Pittsburgh holds off Virginia Tech 17-13

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Pittsburgh's players had heard the whispers and seen the numbers. With All-Atlantic Coast Conference tailback James Conner lost for the season to a torn MCL, the logic said, the Panthers couldn't run the ball. A 55-yard rushing effort in a 27-24 loss to Iowa two weeks ago did nothing to stop the talk. There was only one way to do that. Enter Qadree Ollison . The 230-pound redshirt freshman ran for 122 yards on just 19 carries, including consecutive long gainers on the first two plays of the second half, and the Panthers rode a 166-yard rushing day and a stifling defense to a 17-13 victory at Virginia Tech on Saturday. "We want to run the ball as a team, even with James going down," he said. No one did it better, or at a better time, that Ollison.