Pitt's defense being all about pressuring the quarterback and stopping the run worked to get the team to 3-0. But after losing back-to-back games by a single point, the defense has is looking for a rebound week against No. 13 Miami this Saturday at Noon at Hard Rock Stadium.
In its losses to N.C. State and Boston College, Pitt has given up the most touchdown passes to both program's starting quarterbacks, Devin Leary who threw for four touchdowns, and Phil Jurkovec who threw three.
Now the Panthers prepare to face Miami's D'Eriq King, who has already thrown six touchdowns and two interceptions on 75 completions for 122 attempts for passing yards. Pat Narduzzi acknowledged Pitt's preparation for him, also noting King's success as Miami's leading rusher with 241 yards on 42 attempts for two touchdowns.
"He's got a different burst to him, the guy can run," Narduzzi said on Thursday when discussing King. "When you watch him run through Clemson's defense you know there's some good speed on the field there. Obviously they're a fast team, but we're a fast team as well. He's a gear faster than a Malik Cunningham. He'll look to scramble, especially when they're in the red zone and they're a good red zone offense. I expect it to be in King's hands down in that area. He'll carry it a lot and there will be more RPOs in his hands where he can run it or throw it. But sometimes their offensive linemen can get seven yards down the field on those throws so hopefully the officials see that."
King's efforts resulted in 84 rushing yards and the only offensive touchdown by Miami in a 42-17 loss to Clemson last Saturday. But he's also gotten Miami's offense to 38.9 points per game, sixth best in the ACC. His top target is tight end Brevin Jordan, who has 18 catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
Pitt has been victimized by teams' top targets in the last two games, with N.C. State's Emeka Emezie catching two touchdowns and Boston College's Zay Flowers catching three touchdowns. Both players caught the game-winning touchdown for their respective teams.
Narduzzi's defense notably plays an aggressive scheme that emphasizes stopping the run and rushing the quarterback, often leaving his defensive backs in single coverage to fend for themselves. That has resulted in Pitt leading the country with 25 sacks and allowing only 52 rushing yards per game, an ACC best with the next closest team being Clemson allowing 89.8.
But it's also led to real issues like it did last week when the team's top cornerback, Jason Pinnock, was beat for all three of Flowers' touchdowns for Boston College. I wrote about that being the biggest concern Saturday, noting that it's been a big factor in both of the team's losses.
But Narduzzi will not back down from that strategy. He argued Thursday that the defense's aggressiveness is what has brought its success and that the benefits outweigh the risks.
"Not really," Narduzzi said when asked if his defense would offer more help to avoid single coverage scenarios. "It's what we do. If you want to stop the run, which is our key, you can't. Those guys play best when they're pressed up and on that island. It's what we do and there's times you'll get beat. There's Cover 3 stuff where we give them relief to take pressure off them and we pay a good bit of Cover 2 as well. We'll give them relief when we need to but they've got a job to do and we trust them to do that job. And that's what they want to do as well."
Part of this stems from Narduzzi's experience in adjusting the defense in past years. In the Panthers' 45-38 and 59-21 losses to Oklahoma State in 2016 and 2017. Part of those losses came from the defensive backs being picked on after backing off against Oklahoma State's high-power offense that included Mason Rudolph and James Washington both games, who now play for the Steelers. He says that experience had led to him sticking to his defense's normal approach.
"We can play our corners off but I go back to when we got beat by Oklahoma State a few years ago when we were getting by fade passes and we backed off and then they were getting beat underneath with hitch routes," Narduzzi recalled. "Avonte Maddox, as good as he is, would break on those hitches and then get beat deep. There's fatal opportunities in whatever you do, but the important thing is to do what you want to do. That was a critical mistake in that game and I believe we win that game if we had just played him up and let him just play that 50-50 ball. That's what we've been through the years."
Narduzzi puts more value in remaining steadfast and getting beaten while playing his team plays to its strengths than taking risks at schemes that his team isn't familiar with or isn't as comfortable playing. The biggest change he said he would commit to is occasionally working to get his starters more rest during the game so the defense can be fresh during the fourth quarter and make big plays.
"We're not going to sit Jason Pinnock down for any snaps outside of to give him a blow and keep him fresh. Jason Pinnock is our best cornerback and I have full confidence in him. I don't want a guy playing 77 plays and then 90 plays, that's like three games worth in two games. That means we have to get off the field more to prevent long series."
Narduzzi did note that A.J. Woods might return this week to be part of the reprieve for Pinnock.
"But you will see guys come in like A.J. Woods who had a great week of practice," Narduzzi continued. "I told him he's getting in the game this week. He's very qualified to do it and we thought that earlier in the year. He's played solid even with giving up a pass interference and giving up a big pass but anybody can give up a big pass. We had one quarter coverage where a cornerback on an island and got beat, but our pressure wasn't good. Woods is ready."
Narduzzi also mentioned other depth players might see more time, including freshman Rashad Battle, whose 6-foot-3, 200 lbs. frame has made him an interesting prospect.
"[Erick] Hallett has played safety and corner and you may see a few plays from Rashad Battle, he'll be on a bit of a pitch count. We just have to be smarter in taking care of our guys to make sure our guys are fresh in the fourth quarter. The first two plays of overtime you didn't see Rashad Weaver or Patrick Jones out there and then they came in on third down. Those guys can't be effective playing 77 plays either. You need to give your guys a blow sometimes and we have to smart. We trust them to be out there and you wish they could play 90 plays out there but it's just unrealistic."
As Narduzzi stays true to his scheme, he has to get his team to prove to be the resilient bunch he's praised through training camp and through the early part of the season. Back-to-back losses to unranked teams before facing back-to-back ranked teams in Miami and Notre Dame can look daunting. But Narduzzi says his players are remaining focused only on this week's challenge.
"We're worried about the No. 13 team before the No. 4 team," Narduzzi said. "Our kids are resilient and our coaches are. It's just a game and we're not worried about last week and we're focused on this week. It's hard whether it's a one-point loss or a 15-point loss but that's our jobs as coaches to get our kids back. I feel good where our kids' attitudes are because their mental and physical preparation is there and that's all we can ask for. Our kids will go out and play hard. Will we be perfect? No. But you can bet we're going to play our tails off."
• Narduzzi offered some good news that running back A.J. Davis would return to action this Saturday after missing both N.C. State and Boston College with what appeared to be a shoulder injury against Louisville.
"A.J. Davis is back one hundred percent right now so that's a good thing," Narduzzi said. "He didn't take a snap a week ago. Sibley's been playing good, Daniel Carter's been playing good but one thing we have to do is protect our quarterback. We cannot let him get hit and protection is as important as run blocking this week."
• Narduzzi didn't offer much excitement when asked about how he felt about fans being allowed to attend Pitt games again, saying that he and his players are just focused on this week's game against Miami.
"We're a week away from having fans down there," Narduzzi said, noting the team's home game against Notre Dame next week at Heinz Field. "But right now I'm locked into Miami and we don't care. Sure, there are two games left and I know our kids were disappointed we couldn't get that done sooner. But we'll just deal with what we have right now. Sure we're worried about the crowd and the sound being down for us and up for them when we're on offense or defense, but we're worried about Miami right now."
• Narduzzi maintained his normal lack of clarity about injuries over the status of Kenny Pickett. He did praise Pickett's efforts to practice this week, but as usual he wouldn't commit to any game status for his starting quarterback.
"Kenny's worked his tail off," Narduzzi said. "Kenny's tough, you saw him finish the game. Is he a hundred percent healthy? No. But I feel good about where he is right now. Again, I'm not going to talk about his ankle or anything else. You know I don't talk about injuries. We're pretty healthy right now."
• After Alex Kessman missed the overtime extra point that ended Pitt's loss at Boston College, Narduzzi says he's responded with a strong week of practice, not missing any kicks.
"You hope so," Narduzzi said when asked if he thought Kessman was ready to rebound this week. "He kicks a 58-yarder and there are some fluke things to happen. You have to hope he has a short memory. But I can say this with confidence, he hasn't missed a field goal or an extra point all week. We have two live periods where we kick it with a pretty good rush coming after him with Jason Pinnock and Marquis Williams flying off the edge to rush him even laying out to get it. We always constantly give him pressure and he's been sharp all week. I feel good about where he is. The guy used to be a boxer so he's to taking a punch, coming back and swinging."
Kessman had also missed three field goals against Syracuse earlier this year, but rebounded by making all three field goal attempts against Louisville the following week. We'll see where his roller coaster performance of a season takes the Panthers Saturday.