The Pitt defense knew all week it would take more than just the 11 starters to take down UCF during Saturday’s game at Heinz Field. The Knights entered the game with one of most prolific offenses in the country, as they were racking up over 600 yards of offense and 50 points a game heading into Saturday’s contest.

Entering the game Pitt was of course already down a pair of starters with Rashad Weaver and Keyshon Camp out with season-ending injuries, and to add to that, junior linebacker Elias Reynolds was also unavailable for the game. Throughout the course of Pitt’s 35-34 win, a number of different players on that side of the ball made contributions and stepped up that for the upset to happen.

Against the explosive UCF offense, Pitt recorded six sacks, forced six punts, and had two takeaways. The Panthers also came up with a pair of big stops on fourth down late in the game to keep the score close. While the Knights found some rhythm at times, the Pitt defense made things uncomfortable for an offense that is used to having its way all game long.

The defensive line may have shined the brightest on Saturday.

Pitt was responsible for 12 tackles for loss in the game, and the guys up front provided eight of those. Starting defensive ends Deslin Alexandre and Patrick Jones notched 1.5 sacks each, but it was two tackles for loss from redshirt freshman John Morgan and a key sack from Habakkuk Maldonado that really flexed the muscles of the Pitt depth up front.

“There was all kinds of pressure,” Pat Narduzzi said. “Our D-Line did a great job. Coach Partridge and those guys played relentless. We needed a relentless effort out of those guys, and our guys kept coming back.”

Pitt was certainly relentless up front, even until the end of the game. The ACC’s leading sack man Jaylen Twyman had an emphatic sack on third down as the clock was winding down to nearly end the game himself.

“Our D-Line came to play today, and we’re missing two of our best players, but that just goes to show the depth in the room and how those guys just come ready to play each week,” Pitt senior safety Damar Hamlin said of their effort on Saturday.

Pitt also saw strong play from the linebackers, as Kylan Johnson continued his impressive start to the season with four tackles with two of those coming behind the line of scrimmage. Phil Campbell came down with an interception, Pitt's first turnover all year. But it wasn’t just the starters, it was a scoop and score from redshirt freshman linebacker Wendell Davis that left its mark on the game, too.

Pitt approached how they attacked the UCF offense differently this year as well.

During last year’s 45-14 loss to the Knights, Pitt played with extra defensive backs on the field in nickel packages, but throughout much of the game on Saturday, Pitt stayed its base 4-3 defense. That of course made it difficult on the defensive backs, but they held their ground throughout much of the game.

Previously, Pitt had only used three cornerbacks all season: Dane Jackson, Damarri Mathis, and Jason Pinnock. Both Pinnock and Mathis left the game injured on Saturday, which forced Narduzzi to call on reserves like Therran Coleman and Marquis Williams.

Erick Hallett and true freshman Brandon Hill even saw some action throughout the game. It was an all-hands-on-deck mentality for this defense.

“Marquis and Therran definitely did a good job today,” Hamlin said. “We knew all week with the tempo and everything that it was going to take everybody in the room, so that was the thing I was preaching to the guys early on through the week and it came true today.”

In consecutive weeks, the Pitt defense was put to the test by a pair of good offenses in UCF and Penn State. On Saturday, the injury bug also played a factor and threw a wrench into the plans, but both times Pitt rose to the occasion and gave itself a chance to win and of course, they made it happen on Saturday.

“The defense can be really great,” Pitt sophomore defensive end Deslin Alexandre explained. “We got a lot of young guys, but that’s never an excuse, but as long as we continue working together and telling us what coach tells us to do, we’ll be great.”