Pitt's Lewis never lost confidence
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Pitt running back Dion Lewis ran for 130 yards on 17 carries last Saturday against Rutgers.
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One hundred-yard rushing games were easy to come by last season for Pitt running back Dion Lewis. He rushed for 129 yards in his first game as a college player in the opener against Youngstown State and had nine more en route to 1,799 yards and the most-prolific freshman season for a running back in school history.
In the offseason, there had been talk of a Heisman Trophy campaign and the possibility that Lewis might leave Pitt after this season to pursue a career in the NFL. Those scenarios existed only two months ago, but it seems like the distant past after the first six games of his sophomore season failed to produce a 100-yard game.
Lewis turned the page on his uninspiring first half and opened the second looking like his old self in a 41-21 victory against Rutgers last week at Heinz Field. Lewis had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, running for 130 yards on 17 carries after being held to 78 or fewer in each of the first six contests.
"Even when I was struggling, I had confidence," Lewis said Tuesday afternoon. "I knew it would come sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. I was bottled up early. I kept staying patient, knowing something good would happen. Every week, I'm getting closer. I'm going to keep staying confident and try to make plays for my team."
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Lewis looked like "the old Dion" against the Scarlet Knights and sounded hopeful that his sophomore slump had come to an end.
"We're going to need Dion to continue to progress, and last week was a good start," Wannstedt said.
Lewis has rushed for season highs in each of the past two games. He ran for 78 yards in Pitt's 45-14 victory at Syracuse. One common theme in those games was feeding Lewis the ball early.
"Against Syracuse, I was able to find some room, and it continued on to Rutgers," he said. "It's just getting into the groove. I feel pretty good right now. I have to keep working hard in practice and get better for this week.
"I was getting in a rhythm early, so that was good. If you have success early, you feel more comfortable and you know you can do things. That's the way it happened."
Lewis' emergence has coincided with a dramatic improvement in Pitt's passing game. First-year quarterback Tino Sunseri is coming into his own, passing for 307 and 266 yards in the past two games. Pitt's ability to make plays in the passing game has opened up new running lanes for the backs.
First Published October 27, 2010 12:00 am
