Football: Turnley takes over at center

Even the most high-octane offense begins with a snap. In Todd Graham’s offense, that snap will… Even the most high-octane offense begins with a snap. In Todd Graham’s offense, that snap will happen at least once every 18 seconds.

In order for the offense to move at that pace and to score as many points, each snap must be quick and clean.

At Pitt, the man responsible for starting the play is Ryan Turnley — an adjustment for the junior who played on the special teams and served as a backup left guard last year.

“There’s a lot more to it than just snapping the ball,” Pitt offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich said. “It’s something you have to do and get used to. There’s times when someone’s on you. You have to be the leader of the offensive line and make calls and adjustments.”

Coming into camp this August, the Panther coaches challenged Turnley to step up and win the job at center. Last year’s center, Alex Karabin, was a redshirt senior whose experience at the position gave Pitt a reliable presence on the offensive line. After he graduated, coaches were looking for someone who could handle the pressure of a high-octane offense. Although senior Chris Jacobson was a potential candidate, the coaching staff preferred that he stay at guard, where he started every game last season.

“We have really pushed Ryan Turnley to develop because we feel Chris Jacobson’s best position is left guard,” Graham said at a post-practice press conference in August. “The thing I worry most about is getting good snaps and taking care of the ball.”

The main goal is to put the best five players up front on the offensive line, Leftwich said.“But it all starts when you snap the ball.”

Turnley’s start at center was a little shaky in the beginning, as he struggled to adapt to his job of snapping the ball in the new system. But that’s to be expected, asGraham said it’s a problem that also occurred during his time as the head coach of Rice and Tulsa.

“The other thing that contributes is what we do on defense,” Graham said. “You have a guy standing over him every down, attacking him.”

In the the team’s first scrimmage, the team had four mishandled snaps. Graham said they occurred when Turnley’s adrenaline caused him to snap the ball too firmly.

For an offensive line that lost starters at two of its most important positions — left tackle and center — the implementation of a new offense only made the job tougher heading into the season.

“This offense is fast,” Turnley said. “But you’ve got to take that out of your mind, the speed of it, and just do what you’re being asked to do.”

As camp moved forward, Turnley’s coaches and teammates started to see improvement. That included redshirt junior quarterback Tino Sunseri.

“You can see each day he’s getting more comfortable,” Sunseri said. “He’s faster, and he’s getting better and better each day. He’s kind of getting used to his role and getting oriented with the offensive line, and that group is really tight.”

By the time training camp neared its end, Graham said the Panthers could get through practice without a mishandled snap. The worry about bad snaps, which Graham said once kept him awake at night, eased.

“Every day I’m out there getting better, and snaps are getting better,” Turnley said. “It’s all about repetition.”

Turnley also said the offensive line’s strong chemistry helped them adjust and step up to the challenge.

“We’re a real tight group now,” he said. “We lost the guys last year, and they were real good friends of ours, but we’re going to move on.”

While the offense might look and feel different this season, it will still rely on the offensive line to open up holes for starting running back Ray Graham and the potent running game.

“We want to go into the season establishing the running game,” running backs coach Calvin Magee said. “That sets everything else up. And one of the biggest aspects of a no-huddle offense is to be strong all over the place.”

For either the passing game or the rushing game to succeed in this year’s new Pitt offense, Turnley must be consistent at making a smooth exchange from center to quarterback.