Pitt senior middle linebacker Sir’Vocea Dennis had his hands all over Pitt’s 19-9 win over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium. The team captain finished with a team-high 8 tackles, recorded one sack, and forced a fumble.
Dennis was a key component to Pitt’s defensive success on Saturday. The No. 21 ranked Syracuse Orange did not find the end zone once and finished with only 145 yards of total offense. Syracuse star tailback Sean Tucker finished with 19 rushing yards on ten carries.
The Panthers simply dominated the game defensively and it came on the heels of two disappointing performances. In last week’s loss to North Carolina, Pitt surrendered 28 second half points and Drake Maye threw for five touchdowns. With Pitt star Calijah Kancey sidelined for a targeting penalty, the Tar Heels seemed to move the ball at will in the second half.
On Saturday, it looked as though the Pitt defense at all three levels were playing for some pride and the results support that.
"Well, I think they played angry,” Pat Narduzzi said after his team moved to 5-4 on the season. “Coach Partridge did a great job of just getting them ready to go today and got after them this week in practice. They showed up today. They played a little angry today. The performance a week ago was not who we are, and again, give them credit.”
The Pitt defense generated six sacks and nine tackles for loss on Saturday. The pass rush looked like it was clicking on all cylinders and they stuffed the run. The defensive game plan worked out exactly how it was supposed to under this scheme.
Narduzzi has coached a lot of football games at Pitt, 99 to be exact, and he was not quick to crown Saturday's performance as the best he's ever seen.
"We've had some dominating performances since I've been here," the Pitt coach said. "It's been eight seasons in. That was a good performance. I've seen better, I think. I don't know what the yardage was. I don't know the best yardage since I've been here. But it was a good performance.”
When asked if this was the best defensive performance he has ever been a part of, Dennis wasn’t sure if it was the best, but noted it’s near the top.
“I’ve got to go back and look at all the defensive big games we had, but that’s definitely up there,” Dennis said following the game. “We had a great time out there on the field. A lot of guys got the chance to touch the quarterback. A lot of guys got a chance to, you know, have a party in the backfield.”
The party in the backfield included more than just sacks. Syracuse’s Tucker was a non-factor on Saturday with just 19 yards rushing. Pitt has held him under 30 yards rushing in each of the past three seasons.
“He’s a great player, but our scheme is built to stop the run,” Dennis said of shutting down Tucker for the third straight season. “So I’m sorry, but you can be as good of a player as you want, but if we hit all of our cylinders and do everything we want to do: fit well, play good defense, you’re not going to do what you want to do or have the best game that you think you’re going to have.”
Syracuse played the game without starting quarterback Garrett Shrader and it showed, but with Tucker on the field the Orange still had one of the best offensive weapons in the conference. Pitt just completely took him out of the contest from the start. His longest run in the game went for 7 yards. The other nine carries netted 12 yards for Tucker.
The win for Dennis is especially sweet. He is a Syracuse native, but was never really recruited by his hometown school. Following Saturday’s outcome, Dennis is now 4-0 against Syracuse in his career.
“Actually I don’t go back home much, but every year since I’ve been here at Pitt I got a chance to do a little trash talking,” the Pitt linebacker said with a smile. “This is my fourth time, fourth win against Syracuse. I don’t really need to do anymore trash talking.”
