The opting out of Paris Ford was a huge blow to Pitt's defense when announced on Monday. But that doesn't stop the team from planning how to stop its four-game losing streak going into the Panthers' next game against Florida State on Saturday, at Doak Campbell Stadium at 4 p.m.
When asked on Wednesday about the impact of losing Ford, defensive coordinator Randy Bates refused to focus on his departure and chose to put the emphasis of conversation on Ford's replacement: redshirt freshman safety Brandon Hill.
"I'm excited to see Brandon Hill play," Bates said. "I'm here to talk about the guys on the team, not the guys off the team. It's an exciting time for Brandon Hill to step up and be the player he is. Judson Tallandier is his backup, but we're excited to see where Brandon goes."
This message echoed the enthusiasm Pat Narduzzi expressed on Monday about Hill when he first discussed the impact of losing Ford for the rest of the season.
"I think I might have mentioned a week or two weeks ago," Narduzzi said. "A guy we feel like he's a starter, Brandon Hill is a guy that has played the last couple weeks, has played special teams. He's a playmaker. He's physical, he's strong, and he'll be the guy that will line up and play in that position as we sit here today. I've got a lot of faith in Brandon [Hill]. I don't think we have to -- we've got different changeups every week, but we've just got to play smart and know what we're doing and be consistent back there."
Ford was the Panthers' leading tackler during the season with 45 through seven games. Although he's known more for defending the pass, Ford's physicality in the box against the run and ability to apply big hits on receivers trying to catch the ball made him one of the top safety prospects going into the 2021 NFL Draft.
George fits that profile as well, even though he only has 13 tackles on the season. Both Bates and Narduzzi expressed their confidence in being a fast and physical player to take that role in Ford's playing style.
"Brandon is an extremely physical player that fits into our defense very well," Bates said. "He knows the call and where to be. Now he's just got to use those opportunities to be there and make those plays."
"It's an opportunity for that guy to take it over and be the future safety at that spot, and I really think you guys will be impressed with what you see back there out of him," Narduzzi said when asked how excited he was about seeing Brandon Hill play more. "I think he's a fantastic football player. He's athletic, he's tough, he's physical, and he flies around with a ton of effort. It's next man up. It's a great opportunity for him, and that's really what my focus goes to is obviously to Florida State like we did in practice today and focus on what we can control and the guys that are in those meeting rooms and on that football field."
Pitt's confidence in Hill's ability to replace Ford is considerably high, to the point that there's no plan to adjust the Panthers' defensive game plan moving forward. That's even the feeling from players like linebacker SirVocea Dennis.
"No," Dennis said Wednesday when asked if the linebackers are going to help the safeties in coverage more in Ford's absence. "We're still playing our game plan and we have the utmost trust in Brandon Hill and the guys behind him. We're not worried about that at all and we plan to go out there and just play our defense."
In addition to Hill and Tallandier as depth players at safety is also true freshman Buddy Mack.
"Buddy Mack is a guy who has limited experience but he's fast and plays several positions on the secondary," Bates said. "He's more or less been on the scout team until this week. There's a chance he'll play, but based on how he practiced I feel very comfortable about him being out there. He's a fast, physical player."
Mack has seen very limited playing time on the season but has managed to record three tackles on the season.
But just as important as replacing Ford moving forward is replacing the energy Pitt appeared to have lost when it was crushed 45-3 by Notre Dame two weeks ago at Heinz Field. As Narduzzi noted on Monday, Pitt had gone through a lot of physical play over seven straight weeks of football and he felt his players were fatigued at the tail end of playing for two months.
Bates confirmed that sentiment with his comments on Wednesday.
"After seven weeks of football, the bye gives us a chance to recover," Bates said. "We were at the point where the whole team was practicing in yellow so that we could let guys heal up. But now that people have healed, it gives us a chance to practice and play faster again. I hope to see that we're going to play as fast as we have this season, and maybe faster. It seems like when we were going through the grind that we slowed a bit. Maybe that hurt us a bit in chasing down quarterbacks, but I see us out there playing a lot faster. That's my top reason to be excited that the guys are out playing with a top level of speed."
Part of that missing speed came from Pitt's pass rush that only sacked Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book twice.
"Number one, Book escaped us several times," Bates said when asked what the main reasons were giving up lots of points to Notre Dame. "We have to do a better job corralling the quarterback. When guys escape, they find a way to make a big play and find somebody open. It's very difficult to stay with a guy for a long period of time. Sooner or later those guys will shake you if you don't put pressure on the quarterback."
Harkening back to how beat up Pitt has been due to injuries, Bates noted the mounting injuries to his interior defensive linemen like Keyshon Camp and Devin Danielson on top of missing Jaylon Twyman who opted out before the start of the season.
"I would say we were down at one point to our seventh defensive lineman and I thought they played pretty well considering Notre Dame is one of the best offensive lines in the country," Bates said. "It's a learning experience when you get down that far. The kids will make 2-3 plays and then it's like, 'oh crap,' but it's a learning experience. You make a bad choice against a top team in the country, you pay for it."
What has Bates confident his defense can start to find answers this late in the season is the resilience from his players, starting with the leadership of his captains in Damar Hamlin and Patrick Jones.
"Damar and Patrick are the defensive captains and have done a tremendous job," Bates said. "I don't think we'll lose people. We all want to be 7-0, but at times I look at our young guys and they're wiping off old plays to keep learning the next play. Our guys are continuing to teach and it's a great thing to see. It's a learning experience for everybody and the kids are handling it very well."
• Bates also expressed appreciation for his two redshirt sophomore cornerbacks filling in for the injured Damarri Mathis. Both Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods have seen extensive playing time this season and although both have been beaten for big scores, Bates likes their resilience in how they keep looking forward to the next opportunity to make a play.
"We're talking about two guys with limited experience in Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods," Bates said. "They're getting the experience on the job. I think they're handling it well. They had a couple plays where they just didn't make the play, but when you look at their play as a whole you can see they're continuing to improve and learn on the run while playing tremendous wide receivers. When you don't make a play there, you really stand out. Whereas if you're a defensive tackle people might not notice as much. It's a tough position and you have to be able to shake it off and play the next play and I think they've done a remarkable job of that."