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2010 Heisman Hopeful Countdown: No. 3 Pittsburgh RB Dion Lewis
As part of BCS Know How’s 2010 season preview, we will be breaking down our ten favorite Heisman hopefuls to get you ready for this season’s edition of the Heisman Watch.
Here’s our No. 3 selection, Pittsburgh sophomore running back Dion Lewis.
Just mentioning the name Tony Dorsett to even the most casual Pittsburgh Panther fan evokes all kinds of fond memories from his four year career as a Panther, during which time he was awarded the only Heisman in program history.
So when freshman running back Dion Lewis burst onto the scene in 2009 and broke Dorsett’s freshman season rushing record by more than 100 yards, it was no surprise the nation took notice.
Now back as the nation’s leading returning rusher in terms of yards, Lewis looks poised to help the Panthers back to the top of the Big East, and possibly collect college football’s most prestigious award along the way.
Lewis had entered his first season with doubts about his ability to carry the full load of carries as a first-year starter, but Lewis did more than shoulder the load, carrying the ball 25 times per game and scoring 17 touchdowns to go with the nation’s third-most rushing yards.
2010 will be different for the New York-native runner, as he will be taking his handoffs from a first-year quarterback in Tino Sunseri and will have to help Sunseri adapt to the offense by taking some of the pressure off of the sophomore.
It might not be such an easy proposition, however, as Lewis will be running behind a line that only returns two of its five starters from Lewis’s record-breaking season. Senior Alex Karabin, who played special teams exclusively will take over at center, while both guards will need to be replaced.
Bottom Line: Lewis is going to be the key to any success the Panthers hope to have in 2010, and it won’t be easy. He was an unexpected phenom in his freshman year — in 2010 opponents are more than ready to pressure his every move.
His performance may end up coming down to whether Sunseri can establish the Pitt passing game as a legitimate threat. If he can’t it will be very easy to crowd the line against Lewis and take advantage of an inexperienced line to stop Lewis from excelling.
If, however, Sunseri can establish the threat of a passing game, and the offensive line melds like it seems coach Dave Wannstedt believes it can, Lewis will be the nation’s most dangerous runner and a legitimate threat to win the award as a sophomore.
Plus, a successful Lewis means a successful Panther squad, which only helps the Heisman potential Lewis hopes to have, which despite his age, is extraordinarily good in 2010.
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2010 Heisman Hopeful Countdown: No. 2 Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor →
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