Pitt's Ray Graham: A Freshman Phenom's Wasted Season
posted by Ray Bongiovi
I have been complaining to everyone I know both football fans and non-fans ( anyone who will listen) about how freshman Pitt running back Ray Graham has been misused at Pitt this entire season. It has bothered me so much that I decided to argue my point in writing citing statistics and pure logic to make this point. Let me also say to start that this in no way is meant to disrespect or belittle Dion Lewis's great talent. I am a fan of his and he is great in his own right. Everyone, all year has raved about the great Lewis and rightfully so, BUT if Ray Graham was given equal opportunities as Lewis, everyone would be raving about Pitt's 2 freshman phenoms. My contention is Graham is just as good and therefore deserved a more even opportunity to play and help his team and his own stock. In fact, if the tables were totally turned, I would be saying that Lewis was wronged. True I am more passionate about it with Ray being shortchanged because I do know him and his family and I know that he is a great young man and has a great attitude (just watch him block for his quarterback and the other kick returner). Because of my relationship to his family, I see this all more vividly than the average fan so please allow me to help you too see what I see, that Ray Graham has been treated very unjustly at Pitt this year.
I know Ray Graham's family to the point that they are like my family so I thought that might be making me biased as this season unfolded and Ray barely played. I watched practically all of Ray G's games in his senior year at Elizabeth High School and everytime I thought that I might be exaggerating his talents because of the family affiliations, boom he'd make another electrifying run that confirmed his special talents to anyone watching. He easily could have had 4 or more games with well over 300 yards rushing that year (even 400+ yards), had his coach played him in the second half. He gained over 9 yards a carry in high school and did not play in the second half of 3 games or so in his senior year otherwise his numbers would have been totally off the charts. He was in a word, superhuman.
Now he comes to Pitt and is the 3rd or 4th tailback on the depth chart. In the first scrimmage of preseason he fumbles a few times and anchors his spot on the bottom of that depth chart, possibly being redshirted, understandably so. Then, he practices hard and has a 'golden', 'electrifying' performance in the second and final scrimmage before the season opener. Now this game was against the first team defense which turned out to be pretty darn good over the course of this 2009 season. Now here are the stats of this game:
Dion Lewis 10 carries 30 yards 3 yards per carry
Ray Graham 14 carries 128 yards 8+ yards per carry a 65 yard TD run and a 24 yard TD on a reception
Now that was one hell of a performance! He blew away the performances of the rest of the backs that day. That performance moved him up to number 2 back. Prior to the first game head coach Wannstedt stated, "Ray Graham will play and he will play a lot." REMEMBER he said, He will play ''a lot".

First game Younstown State:
Dion Lewis 20 carries 129 yards 6.4 yards per carry
Ray Graham 6 carries 23 yards 3.7 ypc
So Lewis got more than 3 times as many carries/opportunities than Graham did. Lewis did very well. Graham did not get many opportunities. He gets the ball 14 times in the scrimmage and is dazzling and then in the first game only 6 carries? That does not make sense. However, it was Youngstown State and Pitt blew them out so no big deal, though it seemed unfair coming off the superior performance he had in that scrimmage.

Game two against Buffalo:
Dion 24 carries 190 yards 7.9 ypc
Ray 1 carry 2 yards 2ypc
That is not a typographical error! The guy who dazzled everyone in the scrimmage got 1 carry! The other guy, 24 carries! Dion had a great game, true because he too is a great back. Congratulations to him... Is it fair though that the other freshman phenom got totally shunned as if he did not exist, as if he is far inferior to the starting back, as if he is running into the wrong holes or missing blocks or jumping off sides... none of which is the case. Is a player as fresh and fast on their 20th carry as they are on their 10th? No they are not because fatigue and hits accumulate and they slow to some degree. Then why would you keep running the one great back when you have another fresh, bolt of lightning eager to get in and do his thing? It is both illogical and disrespectful to Ray Graham. That game was a slap in his face, period.

Game 3 Navy:
Dion 23 carries 79 yards 12 yard long 3.4 ypc
Ray 3 carries 18 yards 15 yard long 6.0 ypc
Dion had a below average game although he got 7 times more carries/opportunities than Ray did. Laws of math state that the more opportunities, the greater chance to showcase one's abilities. Yet with 7 times fewer opportunities, Ray had the longest run and a much better yards per carry on just 3 measly carries. Now many times a great back can have 3 carries and negative yards... Yet he made the most of his limited opportunities and out-performed the starter in this game. Once again 3 carries was another slap in his face! Yet he did well so what about next game...

Game 4 N.C. State: (3rd slap in the face!)
Dion 19 carries 98 yards 24 yard long 5.0 ypc
Ray 2 carries 8 yards 8 long 3.0 ypc
Coming off his best performance on limited carries, he gets slapped in the face again being given just 2 opportunities, while Lewis got near 10 times more opportunities! Pitt lost; Good for them, they should by making such poor decisions with their misuse of this man's talent.

Game 5 Louisville:
Dion 21 carries 87 yards 11 long 4.1 ypc
Ray 12 75 14 long 6.2 ypc
Ray's best game yet despite limited carries once again but by far the most yet. Though he carried the ball 9 fewer times than Dion, he had the longest run of the two, and he had a superior yards per carry. Oh yeah, he did fumble in the first half on a vicious hit while twisting and squirming to make the most of a run. Great quarterbacks throw some interceptions and great running backs do fumble on occasion. Nevertheless, he outperformed the number one back on much fewer opportunities. It turns out that this game where Ray carried 12 times would be his most carries in any game this year while Dion's FEWEST carries in any game was 18, 6 more than Ray's MOST. WTF? He proved in this game as he did in the scrimmage and the Navy game that he is at least as capable as Dion so why would he never be given the ball this many times again or more?????? If a guy gains 6.2 yards per carry, why not give him more touches and let those yards pile up? Illogical not to but that is exactly what Pitt coaches did.

Game 6 Connecticutt:
Dion 24 carries 159 yards 33 long 6.6 ypc
Ray 8 carries 54 yards 28 long 6.6 ypc
Coming off his best game, he is given the ball only 8 times, one third as many carries as Dion whom he outperformed in the previous game (please, with no disrespect intended). Despite, his great performance against Louisville, where he was the more productive back, he was given the ball 30% fewer times in this game!?!? Is that the best thing for the team? Or do you give players who perform the best, more touches? Yet, although this was once again an unfair thing to do to him, Ray still equalled Dion's impressive 6.6 yards per carry. So in these last two games, Ray has been as good or better than Dion in yards per carry on much, much fewer opportunities. And let's not forget that great backs, tend to get better with more carries and break more runs. Ray never got that opportunity, yet he still excelled and was impressive.

Game 7 Rutgers: (Biggest SLAP yet and all season)
Dion 31 carries 180 yards 58 long 5.8 ypc
Ray 2 carries 2 yards 2 long 1 ypc 3 kick returns 98 yards 54 yard long 32 ypReturn
WTF! Coming off 2 impressive games despite very limited opportunities, where he either equalled or out-performed Dion, Ray is given the ball 2 times the entire game while Dion gets 31 carries! Dion carries the ball 29 times more than Ray, 15 times as many touches... Did Dion blow Ray away the previous two games and prove he was way superior and deserved this great lionshare of the carries or were they on much more even ground? Not only is this illogical and absurd but this comes after Ray electrified his team and the crowd by returning a 1st quarter kickoff 54 yards, putting Pitt in great field position to score, which they did. Then he is given the ball 2 times for the rest of the game???? Now comes the icing on the cake; Rutgers is 30 minutes from Ray's hometown of Elizabeth, NJ! Look at the highlights of this game. You will see the 54 yard dash which was impressive but you will also see a shorter kick return where he eludes 6 defenders with his phenomenal talents and you will see him catch a screen pass and elude several tacklers before being tackled by his brother Kaseem, Rutgers safety. Talk about a slap in the face. He comes home after playing in his two best games and he gets 2 carries while Dion gets 31, which is A LOT in today's game. I see this as illogical, unfair and disrespectful to this young man.
Let me add this: I contend that if Ray Graham was Rutgers tailback that night, Rutgers would have kicked Pitt's ass! No doubt.
{check out the link of the rutgers game below: Ray's 3 runs are at the following spots on the video clock:
16:19 kickoff return
2:05.15 screen pass/run
3:04.25 kickoff return
http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/player?gameId=292890164&sportCode=FB}

Game 8 South Florida:
Dion 23 carries 111 yards 48 long 4.8 ypc
Ray 11 carries 88 yards 35 long 8.0 ypc
Are you kidding me? Once again he showcases his talents with 8 yards per carry versus Dion's 4.8. So throwing out the ridiculous 2 carries versus Rutgers, in the South Florida, CT and Louisville games, Ray did better than Dion in yards per carry on a total of only 31 carries versus Dion's 75 carries in those 3 games. With less than half as many opportunities in these three games, he still out-performed the starter. Shouldn't this fact, this trend lead to Ray getting about the same number of carries as Dion? After all he is making more of his fewer opportunities so logically you would assume that with more opportunities, he would excel even moreso. By the way, after running the ball down to the 3 yard line on a 35 yard run, Wannstedt takes Ray out of the game and Dion is given the ball to score. Did he think Ray needed a rest? The same coach who gave Dion 47 carries in the Cincinnatti game?
South Florida highlights
http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/player?gameId=292970221&sportCode=FB
scroll time clock to:
1:04
2:38.05
2:40.15
2:54.50

Game 9 Syracuse:
Dion 18 carries 110 yards 32 long 6.1 ypc
Ray 7 carries 17 yards 6 long 2.4 ypc
Dion had a good game. Ray had only one third as many carries and no holes to do anything with so in this game he was not able to make anything happen with his limited touches. Nevertheless, why did he only get 7 carries when he had 8 yards per carry the game before while Dion only had 4.8? Why did the less productive back in the previous 4 games ( yards per carry), get the ball 11 more times?

Game 10 Notre Dame: (slap!)
Dion 21 carries 152 yards 50 long 7.2 ypc
Ray 3 carries 57 yards 53 long 19 ypc
Once again he is screwed with only 3 carries, only 3 opportunities to do something positive; Dion had 7 times more carries, 18 more opportunities! Has Dion been performing that much better than Ray that he should get 7 times more carries? Has he proven to be THAT MUCH better that he should get the ball 21 times while Ray gets only 3 carries? Of course the answer is no and no. In fact, as previously shown, Ray is often doing better. Dion has a great game against Notre Dame, 7.2 yards per carry and breaking a 50 yarder in the 4th quarter. Yet Ray Graham on ONLY his second carry/opportunity, rips an "electrifying and dazzling" 53 yard run (the best run of the game by the way) and then he scores on the next carry. That was in the 3rd quarter, yet he was not given the ball again; WTF? Why not? He just made the best run of the game, igniting his team with much needed momentum against a Notre Dame team fighting for its season and its head coach. Yet he was never put in again in that game. Once again an unfair slap in the face. Of course Dion did very well himself and helped Pitt win but couldn't Ray have done the same based on his track record and didn't he too deserve that opportunity?
http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/player?gameId=293180221&sportCode=FB
scroll forward to 2:16:43

Game 11 West Virginia:
Dion 26 carries 155 yards 30 long 5.9 ypc
Ray 1 carry -1 yard -1 ypc
Really? Are you blanking kidding me? He makes a dazzling, electrifying run on national TV against Notre blanking Dame of all teams (a little pressure situation?) and in the following game you give him one carry!?!?!?! AND you give Dion the ball 26 times! Is he 26 times better than Ray Graham? Has he proven that? With all due respect to Dion, Ray Graham is just as good as he is so why 26 carries to just one? Because the coaches can't see the obvious here. I am GLAD Pitt lost that game! They deserved to lose simpy for the fact of how they screwed Ray G. once AGAIN! If you have a superhuman talent, a phenom like Ray G. and you can't see that and you can't get him the ball then you should not be coaching football and you damn sure should lose this game! This guy is THAT GREAT! I never profess to knowing more than ANY football coach but I KNOW this: Ray Graham was SEVERLY underutilized not only in this game but the entire season and that underutilization hurt Pitt despite the fact that Dion Lewis was phenomenal himself. What would any coach want one great tailback or two great tailbacks?
I say without a doubt that a fresh Ray G and a fresh Dion L would have been superior in production that just all Dion L. They would have been fresher, faster, quicker, less injured, banged up, stronger... How could a tired banged up Dion carry the ball the 16th time through the 26th time as well as a fresh, strong Ray G. could have carried it a 2nd time through an 11th time? In the Olympics do the sprinters run a bunch of all out sprints prior to the race that counts? Of course not because each time you run you get a bit slower because of fatigue... nevermind in football where you are getting pounded at the end of those sprints.

Game 12 Cincinnatti: (Ouch - irreperable disrespect to Ray G.)
Dion 47 carries 194 yards 15 long 4.1 ypc
Ray 3 carries 16 yards 13 long 4.7 ypc
This had to be the cherry on top - the biggest slap in Ray G's face. Yet look at the numbers ONCE AGAIN his longest run was about the same as Dion's and he averaged more yards per carry on an insignificant 3 opportunities. How do they justify giving the ball to Dion 47 times and his equal or for argument's sake, his near equal, just 3 times? That stupidity surely helped cost them that game. If the coaching staff could be so foolish on this point of not using the weapon, Ray G, then God only knows how many other mistakes they made in that game. Once again, I for one, am glad they lost because they deserve it, the way they misused Ray.
Just look at the seaon's stats:
In 6 of these 12 games, Ray had more yards per carry than Dion, even though Ray was given so few carries there is no way he should have done so. In another game he had the same yards per carry as Dion. And in the remaining 5 games you can strongly argue that Ray had so few opportunities that any comparison to Dion is too unfair to Ray to make (1 carry vs. WVU and 2 carries vs. RU, 1 vs. Buffalo...). Had the tables been turned and Ray got all the carries and Dion the few, would Dion have done so well? I contend, based on his performance and stats, that had Ray been given the carries that DIon was he would have gained at least as many yards and I truly believe even more yards.

Remember many many great backs have poor yards per carry for their first 15-20 carries and then they break a few and their stats go way up. Ray was never given more that 12 carries in any one game so he gained more yards per carry than Dion despite never getting the ball in that magic 15-25 carry range. He made his yards in those first few most difficult carries. That makes his stats even more amazing. In fact, just Sunday night the best running back in pro football, Adrian Peterson had just 19 yards on 13 carries!! Ray G never even got 13 carries in a game all year. Adrian may have broken a few longer runs had he gotten another 5-10 carries and his stats would have improved dramatically. However, that game he was not given the OPPORTUNITY and his stats stunk. Ray G was NEVER given a FAIR OPPORTUNITY ALL blanking year, yet his yards per carry were better than the starter. He ended the year with 5.9 yards per carry versus Dion's 5.5.

If both Dion and Ray were given equal opportunities/carries ( which they were NOT), and Dion clearly out-performed Ray, then he should have gotten 5 times as many carries as Ray did. However, they were NOT given equal opportunities AND in several games, Ray, with much, much fewer opportunities, out-performed Dion. That is really saying something about this man's talents. Because of this fact, it was unfair and illogical to continue giving Dion the ball many more times than Ray. I am not saying he did not do well or deserve lots of touches himself. He did but I am saying the carries should have been divided much more evenly given Ray's performances.

So how can anyone look at the above stats and the sequence of events this season from the second scrimmage onward and NOT clearly see that Ray Graham's talents were wasted this year at Pitt and that the coaching staff was wrong for not using him much, much more both to the detriment of the team and Ray Graham. Unfortunately, at this point, Ray Graham's college football career is 25% over. For that the coaches should be ashamed to have wasted this man's talents this year. Remember coach Wannstedt's statement at the onset of the season, "Ray Graham is going to play and he is going to play a lot." Once Ray Graham is given the opportunity to REALLY "PLAY A LOT" whether at Pitt or another school, it will become clear what a great talent he is and what a shame this year has been.