More Accolades For Lewis

The national profile for Pitt freshman tailback Dion Lewis continues to rise.

Dion Lewis, who has the second highest rushing total in the nation with 918 yards, is featured in this week's college football section in Sports Illustrated. Here is the link for "Highlight Show'' by Mark Beech.

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Additionally, the spectacular Pittsburgh frosh was named a first-team "Midseason All-American'' by SI.com. Lewis was among two first-team running backs recognized by the magazine's website along with Alabama's Mark Ingram.

This is just the latest accolade for Lewis (Albany, N.Y./Blair Academy, N.J.), who earlier this week was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week after he rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 win at Rutgers.

The Rutgers game marked Lewis' fourth 100-yard rushing effort of the season. He ranks third nationally in rushing yards per game (131.14 average) and is 25th in scoring (tied at 8.57 points per game).

With 60 total points, Lewis is well on pace to surpass Pitt's freshman scoring record by tailback LeSean McCoy. Now with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, McCoy tallied 90 points in 2007.

The Panthers (6-1, 3-0) surged into the national polls this week with a No. 19 in the USA Today coaches' poll and No. 20 by The Associated Press. Pitt also is 20th in the initial Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings.

The Panthers play host to Big East foe South Florida (5-1, 1-1) Saturday at noon at Heinz Field. The contest is the Conference game of the week and is an ESPN regional broadcast.