Pitt has had a very tough schedule to open the year. The Panthers have already faced off the preseason favorites in their own division, along with a pair of top 15 teams. Seemingly each week an opponent presents a tall task for the Pitt defense.
Through five weeks, however, the Pitt defense has responded.
Pitt’s defense is ranked 27th overall in total defense as it surrenders just 300 yards of offense a game. The Panthers rank second national in sacks with a total of 24. Simply put, a new challenge comes each week and this defense continues to shine.
So as Pitt prepares to take on 3-1 Duke this Saturday night, another talented offense awaits. The Blue Devils run a diverse offense that can go from a triple-option to five-wide in the same series. It is led by a dual-threat quarterback that can make plays in a variety of ways. Duke also boasts a an athletic pass-catching tight end, and of course David Cutcliffe is the head coach and he is still one of the more respected offensive minds in the college game.
“And again, Coach Cutcliffe does a great job,” Pat Narduzzi said during his Monday press conference. “He's one of the best in the country. He's a quarterback guru. Obviously he's got one playing for the New York Giants that everybody didn't think Daniel (Jones) was very good, but I guess he's pretty good. I thought he was pretty good last year when he had some pretty darned good numbers against us.”
Duke and Pitt played in a bit of a shootout last year with the Panthers outlasting the Blue Devils 54-45 at Heinz Field. Pitt safeties coach Cory Sanders was part of that game and he was very complimentary of how Duke handles itself on the football field under Cutcliffe during his Tuesday media availability.
“Good football team,” Sanders said. “When you really watch those guys just overall schematically they’re good. Just the way they’re coached they’re a very detailed offense, very detailed team - just how they run their routes, their precision and just how they match and mirror things up - they’re a very good football team, very talented football team, well coached and those guys play hard and get after it.”
Again there’s no Daniel Jones this year, but Quentin Harris is a senior that has been around and he’s taking advantage of his opportunity as the full-time starter. Harris has 848 passing yards, 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions along with 303 rushing yards and two more scores.
“And again, their quarterback Harris can run it. He's good at it,” Narduzzi described of the Blue Devils’ QB.
Added Sanders, “He’s a really good player you see some big plays he made against Virginia Tech. On his feet he made some big plays running the ball, extending the play, then at the same time too he makes some quick, good reads in the pocket and he gets rid of the ball quick too.”
Duke’s tight end, Noah Gray, is a 6’4” junior that leads the Devils with 22 receptions for 172 yards and two scores. Senior wideout Aaron Young and freshman Jalon Calhoun are also favorite targets for Harris.
“They got a couple of older guys that leads the group,” Pitt senior cornerback Dane Jackson said of the Blue Devils receivers. “They’re all big, physical, and can get off the line. A couple of younger guys that just came in that are contributing as well.”
Duke has weapons and of course, the scheme is part of it as well. It’s a unique one at that, as the Blue Devils will mix in a lot of different looks and use tempo to try to take advantage of opposing defenses.
“I think they're one of the best in the country, I really do,” Narduzzi said of the Duke coaches. “Just schematically what they try to do to you, they don't do too much. What they do, they know what they're doing. They're very detailed in the way they run routes, how they kind of stem around. They're very, very good.”
That scheme even includes the triple-option, just another look teams have to prepare for on top of the quick passing game.
“When you watch the film and you pop it up on Sunday I was like, ‘Where did this come from?’ But it is unique, they’ll pop in that triple option a little bit, and like you say a little five-wide and they’ll personnel with you different guys and they’ll go some open sets and they’ll go some tight end sets,” Sanders described. “So they do mix it up and they give a good variety with what they’re doing offensively.”
Duke has weapons the Blue Devils are playing good football. After a season-opening 42-3 loss to No. 1 Alabama, Duke has reeled off three straight wins including a convincing 45-10 win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg last week.
Just as Pitt as wary of Duke, you’d have to think Cutcliffe is worried about the Panthers just the same. Pitt has won five of the six meetings since joining the ACC in 2013. Narduzzi himself is 4-0 head-to-head against Cutcliffe as well during his time in Pittsburgh.
With the Pitt defense starting to show similarities to Narduzzi’s great defenses at Michigan State with some of these early season trends, the Panthers’ head coach is hoping those praises don’t get to his team’s head just yet.
“If Duke puts up another 619 yards on us this week, what do you think I'm going to say next Monday? So we'll find out,” Narduzzi explained. “We get graded every week. Nobody cares what they did against Delaware, nobody cares about Central Florida and the Pitt Special, nobody cares about the week before or the week before that. All I care about is Duke, and we've got to focus on Duke. It doesn't matter where our defense is going to be or our offense at the end of the year, it doesn't matter. All that stuff, we need to throw that stuff out the doors, out the windows and let our kids focus on Duke because if we don't focus on Duke, none of that stuff matters.”
