Pitt RB Ja'Kyrian Turner out vs. No. 1 Miami

The news came late Friday, roughly a day after Pitt's own availability report suggested Turner would play.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: Pitt will be without top running back Ja’Kyrian Turner (lower body) against No. 1 Miami on Saturday. Turner has played only three games for the Panthers this season and hasn’t played since the UNC game on Oct. 10.

That's a real swerve. Turner was listed as probable on Pitt's Thursday availability report, so anyone who spent Friday assuming the Panthers would get their lead back on the field just got the rug pulled. Instead, he'll miss a second straight game, and his season now stands at 3 appearances, with nothing since the North Carolina game on Oct. 10.

With Turner out again, the carries stay with Damon Ferguson and La'Vell Wright. That's the same setup Pitt has been riding while Turner sits, and it's not the ideal group to send into the biggest road game on the schedule. When your top back keeps going from probable to out, you're not planning around him anymore. You're just hoping.

The running back room isn't Pitt's only problem. The Panthers lost quarterback Mason Heintschel to injury on Oct. 2, and the wheels have wobbled since then. They come into Saturday at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. Losing the QB and then the top back in the same month is a brutal way to try and keep an offense afloat.

Now look at who's waiting. Miami is 6-0, 4-0 in the ACC, and No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since 2002. The Canes are coming off a 43-35 double-overtime win over Florida State, and this is the first game they've played as the top-ranked team in 24 years. Kickoff is at noon at Hard Rock Stadium, which is a whole lot of sunshine and a whole lot of Miami fans for a Pitt team that's this beat up.

Pitt's best shot at keeping this close was always to shorten the game: run the ball, burn clock and keep Miami's offense on the sideline. Doing that without your best back, and without the quarterback you started the year with, is a lot to ask. Pat Narduzzi's defense is going to have to carry most of the load at noon.

What to watch next: how Ferguson and Wright split the work early, and whether Pitt gives any timeline on Turner after the game. Somebody who's played 3 games by late October isn't nursing a little bump. If the lower-body injury lingers, the Panthers might have to stop counting on him for the back half of the season too.