Louis continues to show a nose for the football
It is a common phrase in the game football, but it is one that often rings true. There are certain guys who simply have a ‘knack’ for the football. Some defensive players just gravitate towards the play, no matter the circumstances.
Count Pitt redshirt sophomore linebacker Kyle Louis as one of those guys who has that knack, or instinct, to always stick his nose in the action one way or another.
In Pitt’s 73-17 thrashing of Youngstown State on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, the high-flying Louis, once again, displayed that knack for the football. Louis totaled six tackles, 1.5 TFLs, recorded his second interception of the season, and also forced a fumble.
If you’re counting, that’s three forced turnovers over the past two games for the talented linebacker from New Jersey. On the season, Louis’ stat line reads: 33 tackles, four TFLs, one sack, two interceptions, and one forced fumble.
Whatever drives those type of instincts, or however they come into being, Louis just seems to have it.
“He's a beast,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said of his sophomore linebacker. “That guy is a football player. We knew it in spring ball. I told a lot of the linebackers, like, he was the dude.”
'Dude', 'shark' and 'guy' …all of those names were used to describe Louis during Saturday’s postgame press conference. He’s the force that makes Pitt’s defense click, and his teammates all seem to know it.
“He’s one of the most dominant and explosive football players I’ve ever played against,” Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein said of his teammate. “He’s always in the right spot. He’s big, strong, athletic, fast. I mean, he disguises what he’s doing really well. He’s always in there making plays.”
Louis showed off his playmaking in the first half. Pitt was already ahead 28-3 at this point, but there was no let up from Louis. He saw Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard roll to his right, and instantly recognized the situation.
“Well, sometimes the play definitely came to me, but the interception, we probably ran those plays four times during practice this week,” Louis explained. "So as soon as I saw No. 1 do a drag, and No. 2 stepping in, I already knew he was going to do a cross. I caught up to him when I was beat a little bit.”
Louis stepped in front just as the pass was arriving and played the ball more like a defensive back than a linebacker to generate his first turnover of the game.
In the third quarter, he made another yet impressive play on the ball. Youngstown State dumped off a pass into flat while driving deep in Pitt territory, but the lightning-fast Louis came flying in and poked the ball away from YSU tailback Ethan Wright, which allowed for Rashad Battle to jump on the loose ball to cause another takeaway.
“He just wants to make plays,” fellow linebacker Rasheem Biles said of his teammate. “He’s trying to get to that next level and to get to the next level, you’ve got to be around the ball, you’ve got to be hunting for the ball, and that’s what he does. He’s a guy.”
The Panthers’ defense has had some lapses early on this season, but the group was also pretty dominant on Saturday. The Penguins entered the game as one of the top-ranked rushing offenses from the FCS level, but Pitt held them to 71 yards on 37 carries. Youngstown State still had a couple of successful drives, and caught Pitt napping on a wheel route for a touchdown.
“We definitely got some errors we definitely have got to clean up with explosive plays they had time to time,” said Louis.
That’s a fair assessment on his part, and also one you would expect to hear. Because if we're being frank this Pitt defense is not doing anything unexpected to date. This unit had plenty of new starters that needed to be brought along, so it’s been a slow process, but one that has been taking strides each week.
While the rest of the defense tries to correct some things, the linebackers, led by Louis, appears to be a strength right now. That unit is going by the adopted nickname, ‘the sharks’ as in, a group that smells blood in the water.
During Pitt’s decisive win on Saturday, the Acrisure Stadium loudspeaker played the theme song from the 1975 hit film, ‘Jaws’ when the defense hit the field on several occasions. It was a nice touch according to the Panthers’ star defender.
“I definitely mess with that,” Louis said of the new music choice for when the defense takes the field. “The sharks definitely got way more stuff that we’re going to showcase and we’re going to keep going.”