple Eagles and made many first down rushes, and true freshman RB Chris James contributed with a few nice gains. It looks as if Pitt has already found another great running back for the Panthers lineage.

Following the rushes, Voytik connected with Boyd on an impressive 15 yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone to make it 10-7 Pitt. At the 10-minute mark in the second quarter, Conner already had 115 rushing yards, nearly 9.5 yards per rush.

Junior center Artie Rowell went down in pain for the Panthers and left the game. Another holding call on Pitt denied a Voytik rush that would have been a first down, and Pitt settled with a 42 yard field goal for a 13-7 advantage.

Near the end of the first half, Boyd ran for 19 yards and BC committed a personal foul to give the Panthers good field position. Voytik ran for 10 yards and then connected on a 22 yard touch pass to Garner. Who is the last quarterback that could run and pass for the Panthers? Voytik then completed a 5 yard touchdown pass to Boyd for his second TD of the game.

Pitt went into the half leading 20-7. The Eagles had no answer for the 250-pound Conner, who had 130 rushing yards on 15 carries, nor could they contain Boyd, who scored two touchdowns on four receptions for 31 yards.

Pitt essentially controlled the second half of the game, as Ray Vinopal intercepted Murphy on the Eagles first drive. Voytik connected with Boyd on a deep 41 yard pass, which was followed up by a 9 yard rushing TD as Conner ran over more defenders to make it 27-7.

For BC, Murphy connected with wide receiver Shakim Phillips, a UConn transfer, for a 48 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 27-14. For Pitt, Blewitt nailed a 41 yard field goal, his third of the game, to extend the lead to 30-14.

Pitt was dealt another injury as offensive lineman TJ Clemmings left the game. He appeared to have a stinger. The Eagles scored a late rushing touchdown by Murphy to make the score a little closer. Pitt defensive back Terrish Webb ended the game with an interception, as Pitt improved to 2-0 with a 30-20 victory.

Pitt will travel to Florida International next Saturday, whereas Boston College will host the 14th-ranked USC Trojans next Saturday.

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