updated 1:41 p.m. ET Aug. 12, 2007

PITTSBURGH - Pitt wide receiver Derek Kinder, a first-team all-Big East player last season, will miss the season with a torn knee ligament.

Kinder was injured making a cut after catching a pass during a non-contact drill during the first day of full squad workouts Saturday. An MRI exam revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require at least six months of rehabilitation.

After making the catch, Kinder was in pain but walked off the practice field. He is expected to have surgery this week.

“This is a very unfortunate thing,” said coach Dave Wannstedt, who disclosed the test results on Sunday. “He has worked so hard to put himself in position for a great year. It was a non-contact injury — he never got hit, he just planted on the grass.”

Kinder has not redshirted, so he can sit out this season and return to play as a senior in 2008.

Kinder caught 57 passes for 847 yards and six touchdowns last season, when he was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff award as college football’s top receiver.

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