CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The strength of Pitt's team was exactly that over its last two weeks.
Because of those strong efforts, the Panthers are primed for a strong finish to the regular season and into a bowl game around mid-to-late December.
Entering the Nov. 5 game against Syracuse, Pitt's 27.9 points allowed per game ranked 11th in the ACC, and the 351.1 yards allowed per game were the seventh-most allowed within the conference.
Two weeks makes a heck of a difference. Following Saturday's 37-7 win at Virginia, the Panthers now rank seventh in the ACC with 23.9 points allowed per game, and the 309.8 yards allowed per game rank second in the ACC.
Pitt has combined to allow one touchdown, 16 total points, 289 total yards, 17 rushing yards -- Virginia net minus-8 rushing -- and limit the opposition to 5-for-27 on third down over the last two games. The Panthers, as a team, sacked Syracuse's Carlos Del Rio Wilson and Virginia's Brennan Armstrong a combined 14 times, including getting to the latter eight times on Saturday.
SirVocea Dennis referred to a "party in the backfield" following the Syracuse game. Pitt stayed for after-hours against Virginia.
Party in the Backfield 🎉
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 8, 2022
9 TFL, 6 Sacks on 48 Plays 📈
Let's do it again this Saturday!#H2P » #WeNotMe pic.twitter.com/0E1cKb0L1G
It was a welcomed sight, especially considering the flow of the two games played by Pitt leading up to Syracuse week.
Remember those two fourth-quarter collapses? So did that Panthers defense, which has responded in exactly the way you would want to see following a combined 38-0 scoring margin allowed against Louisville and North Carolina.
"It's definitely fun, and also we just want to be remembered as a great defense," All-American candidate and Panthers defensive tackle Calijah Kancey said. "That's our mindset. We wanted to finish strong, and that's our whole goal for the entire November. Finish strong."
If the Panthers' defense was going to finish strong, it had to start with the All-American.
Kancey has been the driving force behind Pitt's recent successes, and he had his best game of the season in Charlottesville.
Three sacks. Three tackles for loss. A whole lot of pressure to go along with it.
It's a symbol of the strong season he has had. Kancey is now tops in the ACC in tackles for loss (14.0; tied for ninth in Football Bowl Subdivision) and tops in sacks (7.0; 4.5 off the national pace).
This is all while often commanding double teams. Not bad, for a defensive tackle.
The Panthers' win over Virginia was earmarked by the two pick-sixes on Virginia's first two plays from scrimmage. The plays were executed by M.J. Devonshire and Marquis Williams, but take a look at who was in Armstrong's face as he threw each of those interceptions:
Look at who’s in Brennan Armstrong’s face right as he throws these two pick-sixes.
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) November 13, 2022
It’s Calijah Kancey. pic.twitter.com/V7dnbgV6xn
No. 8. Who else?
That question is actually rhetorical, because over these last two games, it has been more than just about No. 8 on the defensive line.
If you've listened to the last few episodes of the H2P Podcast with myself and Gary Morgan, you would have heard us clamoring for someone else to step up on the defensive line.
Maybe that unit subscribes?
A round of applause goes to Deslin Alexandre, John Morgan, and Haba Baldonado along the line. Alexandre was the hero of the Syracuse game with his 2.5 sacks and the game-clinching safety late in the fourth quarter, and he tacked on another sack in the first half against Virginia.
Morgan started off his season extremely hot, accumulating eight total tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack in his first four games. Over his next five games, Morgan had six total tackles, zero for loss, and zero sacks.
Against Virginia (before he was ejected for unsportsmanlike actions along with Virginia center Ty Furnish) Morgan boomed for two sacks. Baldonado had one-half of a sack last week against Syracuse, and he followed it with a full sack against Virginia.
"Just knowing that everybody's doing their job and we're all finally clicking, and the coverage is matching the pass rush," Devonshire said. "We all work together, and the defense, if everybody does their job, one to 11, then we look pretty good most of the time. We're finally getting to that point where we're jelling."
Added Williams, about his defensive line's efforts: "It's definitely a blessing to have our whole whole D-line, but definitely having the best D-tackle in the nation, it's a blessing to get that. Each series you're running out there, (Kancey's) telling me, 'You might not get the ball because I'm about to get to the quarterback.' It's a blessing just hearing that, coming from Calijah. We know that we can gamble on some stuff. We know when not to gamble on stuff, but we're confident in what he can do."
Did we mention, 17 net rushing yards allowed over the two weeks?
The Panthers neutralized Syracuse's Sean Tucker for 19 yards on 10 carries two weeks ago, and Virginia's leading rusher in Mike Hollins tallied eight carries for 23 yards. Dennis has registered eight tackles in each of the two games to lead the team, and the rest of the contributions have come from across the board from the linebackers and secondary.
We saw Tylar Wiltz emerge over the last two games as a starting linebacker, Solomon DeShields and Judson Talliander II have each gotten in the books with a sack to add another layer beyond Dennis and Shayne Simon across the middle. (Talliander came in from the safety position on his sack against Virginia.)
This defense is showing more signs of its versatility and utility over these last two weeks, which gives the Panthers a totally different feel going into games against Duke and Miami.
Duke has the No. 5 scoring offense in the ACC at 33.7 per game, and it has the No. 2 rushing offense at 203.8 yards per game, so the challenge in stopping the Blue Devils will be in the same essence to game planning for the run-heavy Syracuse.
Things are looking up for Pitt, which is bowl eligible for the fifth straight season under Pat Narduzzi.