Pitt defense steps up during 3-game winning streak
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Much of the discussion surrounding Pitt football this season has centered on the offense. Fans need to blame someone.
Still, while there has been angst directed at the offense, the defense quietly has maintained its reputation and official standing among the top 20 units in the nation.
Opponents are averaging 313.7 yards, second to Florida State in the ACC and 16th in the nation, slightly ahead of such notable rivals as Notre Dame, Clemson and Penn State.
North Carolina, the team that will take Pitt’s place as the Coastal Division representative in the ACC championship game, is 121st of 131 FBS teams in average yards allowed (452.9).
During the current three-game winning streak that has seen Pitt improve from 4-4 to 7-4, the defense is giving up an average of 214 yards. Its only serious hiccup in that time were Duke’s two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Senior middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis can take credit for much of the success on his side of the ball. He calls out the alignments, keeps himself around the football most of the time and — as he did Saturday against Duke — tries to keep the opponent in line, when necessary.
Dennis, who leads the team with 88 tackles, was chirping at Duke offensive linemen after whistles last Saturday, but he wisely stopped short of drawing a penalty. He said the brief episodes resulted from a combination of an exchange of words and some unpunished holding calls against the Blue Devils.
“We try to go out there and express our love for the game and our ferociousness of being football players,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to remember who you are, what time it is and what moment it is. Remind a lot of people around you and even yourself, just calm down and go out there and have fun.
“Everybody exchanges words. Everybody holds. It’s the game of football.”
Frustration also can build in a defensive player when he almost sacks the quarterback. An almost-sack often goes into the books as a hurry, a curious stat that cuts both ways.
Obviously, it’s good to pressure the quarterback. In Pitt’s case, hurries often have led to interceptions, and Pitt has returned four of those for touchdowns. Also, the Panthers have recorded 51 hurries while sitting third in the nation with 38 sacks.
But NFL scouts want to see quarterbacks on the ground when evaluating a prospect, and that’s where defensive line coach Charlie Partridge goes to work.
“If you can get a kid an average of a sack a game, the kid’s going to probably be a millionaire,” Partridge said. “That’s the reality of things.
“You’re always looking at how you can shave that fraction of a second off, or get that extra inch to either get the ball, get the quarterback’s arm, turn the corner, react to the quarterback evading the rush.”
Morgan and defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado, who has missed two games with injuries, are among the team’s leaders in hurries, with six and five, respectively. Neither has eye-popping sack stats — Morgan 21⁄2, Baldonado 2 — but if the goal is to make the quarterback uncomfortable, they have done that.
“Haba has done a nice job getting pressure on the quarterback,” Partridge said. “He didn’t get on the streak he had hoped. But he’s playing really, really good football.”
Meanwhile, coach Pat Narduzzi singled out Morgan for praise after the Duke game. He had only one hurry, but it forced a punt.
Narduzzi gave credit to Partridge and Morgan for his improved play.
“I think coach Partridge has got a size 10 shoe. I think that’s part of it,” Narduzzi said. “Coach Partridge has been after him just to take care of the details and not worry about getting sacks and this and that and making splash plays. Just do your job, and good things will happen.”
Partridge amended Narduzzi’s remarks and also made it clear he hasn’t been unhappy with Morgan’s effort.
“I have a size 11 shoe, by the way,” he said.
“Like any player, sometimes guys need an extra little push and John works hard every day. Not that he felt he had arrived in any way, shape or form. I just wanted to make sure John was practicing and living up to his standard. I wanted to make sure he knew there was still a lot out there for him.
“We talk about taking risks all the time, and part of taking risks is how to mitigate that risk and how to handle that risk. Those are some of the things we were looking to make sure he had control of. To John’s credit, he reacted and he’s doing a nice job. I’m proud of how hard he’s working.”