Heading into the season, Pitt's biggest strength was arguably its running game. Led by All-American candidate James Conner, the unit was expected to do great things with him and a pair of four-star recruits. Unfortunately for the Panthers, that hasn't been the case. The most recent outing included a disappointing 55-yard effort against Iowa on Saturday night in the team's first loss of the season.
The season-ending injury to backup Rachid Ibrahim in training camp seemed to be a bump in the road. The big blow came when Conner was taken out in the team's opener against Youngstown State and was ruled to be likely out for the season.