Kancey dominates with three-sack performance
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Pitt recorded eight sacks as a team on Saturday in its 37-7 win over the Virginia Cavaliers. Behind those eight sacks, was No. 8 himself: Calijah Kancey. The Panthers’ star defensive tackle finished with a career-high three sacks and was virtually an unstoppable force rushing the passer on Saturday.
Kancey has been that kind of player since the start of the season, and really the prior two years as well. He has been outstanding in his time in Pittsburgh. Kancey molds perfectly into Pitt’s defensive scheme: a raging bull of a player that is undersized, yet relentless in the pass rush.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has called this type of defensive scheme for a long time. He was asked in Saturday’s postgame press conference where Kancey ranks among the best defensive linemen he’s coached.
Narduzzi did not pull any punches with his response.
"As a D-Tackle, number one, without a question,” Narduzzi said of his junior defensive linemen. “I didn’t get a chance to coach Aaron Donald, but he’s one of those guys. I think everyone thinks they’ve got an Aaron Donald, but he truly is one of those guys that is hard to block.”
Kancey was hard to block on Saturday, and has been all year. For the season, the junior from Florida has seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss. The seven sacks matches his total from 2021, and he has one more tackles for loss than he did a year ago. He was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2021, and he may be able to aim a little higher this season with his postseason accolades.
“It’s an honor,” Kancey said when learning Narduzzi called him one of the best he’s ever coached. “I want to give a special thank you to Coach Narduzzi. We got to get up to the quarterback and get tackles for loss in the backfield, which just feels great.”
Kancey has been a perfect anchor for Pitt’s defensive front for the past couple of seasons, but especially on Saturday. In the game against Virginia, the Panthers really had an opportunity to pin their ears back and get after Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
Each game and matchup is different, but in an ideal world Saturday’s game was exactly how Pitt would like to play defense, with relentless pressure. Kancey recognized that style back in the recruiting process and knew Pitt would be an ideal place for him to play college football.
“I did some research when Aaron Donald was coming out and then (Jaylen) Twyman as well,” Kancey said of finding a spot at Pitt. “I felt like Pitt fit me best. We get to play vertical and that’s my game play."
It was certainly his game on Saturday.
Kancey recorded three sacks, but his teammates posted an additional five. Fellow defensive linemen John Morgan got two and Habakkuk Baldonado got home on one as well.
“It was kind of a follow up from last week,” Narduzzi said after recording 14 sacks over the past two games. “Coach Partridge yelled at his guys and said, ‘You guys play better when I scream at you and yell at you.’ So great job by the D-line. I think they probably had six of the eight. and we're getting four-man pressure….I tell the officials everyday they can't block 8 [Kancey] and they can't block 87 [Baldonado]. They can't block them. Kancey was unbelievable.”
Pitt’s defense flourished overall on Saturday. Aside from the sacks, the game started off with a bang after two interception return for touchdowns on the first two plays to give Pitt an early 14-0 lead.
Pitt cornerbacks MJ Devonshire and Marquis Williams each took back touchdowns to set the tone. Aside from that, Virginia was held to 145 yards of total offense. The Cavaliers netted -8 rushing yards and they were held to 2-of-13 on third down conversions.
It was a dominant defensive showing for the Panthers, and it was their second one in a row. They had six sacks, allowed 145 yards of offense, and zero touchdowns last week in their win over Syracuse.
The pass rush and the secondary seemed to play very well off of each other the last two games, and Williams recognizes having a player of Kancey’s caliber in the middle helps with that.
“It’s definitely a blessing having the whole defensive line, but especially having the best defensive tackle in the nation,” the senior cornerback explained. “Each series when we’re running out there Calijah’s telling me I might not get the ball because he’s about to get the quarterback. Because of Calijah we know that we can gamble on some stuff because he’s confident and we know what he can do.”
The pressure of Kancey may have led to those early touchdowns. As a true pass rusher at heart, he was almost a bit disappointed he didn’t get the sacks, but was OK with that two-touchdown lead.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Kancey said of the pick six plays. “I was in the quarterback’s face twice and I was like, ‘Ah man I didn’t get the sack,’ but I’m glad we got the points.”