Flemister's touchdown was a long time coming

The goal line was in sight, and C’Bo Flemister couldn’t wait to cross it.

Late in the third quarter of Pitt’s 19-9 win over Syracuse at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, the Panthers had set up shop at the Orange 1 after a long catch by Jared Wayne. On first-and-goal from that spot, Flemister lined up and knew what was going to happen:

He was going to get the handoff and get into the end zone, ending a years-long span between touchdowns.

Flemister got into position behind quarterback Kedon Slovis, took a handoff, ran toward the goal line…

…and was ruled down by contact.

Flemister seemed like he had crawled over teammates and defenders to keep his knees off the ground, but the officials said he touched and was stopped for no gain.

So when Flemister lined up for second down - this time in the shotgun next to Slovis - he took the handoff again and absolutely refused to be denied.

In fact, he was so emphatic about scoring on that play that he didn’t just run or dive into the end zone; he did a flip - although he claimed after the game that it was not intentional.

“To be honest, I didn’t like that they said I was down the play prior,” Flemister said after the game. “I saw a lot of guys go down and no Syracuse guys and a big open hole, so I said, ‘I have to get in this time.’ So I leapt intentionally, but it was not my intention to do the somersault. I’ll say that.”

Regardless of the origin story of the somersault, there’s no question that Flemister’s touchdown against Syracuse was a long time coming. The Notre Dame transfer arrived on Pitt’s campus this summer after spending the last four years in South Bend. But his contributions with the Irish were minimal in those four seasons, recording one carry as a freshman in 2018 and three as a redshirt junior last year. In between, he carried the ball 106 times for 461 yards and 10 touchdowns. The last time he scored a touchdown was in Notre Dame’s win at Boston College in November 2020; he didn’t reach the end zone in any of the next 12 games he played and really didn’t get much of an opportunity, carrying the ball just 19 times.

Since getting to Pitt, Flemister - like every other running back on the roster - has taken a back seat to star junior Israel Abanikanda. Flemister recorded 11 carries in the Panthers’ first eight games and none in the previous three leading into Saturday.

But Abanikanda didn’t play against Syracuse, elevating sophomore Rodney Hammond to the No. 1 job and Flemister to No. 2.

Hammond scored Pitt’s first touchdown against the Orange; Flemister had the game-winner.

“Honestly, man, it felt awesome,” he said after the game. “It felt awesome, just to be able to go out there and help affect the game in a positive manner. We go hard all week, every week at practice; we know Izzy is going to receive the bulk of the carries, but just us being selfless players, whoever is hot or whoever is going at it - we don’t care. We really feel like we’re RBU. Whoever’s in the game, there’s no drop-off with anybody who’s in the game. So just having the opportunity to go in myself and being able to contribute, I mean, it’s a blessing, honestly. I’ve been waiting on my time, and it came and I’m glad I was able to seize the opportunity.”

The opportunity came on second-and-goal, and when Flemister cashed it in with a demonstrative flip, his own enthusiasm for the score was overshadowed by that of his teammates, who mobbed him in the end zone and on the sideline.

“It was awesome,” Slovis said. “C’Bo just works so hard, he does everything the right way. He’s like a perfect teammate. He’s obviously a new guy but he has embraced everything we’ve done, and just seeing him get out there and do what he does, it’s really exciting and I’m just happy for him.”

Hammond agreed.

“It felt good, because C’Bo, he’s like the old head of the group. So when he scored, it got us excited because that was the first one of the year.”

“That meant the world to me,” Flemister said. “I’ve been waiting on this for a long time. I just wanted to be able to contribute to the team. It’s one thing to be on the team and we’re all working hard, but when you can actually say you contributed, you got into the box or whatever, it just feels good, and to see my teammates run out and everybody congratulate me, I mean, it really meant the world to me.

“I really don’t have too much to say about it. When everybody’s coming up to me and shaking my hand and stuff, all I could say was thank the O-line, because really, it was never about me, honestly. It’s just being able to contribute and being part of this team, we’re really brothers. I literally got here in August, and I’m already like - you can see that those guys love me like a brother, I love them like brothers, so being able to go to war with those guys and see that, I don’t know, I don’t really have words for it.”