Aug. 4, 2008

            LaRod Stephens-Howling has heard it all before. He's too small, too light to be a productive player at this level of college football. He just doesn't agree with any of it.

        "I feel like I can carry the ball twenty-five times a game if I had to," he said recently. "I'd welcome it."

        Stephens-Howling, a 5-7, 180-pound senior from Johnstown, has already rushed for 1,647 yards as a Panther. He led both the 2005 and 2006 Pitt teams in rushing, including a 221-yard performance -- on 27 carries -- during a win at Syracuse two years ago.

        Stephens-Howling, a member of the National Honor Society at Johnstown High School, as well as a Big East Academic All-Star in college, understands and appreciates the talent of emerging superstar LeSean "Shady" McCoy. It doesn't change his approach to the 2008 season.

        "I go in preparing to be the best player I can be," he said. "After that, who knows? I

know what I'm capable of doing on a football field. I know my teammates and coaches know it, too. Right now, I'm one-hundred percent [physically]. I'm ready to get after it. I'm as strong as I've ever been, and I can't wait to get started."

            One look at his well-defined, chiseled features reinforces his words that he is more than ready for his senior season.

        "I've been working very hard on my conditioning," he said. "I've heard all during my career that I'm too small, too light, to do this or that on a football field."

        If anything, the presence of McCoy may have some people -- opponents included -- overlooking the fast and elusive McCoy. Pitt has a bevy of backs and receivers all capable of advancing the ball a long distance at any time.

        "We have a lot of very talented players who can take the ball and go, no doubt," he said. "I'm glad I'm not the one who has to decide who's going to get the ball."

        Stephens-Howling and McCoy are roommates on the road.

        "He [McCoy] is a good guy," said Stephens-Howling. "We help each other out. He notices things about me and points them out, and I do the same for him. We get along well."

        Stephens-Howling finds it hard to believe he's about to play his final season of college football.

            "I see the freshmen here now, and it seems like I was in their position just a little while ago," he said. "It's really happened fast. I've had a great time at Pitt and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

            "Pitt being close to Johnstown was a big part of my decision to come here. I wanted to go to a school where my family and friends could see me play. It's only about an hour-and-a-half drive from here."

     An administration of justice major, Stephens-Howling is seriously committed to playing football after graduation next year.

        "I want to keep playing football for as long as possible," he admits.

"I don't even want to miss out on a tryout. I don't want to be sitting around years from now, looking back, thinking about what might have happened if I'd gone after it."