When it was announced that James Conner was out for the season with an MCL injury, I initially expected the Panthers to go with sophomore running back Chris James to start. That, however, won't be the case as redshirt freshman Qadree Ollison will get the start instead. That was noted on the team's official depth chart this week.
Ollison as the starter makes some sense after he ran wild against Youngstown State last week. Still I was surprised to see him bypass James, who played last year as a true freshman while Ollison redshirted, based on the strength of one game.