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Pitt redshirt freshman dismissed from team
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Ray Graham moved ahead of Craig "Ironhead" Heyward and into third place on Pitt's all-time rushing list Saturday against Rutgers.
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Pitt redshirt freshman defensive back Steve Williams was dismissed from the team after being charged with assaulting a woman over the weekend.
Pitt coach Paul Chryst announced the dismissal, citing "disciplinary reasons," in a statement earlier Monday, but would not comment on the situation at his weekly news conference.
Williams, 19, is accused of assaulting the woman, who flagged down police in the 300 block of Oakland Avenue about 2 p.m. Saturday and told police she was Williams' girlfriend.
Williams is charged with one misdemeanor count of simple assault and awaits a Nov. 29 preliminary hearing.
According to criminal complaint University of Pittsburgh police filed, the woman had marks on the right side of her chest and was holding strands of her hair.
Williams denied assaulting the woman -- who he said is not his girlfriend -- but said he did push her, according to the compliant.
Williams has not played for Pitt in his two years with the program. He originally was recruited as a running back, but moved to defensive back when Chryst took over last season.
Chryst also announced Monday that two other redshirt freshmen, linebacker Jason Frimpong and defensive back Roderick Ryles elected to leave the team and have been given permission to transfer.
Neither Frimpong, of Irving, Texas, nor Ryles, of Orlando, Fla., have played for the Panthers this season, though Frimpong was in contention for playing time at training camp.
Both players, along with Williams, were part of Todd Graham's only recruiting class at Pitt in 2011. Graham signed 21 players in that class but, with players leaving the program and transferring, only 12 remain on Pitt's roster.
Pitt running back Ray Graham passed one milestone in the victory Saturday against Rutgers, and came close to breaking a couple of more.
Graham's 113 yards against the Scarlet Knights moved him into third place on Pitt's all-time rushing list. He has 3,177 career yards, passing Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, who finished his career with 3,086. Graham is just 16 yards away from passing Curvin Richards for second on the all-time list.
He won't catch program leader Tony Dorsett, though, who ran for 6,526 yards.
"Each guy has a story and Ray's story this year is not just what he's done, but where he's come from with a significant injury last year," Chryst said.
Graham pushed his season total to 948 yards, 52 shy of his first career 1,000-yard season.
Quarterback Tino Sunseri finished the Rutgers game without an interceptions, the eighth game in a row he has gone without throwing any picks.
Sunseri has 18 touchdown passes this season with two interceptions. His 245 consecutive pass attempts without an interception is the longest streak in Division I-A.
While Chryst joked that talking about the streak might jinx it, he recognized the improvement in his quarterback.
"It's a new system, but he understands the importance of taking care of the football," Chryst said. "That comes with experience. It comes from being burned on it and he's grown up with it."
First Published November 27, 2012 12:00 am
