Inside Pitt’s roster decisions, and not just at quarterback
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Pat Narduzzi rocked Pitt’s status quo recently when quarterback Phil Jurkovec was sent to the bench. Quarterbacks get the most attention, but the coach said those decisions are made every day throughout the roster.
And, believe it or not, what happens in games and practice are only part of the process.
“What you’re doing in school, what you’re doing in study hall,” Narduzzi said. “How you’re treating (cafeteria worker) Jules. What you’re doing in every respect.”
Attitude matters, and that’s part of the reason free safety P.J. O’Brien got his starting job back against Louisville.
Narduzzi and his staff had a decision to make after the loss to Cincinnati, a game in which the Bearcats ran for 216 yards. The following week at West Virginia, O’Brien lost his job to redshirt sophomore Javon McIntyre, who moved from strong safety. Donovan McMillon was inserted at strong safety where his physical play — and wrestling skills from his days at Peters Township High School — gave Pitt’s run defense a stronger presence.
As a result, O’Brien never got in the game against the Mountaineers. Undeterred, he didn’t allow his gregarious personality disappear, continued to work hard at practice and started last week against the Cardinals. In the 38-21 Pitt victory, he played his best game of the season with seven tackles and two of Pitt’s season-high seven pass breakups. Pitt needed solid pass coverage because Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer threw the ball 52 times.
“First play of the game, they came out trying to attack him,” safeties coach Cory Sanders said.
The pass gained 7 yards, but when Louisville tried the same play later, O’Brien broke it up.
“Perfect, good technique,” Sanders said. “When you saw him in coverage, I thought he played really well. Some things, still tackling angles we want to clean up. We’ve been on him.”
After the Cincinnati game, Narduzzi noticed O’Brien “was a little bit down.”
That didn’t last long.
“You just have to love his attitude. P.J.’s been doing a good job. He’s loud. He’s obnoxious, which is good sometimes. He’s a beauty,” the head coach said.
Sanders defers to his boss’ characterization of O’Brien, but he added, “I’ve never seen P.J. down, to tell you the truth.”
“Ninety-five percent of the time, that kid’s on high, just coming in here with a smile on his face and trying to work hard.”
Sanders said O’Brien played 41 snaps off the bench against Virginia Tech while fighting his way back into the starting lineup.
“When he went out there, he got the defense going,” he said.
During the week, O’Brien gets to the practice facility early to eat his breakfast, study the plan and get ready to do what he loves — play football.
“P.J.’s a big personality. He has a lot of energy,” Sanders said. “Last year, he had some of those penalties from being emotional. I don’t think he’s being emotional right now. I think he shows his passion. He flies around. He’s keeping everything under control while he’s out there, moving on to the next play and not getting caught up in nonsense.
“Kid loves football. He loves everything about the game, putting in the work, film-wise. You have to love that about him. He just keeps showing up and working.”
Sanders said the same two safeties won’t start every week. The next game Saturday at Wake Forest offers a unique challenge for the Pitt defense because the Demon Deacons use more RPOs (run/pass options) than any team the Panthers have played all season.
“At the end of the day, you have to compete on the field, off the field,” Sanders said. “It’s a competitive battle to be out there. I don’t know who the two are going to be this week. Those guys are rotating, and we see who comes out and is doing the best.”
McIntyre is the only player among the trio who has started every game — three at strong safety, three at free safety.
“He’s steady. He’s in the right places,” Sanders said. “Now, we have to make some more plays. There were a few flash plays he made last year. Last game, he got to the middle of the field, and he’s 2 yards late. We have to get that interception. He’s making good plays. We want great plays.”
Sanders said he likes having three safeties he can trust to rotate among two positions.
“It doesn’t allow anybody to be complacent,” he said. “When you just have two guys playing the whole time, some guys, they can lower their level if they know nobody’s coming in after them. It forces you to keep your game high, every single day.”