PITTSBURGH -- The jitters will be there. After what Pittsburgh running back James Conner has been through over the last 12 months, how could they not?So forgive the 2014 ACC Player of the Year if he takes a moment before running out of the tunnel and onto the Heinz Field turf on Saturday when the Panthers host Villanova in the 2016 opener. A knee injury that derailed his junior season and a cancer diagnosis that threatened to derail his promising career has a way of putting things in perspective.Im just going to embrace it all, Conner said. I know we will have a great audience. It will be a memorable day. My doctor will be in the building, along with some of the nurses. My family and friends will be there, along with my friends from Erie, so its just going to be a great day.Yet Conner also understands the jitters will fade. They always do. Once he takes a handoff from Nate Peterman it will back to business as usual: trying to help the Panthers take another step forward one punishing yard at a time.Im excited to make my return, he said. I take every game the same. Theres a job that needs to be done.One Pitt and second-year coach Pat Narduzzi believe is far from finished even after a promising 8-5 season in 2015, one the Panthers gamely soldiered through even with Conner watching from the sideline for all but the first two quarters of the opener against Youngstown State.Narduzzi has a better feel for the program now, one that is trying to embrace its history while forging ahead at the same time. The Pitt script logo -- a symbol of the Panthers glory years four decades go -- is back in full effect, joined by a variety of uniform options that seem to be de rigueur in college football these days.Of course, the plan is to have plenty of substance to go with all that style, with Conner leading the way. Some things to look for as the Panthers begin a season with lofty expectations, against a team hoping to make a statement of its own:CLOSE CALLS: Narduzzis tenure began with a shaky 45-37 win over Youngstown State last September, a game that remained in doubt until the fourth quarter. The memory remains fresh, so dont expect Pitt to peek around the corner at a long-awaited visit from Penn State on Sept. 10. Thats probably wise against Villanova, a longtime FCS power who is hardly a pushover. The Wildcats have been a tough out against FBS schools in each of the last three openers, all losses by 10 points or less.SAYING GOODBYE: The 2016 season will be the 32nd and final year for Villanova coach Andy Talley, whose 249 career wins are the most by an active coach at FBS or FCS level. Talley, who led the Wildcats to the 2009 national title, will hand the program over to assistant Mark Ferrante. An upset over the Panthers would be a pretty sweet way to begin Talleys send-off.PLENTY OF HELP: While Narduzzi said there are no limitations on Conner -- who underwent six months of chemotherapy to combat lymphoma diagnosed last Thanksgiving -- Pitts depth at running back means Conner wont have to carry the load alone. Qadree Ollison was the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 while filling in for Conner and Chris James provides a speedy yin to the powerful yang provided by Conner and Ollison.NATE THE GREAT? The Panthers entered 2015 with Chad Voytik at quarterback before Nate Peterman quickly took over the job. There is no drama this time around. Peterman is firmly entrenched as the starter, though hell also be working with an inexperienced group after Tyler Boyd took his school-record 254 receptions to the NFL. Senior Dontez Ford is the only returning wide receiver with more than 12 career catches. Nicolo Melli Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Chris Paul Jersey . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. https://www.cheappelicans.com/835u-frank-jackson-jersey-pelicans.html . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. JJ Redick Jersey . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Cheap Pelicans Jerseys . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Corey Davis doesnt often get to operate in the limelight, but he will be on the national television stage Tuesday, a day in which most Americans head to the polls.Best Receiver in the Nation isnt on the ballot, but the Western Michigan stars name would certainly be listed if that category was up for voting.Davis is 210 yards away from becoming the FBS career leader in receiving yards, and the Broncos look to remain unbeaten when they visit Kent State in Mid-American Conference play (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).Davis has helped put Western Michigan (9-0, 5-0 MAC) in position to record 10 victories in a season for the first time in school history. The Broncos are one of five remaining unbeaten teams and are 14th in this weeks Associated Press poll.Davis is coming off a huge performance in which he caught 12 passes for a school-record 272 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-20 rout of Ball State last Tuesday in a nationally televised game. Broncos coach P.J. Fleck chided him for a couple of drops and said the performance could have better.He left a lot of meat on the bone as well, Fleck said. He could have had 340 or 350 yards.Still, Davis is a near-certainty to overtake Nevadas Trevor Insley (5,005 receiving yards from 1996-99) as the all-time leader with three regular-season games, the MAC title game and a bowl game left on Western Michigans docket.He leads the nation with 14 touchdown receptions, and his 47 career receiving scores are tied for the MAC record. He has caught 61 passes for 1,011 yards this season.Kent State (3-6, 2-3) is allowing 204.8 passing yards per game and will be aiming to slow Davis and a Western Michigan offense that ranks fifth nationally in scoring at 45.2 points per game.Each of the Golden Flashes three MAC losses came by four points. A major issue for Kent State has been the inability to hold on to fourth-quarter leads.You think about where you could be, Kent State coach Paul Haynes said. Its nothing to hang your head on. We are where we are. Its just making sure that we finish the right way.Kent State will be without a key defensive player, as senior free safety Nate Holley was suspended indefinitely after getting arraigned on a ffelony kidnapping charge.dddddddddddd Holley has 111 tackles and ranks second nationally in tackles per game (12.3).The Golden Flashes defense will have to rely more on senior outside linebacker Terence Waugh, a stellar pass rusher who has eight sacks.Kent State has one of the best defenses we face all year, Fleck said. We have to be way better than we ever have. Weve got a lot of things to clean up, on all three phases.On offense, Kent State will be hard-matched to keep up with the Broncos if lots of points are being put on the board.Junior Nick Holley, the twin brother of Nate, was moved to quarterback after a flurry of early-season injuries. The former running back has passed for 668 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions while rushing for 775 yards and nine scores.Only one player has more than 200 receiving yards for Kent