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Rashad Weaver didn’t mind the way Pitt’s defense played in the season-opening win over Albany.

He just thinks there’s more in store.

“It’s just going to keep getting better,” the redshirt sophomore defensive end said after the game, a 33-7 victory at Heinz Field. Weaver was part of a defensive line that pressured Albany quarterback Vince Testaverde 11 times, sacked him four times and hit him four additional times over the course of the afternoon.

Between the linebackers and the defensive linemen, Testaverde was pressured 17 times, which produced five sacks and seven additional hits on his 33 drop-backs, according to Pro Football Focus. That kind of pressure was rather unheard of last season - Pitt hasn’t had five sacks in a game since 2016 - and Weaver thinks things are going to keep heading in that direction this year.

“It was getting better for us throughout the game; every snap, we were getting better as a D-line and it’s going to keep getting better throughout the year. We’re going to be putting pressure on the offensive line, the quarterbacks, the running backs throughout whole games this year.”

Pitt will need that to be the case this weekend. Penn State is coming to Heinz Field after an overtime win against Appalachian State saw the Nittany Lions put up 45 points and more than 400 yards of offense, and that was a continuation of what they did in 2017.

Last year, Penn State averaged 460 yards and more than 40 points per game. Some key pieces from that offense are gone, but quarterback Trace McSorley is back, and that’s reason enough to give the Pitt defense some concerns.

“You have a Heisman Trophy candidate, maybe the frontrunner for it, because he can throw it, he can run it, he can make plays,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said at his weekly press conference Monday.

McSorley’s running ability can be a game-changer, and it will be on Weaver and his mates up front to contain that element. But there’s also a big threat with McSorley’s arm. Testaverde threw for 263 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers, and the bulk of his work was done against Pitt’s safeties.

In fact, some combination of Damar Hamlin, Dennis Briggs, Bricen Garner and Jazzee Stocker was in coverage for eight of Testaverde’s 18 completions, and those passes accounted for 180 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

That’s a substantial amount, and Hamlin knows his unit needs to perform better in Week Two.

“I feel like we played well. First game, so getting a little bit of nicks and rust out, but it’s always going to be like that the first game, so I think we’ll come back better next week.” Hamlin added that he thinks the veteran nature of the safeties will help get those issues ironed out in short order, and Narduzzi agreed.

“I don't think they were as sharp as they need to be,” the head coach said. “You can blame that on the players, but it goes right back to us as coaches. Starts with me getting them in better positions to make plays. We hope this weekend we'll be in better position to make plays with fundamentals.”