Lewis Is Pitt's Runaway Star

Dave Wannstedt has won a Super Bowl and a national championship. He's blocked for Tony Dorsett and he's coached Emmitt Smith. He knows what a great running back looks like.

And that's why he only needed to see Dion Lewis run a few times before he offered him a scholarship.

Wannstedt said he watched maybe "five plays" of Lewis' Blair (N.J.) Academy Prep School highlight tape before he turned it off. He had seen enough.

Wannstedt offered Lewis a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh and Wannstedt's decision has paid huge dividends for the Panthers.

Lewis is one game from completing the greatest freshman season in Pittsburgh's storied history. Saturday when the Panthers (9-3) face North Carolina (8-4) in the Meineke Car Care Bowl Saturday, Lewis needs only 47 yards to break Dorsett's school freshman rushing record.

"Dion's been very consistent," Wannstedt said earlier this season. "You expect a freshman running back like him to perform that way maybe like three or four games a year, not eight games in a row."

Lewis finished the regular season as the nation's third-leading rusher with 1,640 yards, averaging 136.7 yards per game. While most first-year players might wear down in their debut season, Lewis has actually gotten stronger. In Pitt's final seven games, Lewis averaged 151 yards per game.

Pitt Single-Season Rushing Leaders
Player	Year	Yardage
1. Tony Dorsett	1976	2,150
2. Craig Heyward	1987	1,791
3.(t) Tony Dorsett	1973	1,686
3.(t) Tony Dorsett	1975	1,686
5. Dion Lewis	2009	1,640

In the regular season finale against Cincinnati, Lewis literally carried Pitt's offense. He rushed a school-record 47 times for a career-high 194 yards and three touchdowns and also added five receptions for 34 yards in the 45-44 loss.

Lewis was named Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News and CBSSports.com, along with CollegeFootballNews.com's Offensive Freshman of the Year. He also was named the Big East's Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, becoming the league's first player to earn both honors since Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick in 1999.

He also was a second-team Associated Press All-American, the only true freshman honored by AP this season.

Not bad for a 5-foot-8, 195 pound running back that only had scholarship offers from Ohio's Miami University and Tulane after averaging 12.4 yards per carry his junior year at Blair Academy.

However, that changed when Wannstedt instructed secondary coach Jeff Hafley, who recruited New Jersey, and running backs coach David Walker to extend a scholarship offer after getting a brief glimpse of Lewis' highlight tape.

Wannstedt has been a big proponent of Lewis all season. When Lewis put forth his monster effort against Cincinnati on Dec. 5, more than one Heisman Trophy voter in the Heinz Field press box wondered out loud why this kid didn't get more Heisman notice during the season.

"Dion Lewis is the best," Wannstedt said. "I love him and he's a great player. He shows up. It's amazing for a freshman, 12 weeks in the season to show up with the performance he had today."

It wasn't a surprise for Pittsburgh - or the Panthers' opponents. That's what made Lewis' accomplishments even more impressive.

"This guy is special," Wannstedt said. "He is something. It's one thing to run the ball and surprise people. It's another when everybody in the stadium knows you're running."

Lewis, though, remained levelheaded. He preferred to deflect all of the attention to his offensive linemen.

"Our offensive line does a great job," he said. "Those guys work hard all the time. They deserve all the credit. They just keep pounding and blocking guys, clearing the way. I'm just staying patient, letting the game come to me."

There was no better example than the game against Cincinnati. On the Panthers' first drive, he carried on 11 of the 12 plays – he caught a pass on the other play – and either carried or caught the ball on 20 of Pitt's first 24 offensive plays as the Panthers took a 14-7 lead.

Ultimately, Lewis' offensive heroics couldn't overcome Pittsburgh's defensive and special teams shortcomings as the Bearcats rallied in the final seconds of the wild 45-44 victory.

"I felt so helpless," Lewis told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It was a tough feeling because we lost to a team that wasn't better than us and that's not taking anything away from Cincinnati."

The loss cost Pittsburgh a berth to the Sugar Bowl and instead the Panthers face the Tar Heels in Charlotte, N.C. on the day after Christmas.

"Usually I think of things I could have done better after a loss," Lewis told the Tribune-Review. "There are a couple of things I could have cleaned up, but nothing to make it better.

"I gave it my all. It was kind of tough to come away with a loss, but everyone on the team was hurting."

Lewis' success this season is even more remarkable -- despite being overlooked by college recruiters -- since he entered the season in a dead heat battle with freshman Ray Graham to take over LeSean McCoy as the Panthers' feature running back.

Lewis solidified his hold on the spot with 129 yards in the season-opener against Buffalo and followed that up with 190 yards the next week against Youngstown State.

"Everybody wants to be the No. 1 guy," Lewis told the Tribune-Review. "I had to prove myself every day and spend as much time in the film room as I could."

How good was Lewis? Against Rutgers, he finished with 180 yards, the most allowed by the Scarlet Knights this season. The next highest total allowed by Rutgers wasn't even half that total - 77 yard efforts by both Cincinnati's Jacob Ramsey and Syracuse's Antwon Bailey.

Syracuse coach Doug Marrone also is convinced of Lewis' talent.

"We've faced a lot of good [running] backs," Marrone said. "I think from an overall scheme, [Lewis] is one of the best backs we've faced all season."

Contact FanHouse reporter Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com