PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – At this point last year Ja’Kyrian Turner was facing high school defenses in Bushnell, Florida. After carving up Georgia Tech and ruining their senior night and shot at the ACC Championship, the tailback was named the Shaun Alexander freshman player of the week.
His 56-yard run ended the game and Turner finished with a career-high 201 yards. It was not only a situation where he went off, but the team needed him to as Desmond Reid was out due to injury.
A three-star prospect, Turner has taken advantage of his opportunities. The Panthers suffered a couple of injuries in the off-season and then Reid has been limited this year by a couple of ailments. The true freshman had his first 100-yard game against Stanford (127 Yards) and took it to another level on Saturday in Atlanta.
“What attracted us, just his athletic ability,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi of wanting Turner, as only three other Power Four schools offered. “I mean there's a lot of good skilled guys across the country. Some people miss some people don't. I mean, just doing your evaluation and knowing that you got a guy that can run the football. He can catch it out of the backfield. And he's pretty fast.”
“Just something we saw on tape. I mean, it's called evaluation and no different than (freshmen) Mason (Heintschel) or (corner) Shawn Lee. Just football players.”
Against the Yellow Jackets, he was more than just a football player, Turner was a difference-maker and gives Pitt a chance to make the ACC Championship in the final game of the season.
Coverage for Pitt-Miami starts at 9a on Saturday hosted by Bob Pompeani with former Panthers Dorin Dickerson and Johnny Petrishen. Larry Richert anchors network pregame at 10a with former Panthers QB Pat Bostick and the All-American Dickerson. The Voice of the Panthers Bill Hillgrove calls play-by-play with kickoff at noon all on 93.7 The Fan.