Steve Slaton

WEST VIRGINIA JUNIOR

E.J. BORGHETTI, the sports information director at Pitt, attended his first Panthers game during Tony Dorsett's 1976 Heisman season and has watched hours of Dorsett highlights. He also witnessed the show that Steve Slaton put on in two games against Pitt--a combined 394�rushing yards and six�touchdowns. "Both remind me of a running back in a video game," Borghetti says of the two native Pennsylvanians. "They burst into the secondary, and everybody tries to chase them down." Like the 5' 11", 192-pound Dorsett, Slaton (5' 10", 190) is best known for his breakaway speed; 10 of his 18 TDs last season went for 30 yards or more. Dorsett ended his career with a then Division I record 6,082 rushing yards. If Slaton can duplicate his 2006 total (1,744) in each of the next two seasons, he'll surpass Dorsett by 278.

"Great backs see things and react. That's what Steve does. He cango the distance from anywhere on the field, and that's something I had in my arsenal."

-- DORSETT ON SLATON