Published Oct 19, 2023
Film review: The good and the bad from Pitt's defense against Louisville
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Chris Peak  •  Panther-lair
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How did Pitt's defense shut out Louisville in the second half on Saturday? Let's look at the film.

Tackling Still an Issue

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About midway through the second quarter, Louisville’s offense runs a split zone concept from a 2-back look and Pitt attempts to counter with a six-man pressure. The issue here is the Louisville receiver is going to crack the safety and the corner, A.J. Woods, needs to replace. He recognizes the crack and attempts to close on the ball-carrier but makes a poor attempt at a tackle on the Louisville running back. Throughout the game - and the season - Pitt’s defenders in one-on-one situations have missed open-field tackles, which is extremely unusual in the Pat Narduzzi era. This is obviously something they’ll have to continue to improve on moving forward.

Hard on the Defense
Everyone in the world that follows college football knows that Pitt’s scheme is a press-quarters based defense. Louisville looked for different ways to make the defense uncomfortable and prevent the press on their receivers. For example, in the clip above, Louisville is running a Mills concept; for those that are not familiar, that’s a post from the outside receiver and a dig from the inside receiver. Versus a quarters-based team, this forces the safety to drive on the dig while leaving the corner with no inside help. Not only did Louisville use a Mills concept, but they also identified a way to get their post route without having to beat the press from the Panthers corner. Take a look at the clip below.

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As you can see from the clip, Woods is aligned in a press look versus the Cardinal receiver, and as he motions down, Woods is forced to align over the inside receiver. Before he can get set and attempt a press look, the ball is snapped. Now the inside receiver on the move is running a dig route and you can see the safety drive on that route. Woods gave up inside leverage and the receiver has leverage as the ball is delivered. The backside safety, who could potentially help, is unable to get there in time and it’s a big play against the defense.

Strip Sack

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Getting to the quarterback is always fun, but the Panthers have taken a step back this season at getting home to the quarterback. On Saturday, however, Samuel Okunola was able to get pressure on the Cardinal right tackle and force a turnover. As you can see from the clip above, Okunola is at the top left of the screen and Louisville is running a slow screen off of play-action - which the Pitt linebackers sniff out almost immediately. This forces quarterback Jack Plummer to hold the ball for a brief second and Okunola was there to get the sack. This was great technique, and something I’m sure Charlie Partridge hammers home to his defensive linemen, as Okunola punches through the ball as he secures the sack. If he continues to make plays like this, his game day reps should increase.

Big 3rd Down Stop

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The defense made some big stops in the second half ,and the one that stood out the most to me was a third down stop early in the third quarter. On third-and-7, Louisville ran a play-action concept with the outside receiver to the boundary running a fade-stop route right at the sticks. The ball is slightly behind him and the receiver has to adjust, which allows M.J. Devonshire to come and wrap the receiver up short of the line to gain. With the second effort, however, he was going to be close until the safety helps secure the tackle short of the sticks. This led to a fourth down attempt in Louisville territory where the Panthers were able to make a big stop and turn the ball over on downs.

Kamara and DeShields with Pressure

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As we stated earlier, Pitt has struggled to secure sacks, especially from the third down Delta package that they’ve been so successful with over the years. On third down early in the third quarter, Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields rushed off the edge secured a big sack. As you can see from the clip, Kamara beats the running back initially and gets a hit on the quarterback before DeShields can get there and secure the sack.

Devonshire Pick 6

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One of the biggest plays of the game - if not the biggest - came late in the third quarter with Louisville driving on offense. In the clip above, you can see Louisville working a pick concept where the No. 2 receiver is running an out route under the slant while the slant is looking to pick the outside linebacker. This is tough for the corner and incredibly difficult for the linebacker in the Panthers defense. The safety does a good job at working over top of the out and DeShields, who’s working to the out, collisions the slant route, which disrupts the timing and the ball is thrown out in front of the receiver where Devonshire is. Devonshire secures the pick and then takes off out of a cannon for a game changing pick-6.

Overall Thoughts
There were big plays and big turnovers created by the defense this week. There were still issues with missed assignments and missed tackles, but they fought through them and made big plays when it counted. Turnovers by Okunola and Devonshire changed the trajectory of the game, and eventually lead them to a victory. The defense, out of a bye week, looked better and I believe they’ll continue to get better as the season progresses.