Pitt's defense gave up 432 yards but just 21 points in Saturday's win at Georgia Tech. Here's a closer look at how the Panthers' defenders played.
All stats from Pro Football Focus.
- Saturday was not a terribly productive game for the defensive line, aside from John Morgan’s two tackles for loss and one sack.
- Pitt’s defense as a whole produced 10 tackles for loss; only four of those came from the defensive line.
- In addition to the stats listed above, Pitt’s linebackers also had two of the biggest plays of the game: Cam Bright’s interception on Georgia Tech’s first drive and John Petrishen’s pick on the Yellow Jackets’ second possession, which he returned 33 yards for a touchdown.
- The linebackers combined for five of the team’s tackles for loss.
- SirVocea Dennis had 2.5 tackles for loss and eight tackles, although PFF also charged him with two missed tackles. Petrishen also had one missed tackle and Wendell Davis had one as well.
- One week after leading Pitt's defense with 37 snaps, Brandon George didn't get any defensive snaps at Georgia Tech, according to PFF, although he did play 18 snaps on special teams.
- Pitt’s defensive backs were generally solid at Georgia Tech. The biggest play in the Yellow Jackets’ passing game came on a pass to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who took a short throw 71 yards, but linebacker John Petrishen was charged with being in coverage on that one.
- PFF charged Hallett with giving up six receptions on six targets; slot receiver Malik Rutherford did most of the damage there, catching 3-of-3 for 45 yards against Hallett.
- Fellow safety Brandon Hill had a similarly high reception rate - 2-of-3 for 64 yards - led by a 44-yard catch downfield from slot receiver Nate McCollum. Hill also gave up 20 yards on a screen pass to Gibbs.
- In an interesting statistical turn - and, more importantly, an indication of how effective the running back screens were - Gibbs finished Saturday’s game with 125 receiving yards and, per PFF, 138 yards after the catch. Gibbs also forced three missed tackles on his receptions, which helped lead to those YAC numbers.
