When center Artie Rowell was asked Monday how Pitt moves on after learning that star running back James Conner is out for the rest of the season because of a knee injury, he just chuckled.
“We have another game on Saturday,” Rowell said. “We’re playing. There really is no time to dwell on it.”
Pitt doesn’t have a whole lot of time to feel sorry for itself over losing Conner. Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi announced the news Monday, saying Conner tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee in the 45-37 win Saturday against Youngstown State and will have season-ending surgery this week.
Conner was hurt on his second carry of the second quarter, a 9-yard run to the right out of the shotgun formation. He jogged off with a slight limp, but didn’t appear severely injured. Narduzzi said after the game that he was fine, but further testing Sunday revealed the MCL tear.
“You just feel awful for him,” Narduzzi said. “There’s not a guy that worked harder than him during camp. I don’t think he missed a snap, a play, a practice. I don’t think there’s anybody hurt more than him.”
Conner’s surgery will be performed by Dr. Volker Musahl, medical director at UPMC Center for Sports Medicine.
If there’s good news for Pitt, it’s that redshirt freshman running back Qadree Ollison stepped in more than capably in Conner’s absence. In his first collegiate action, Ollison ran for 207 yards and one touchdown, including rushes of 46, 52 and 71 yards.
Ollison saw so much action because sophomore Chris James, Conner’s primary backup, also was injured Saturday in the first half. Narduzzi said James is “day to day,” but he expects him to be available Saturday at Akron.
“It’ll pull us closer together,” Narduzzi said of Conner’s injury. “That’s our job as coaches to see it that way. Our guys have a lot of confidence in those other guys.
“Do you wish you had the ACC player of the year? You feel a little [worse] than you normally would. But, no doubt about it, we’ve got guys that can make plays.”
While his teammates try to pick up the slack, Conner soon will begin the grueling rehabilitation process with the goal of making it back on the field. Rowell, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last season and missed all but two games, said he’s confident Conner is up to the task.
“I don’t want to say it’s easy to come back from, but as long as you show up and do the work, it’s there,” Rowell said. “It’s not something that he’s not going to be able to overcome or accomplish. Like I said, with his work ethic, there’s no doubt about it that he’ll be in the training room multiple times a day, doing what he needs to do.”
Perhaps, the key question, though, is whether Conner will return with the Panthers or take his talents to the NFL. As a junior, Conner is eligible to declare for the 2016 NFL draft if he so chooses.
When asked if he had spoken to Conner about the idea of leaving Pitt early, Narduzzi said that would be getting “way ahead of things.”
“He just needs to focus on the issue at hand, and that’ll eventually come,” Narduzzi said.
Conner’s family released a statement Monday saying they were “already counting the days until he can run the ball as a Panther once again.”
“As you all might imagine, the news that James has suffered a season-ending knee injury has left us with very heavy hearts,” the statement read. “James had such high hopes for this season, but we feel very confident that this is just a small setback for James. He will handle his recovery and rehabilitation with the same determination and force that he has displayed on the field.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.
First Published: September 7, 2015, 4:14 p.m.
Updated: September 8, 2015, 1:35 a.m.
