Even with zero turnovers, Pitt defense finds ways to please coordinator Randy Bates

With so much praise and optimism surrounding Pitt’s defense this summer, it was surprising to hear there were no turnovers among the 132 plays in the closed scrimmage last Saturday.

It might have been interesting to hear what defensive coordinator Randy Bates said to his players behind closed doors. Bates is a man who covets turnovers like the air he breathes.

But when he met with reporters, Bates was more pleased with the amount of work his players received than he was angry about zero turnovers.

“Everything was good,” Bates said. “We got a lot of work. We got a lot of work with guys who’ve gotten a lot less reps in games. The guys who played a lot (previously) got enough reps to get some game experience again, get back into it. Then, we had a ton of work with the guys who will be the next-guy-in type persons.”

Asked about the failure to collect a turnover, Bates said, “The offense is doing a great job. And we’re going after them. It’s not like we’re not trying to.”

Bates said the first unit wasn’t together all the time and took slightly fewer snaps than the previous week while coaches moved players in and out.

“I don’t know if it wasn’t as successful (as previous scrimmages),” he said. “It wasn’t a dominating defensive effort, which is what we expect. But, again, we expect our offense to be great, too, right?

“We hit them. They hit us. It was a great battle. There were some great plays, some plays we had to clean up. I thought some of the younger guys were flying around and proved that they would move up. Other guys maybe not so much. It gives us a chance to see who will be able to go out there on Saturday and get some extra reps.”

The star of the scrimmage was junior wide receiver Jaylon Barden, who made some “contested” catches, according to Bates.

“He went up there and took one out of the air, just a one-on-one,” he said. “It was against one of our younger guys. He kind of took a chance. We talk to them all the time about, in practice, ‘take a chance’ and ‘risk/reward’ and he took the risk and learned the hard way that the reward was not there on that one.

“I told the defense those are the things you have to learn in practice so when you get in the game, you know how to play.”

Coaches continue to evaluate, but it’s almost game week — the opener is a week from Thursday — so they need to make some definite decisions soon about which players will get the most snaps.

Bates said transfer linebackers Shayne Simon and Tylar Wiltz are “still learning parts of the game,” but he likes their progress.

“You’ll see them a lot on the field. Wiltz, he plays fast. He plays physical. He makes plays. He’s what we expected him to be.”

Bates said he likes the way Simon thinks.

“He has football sense, football savvy,” he said. “All the concepts that we do, he picks up on very quickly because he understands the game.”

Simon said he has seen specific improvement in his game since transferring from Notre Dame.

“I’ve been trying to get better at reading the offense, get better at feeling plays, get better at just playing fast,” he said. “It was one of the things I was hesitant on in my past, playing with my feet choppy. (I’m) trying to shoot gaps as much as possible.”

Bates and position coach Ryan Manalac likely will use at least six linebackers on game days. Bates didn’t name them all, but they initially will be SirVocea Dennis, Bangally Kamara, Brandon George, Simon, Wiltz and Solomon DeShields. Simon called Kamara “a superstar.”

Bates also said it will be “a contest” at cornerback to determine who will be the first two on the field. Again, without naming names, he is referring to veterans Marquis Williams, A.J. Woods, M.J. Devonshire and Rashad Battle. All four will play.

Devonshire (Aliquippa) could be joined on the field by another Beaver County product, freshman defensive tackle Sean FitzSimmons (Central Valley), whose recent efforts were described as “fantastic” by Bates.

“If we were very limited in numbers at that position, he would probably be pushing to be in the rotation,” Bates said. “Right now, we’re blessed with a lot of depth at that position. It’s good for him because he’s able to learn and not in the heat of the battle in the first game. But he will be out there.”