Pitt's defense has been stout against the run in all three of their wins to be 3-0. Their 56 rushing yards per game allowed is the best of any NCAA team that's played multiple game going into Saturday.
Now they prepare to face North Carolina State this Saturday at noon at Heinz Field. The Wolf Pack currently averages 204 rushing yards per game and is 1-1 after their loss to Virginia Tech last week.
I've written this week about how Pitt's defensive line sets the tone against the run, and how its linebackers bring the defense together with the chemistry between the units. But now that chemistry will be tested by an offense that features dual threats at both quarterback and running back, and that's something Pat Narduzzi has harped on during preparation this week.
Redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman is a left-handed quarterback that trades snaps with the right-handed redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary. Each have thrown a single touchdown pass through two games.
"We don't have a left-handed quarterback," Narduzzi said Friday on ATT Sports Network's Beyond the Script show. "Hockman's a left-hander, Leary's a right-hander and both have a different game. Their offense doesn't change too much except for some of the naked [runs] and sprint outs that change where they go. Our guys are going to have to be aware of who's in and what that looks out for their spread out passing game. It's a good football team and it's always harder when you have to prepare for two."
Narduzzi compared Leary's style of play to Pitt's redshirt senior quarterback Kenny Pickett earlier in the week.
"Leary is a guy who really gets the ball out and knows where to go with the football," Narduzzi said via Zoom on Thursday. "He started games for them last season, he's got a deep ball, he can be mobile, kind of like a Kenny Pickett type of guy. He obviously missed some camp, but he's their best quarterback and they know that. But Bailey's good too. They've got two quarterbacks who are capable and if we don't do a good job, both of them can be effective and hurt us."
But it's North Carolina State's ground game that got most of Narduzzi's attention for the week. Their dual threat at running back has produced much more for the Wolf Pack. Redshirt sophomore running back Zonovan Knight leads the team with 191 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, while junior running back Ricky Person Jr. leads the team with three rushing touchdowns and is just behind Knight with 163 rushing yards on 27 carries. Person has also thrown for a two-yard touchdown on a halfback pass.
Narduzzi has identified the most dangerous part of North Carolina State's one-two punch at running back is the conceptual challenges they present with their inside and outside zone runs, but also with the possibility of more counter runs.
"They do a lot of things well," Narduzzi said of North Carolina State's offense. "They like to run the ball. Their head coach is a defensive guy who knows how effective the run game is and how deflating it can be when you've got a run game going. They do a really nice job with their counter game. They run a counter on a bunch of different things. It's a big play they run that Louisville didn't. Louisville does more inside zone and outside zone, and NC State does that too but they add the counter very well."
Narduzzi pointed out that this week Pitt has practiced against the counter run more to prepare for North Carolina State's usage of it to slow down the Panthers' aggressiveness on defense.
"That's another play that if you're a fast flowing defense like us and you're playing for the zone," Narduzzi said of the Wolf Pack's counter runs. "All of a sudden you'll have to account for the counter behind you. So I'm looking for the counter to be a play they go to in order to slow us down from running towards the outside zone. They'll try to make it all look the same and package it together in the same formations."
Here's an example of differences in normal zone runs compared to that of a counter run. Against Virginia Tech, Person lines up as a sidecar in shotgun and takes the football to the left side of the offense. The entire line attacks to their left, but because it's a zone run, it's up to Person to identify the weak gap in Virginia Tech's defense and attack. If one defender is losing their battle and he finds it, he can accelerate and get good yardage like the eleven he got here:
Now compare that to the counter run. What makes a counter is when the offensive line pulls a lineman and has an additional lead blocker going to the intended direction of the play, while the running back takes a step in the opposite direction before bursting behind his lead blockers.
Knight does that here as he follows a really good seal block from redshirt senior tight end Cary Angeline on his way to 13 yards. The false step might freeze a defense just long enough for the lead blockers to get out front and gain an advantage:
Pitt is no stranger to zone concepts that can hurt their defense in a hurry. They experienced that last week when Louisville's redshirt sophomore running back Javian Hawkins ripped off a 75-yard touchdown.
This play was a good example of how a zone run can take advantage of a single mistake. Paris Ford was the lone defender in the middle of Pitt's second level of their front and was a second late to read Hawkins' move:
Redshirt senior defensive end Patrick Jones II made sure to address the play immediately after Louisville last Saturday, noting Pitt's focus to not give up such a play this week.
"Everything we do isn't given to us," Jones said via Zoom. "It's through hard work and we strive to be the best in the country. We left some stuff on the field and that one big run we shouldn't have given that up. We have to go back and fix that because we can't give up plays like that if we want to be the best in the country."
Pitt's well aware of the strengths North Carolina presents in their ground game, as redshirt senior linebacker Phil Campbell III said on Wednesday.
"They have a solid o-line and good running backs," Campbell said of North Carolina State's offense via Zoom. "They can definitely run the ball so we have to play our gaps, our schemes, line up and play fast like we do."
But both Campbell and Narduzzi's words over the week ring to the emphasis of Pitt's defense to play their brand of football and not bend too much to what North Carolina State does well.
"Just doing our jobs," Campbell said about how Pitt can stuff North Carolina State's running game. "When everybody does their job on their side of the ball, it comes together like a puzzle. We've got to continue to do that every single week. Nobody is going to outmatch us physically. We just have to be on our schematics and our jobs and what everyone has to do."
Those schematics won't involve any grand changes according to Narduzzi. Just minor adjustments that will keep Pitt playing within its element.
"We're going to tweak our game," Narduzzi said on Beyond the Script about Pitt's defensive preparations. "Same stuff with different tweaks. I think a lot of people make mistakes changing up and going to a different front or a new blitz. Years ago we were dumb enough to as coaches to change blitzes every week and come up with a new blitz. But it never worked. The guys didn't know what to do and would blitz slow. Our guys know what to do, we just change up what we're doing every week based on their protections and what they're doing offensively."
Not slowing down is what's helped Pitt's defense establish dominance in all three of their games. They've only allowed three points in the second half of all three of their games and have the ACC's best third down defense, only allowing a 17 percent conversion rate.
Much of that comes because they win on the early downs by stuffing the run with aggressiveness. Watch how redshirt senior defensive end Rashad Weaver explodes off the left edge to force a fumble on Hawkins before he can even get into his run. The rest of the defense is right behind Weaver to follow him up even if Hawkins escaped with the football:
Winning at the point of attack is crucial, and even the team's younger players have gotten involved. Freshman defensive tackle Calijah Kancey's 4.5 tackles for loss is second best on the team, and tied for tenth best in the NCAA. He's gotten involved early in his first year with the team, like how he blew up this double-team against Louisville for a big tackle for loss:
Narduzzi's adamant position for the defense to play at its fastest will get put to the test by North Carolina State's counter and zone runs that are designed to slow them down. They currently rank 20th in the NCAA in rushing yards per game, led by Knight and Person to keep fresh legs at running back.
But Narduzzi also indicated Friday that he's leaning on two young running backs of his own in sophomore Vincent Davis and freshman Israel "Izzy" Abanikanda.
"Izzy's really coming along," Narduzzi said when asked about which running back has stood out this week in practice. "He's got a little more confidence. He took more reps last Saturday, Vincent's playing at a high level too."
North Carolina State's strength on offense might also be a weakness on defense that Davis and Abanikanda might exploit. Pitt has only averaged 143.3 rushing yards per game, but faces a Wolf Pack defense that gives up an average of 231.5 rushing yards per game. That includes allowing 314 rushing yards to Virginia Tech last week, but Narduzzi doesn't see that as any reason for Pitt to take them lightly.
"You're never excited just seeing another team rush for 300," Narduzzi said. "It's a totally different scheme and different offense. They'll have different plays for us and we'll have different plays for them. Whatever they give us, if it's the run or the pass, we'll take advantage of what they give us."