Pitt defense taking a personal approach against Western Michigan

The 23rd ranked Pitt Panthers know they are in for a battle Saturday night when they travel to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan. The Panthers saw firsthand what the Broncos are capable of last season, when Western Michigan came into Pittsburgh and beat Pitt 44-41. The Broncos racked up over 500 yards of offense on the way to the upset win.

Given that familiarity, Pitt is looking back at last season to see what went wrong and how they can prevent that kind of offensive output again this season.

“You sit back and look at how they attacked us last year and what their game plan was going into and obviously they have a new offensive coordinator running the offense this year, but at the same time their head coach is an offensive guy,” Safeties coach Cory Sanders told reporters on Wednesday of this week.

A number of the players that faced Western Michigan a year ago said the Broncos caught them off guard. Western Michigan used a spread attack, and hit Pitt in the soft spots of their defense. Erick Hallett, Pitt’s senior safety, said the RPOs (read-pass-option) and the tempo sort of surprised the Panthers defense.

Defensive tackle David Green agreed.

“Yea they definitely caught us off-guard,” the Pitt linemen said of 2021’s loss to Western Michigan. “They found spots in our defense that we knew we had spots and they hit those spots, but now we have stuff to prepare for them.”

Despite having a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback, and some new personnel on offense, Pitt feels that Western Michigan will try a similar approach and look to what worked last season. For Hallett’s part, he feels most teams try to attack Pitt in similar ways, which is nothing new week to week.

“I think it’s again: the RPO’s, the glances back to the side, run game, I think it’s the same,” Hallett said of the 2022 Western Michigan team. “The Xs and Os you see with anyone else. I think teams try to attack us in similar ways and they try to find the weaknesses in our coverage. I think the things we see from week to week don’t really change a whole lot, it’s just the personnel, how they run it, and they get to it type thing.”

Western Michigan may be running it a little differently this season. The team is ushering in first-year starting quarterback Jack Saolpek, a Western Pennsylvania native that Pitt recruited back in high school. Salopek has thrown for 423 yards and one touchdown this season, and has also added 66 rushing yards.

“He’s athletic, he’s a real nice, mobile quarterback,” Green said of Salopek. “It’s going to be like always, trying to contain him in and make sure he doesn’t get out of the pocket. He can definitely throw the ball as well, so just try to make him one dimensional.”

Western Michigan may be transitioning to a new quarterback, but a lot of the weapons that last year's signal caller Kaleb Eleby had at his disposal in last year’s win are still around this season. Perhaps the biggest name Pitt will need to watch is Corey Crooms. He has 15 receptions for 143 yards and one touchdown this season. In last year’s meeting, Crooms posted 8 catches for 161 yards and a score.

“Very skilled player: fast, quick, good getting in and out of his breaks,” Hallett said of Western Michigan’s top receiver. “He has pretty good hands as well, so I think we’re really just going to have to be on our Ps and Qs and watching wherever he goes.”

The Pitt defense has had some solid moments in the team’s 1-1 start to this season, yet there have been some inconsistencies. The Panthers really buckled down against Tennessee last week by only allowing only 115 yards and 3 points in the second half, after surrendering 24 in the first two quarters. Heading into this week, Pitt is hoping to display a stronger all around performance against Western Michigan.

“No one likes to lose anybody,’ Hallett said reflecting on last year’s loss. “Especially seeing that we’re able to play them again, get revenge per se, so there’ always a little bit of added motivation for that, but it’s also the next game on our schedule as well. We’re looking forward to it.”

Green is taking it more personally.

“I feel like Michael Jordan right now in the documentary, like yea this is it,” he said of the chance to play for revenger on Saturday night in Kalamazoo.

Speaking of Kalamazoo, Western Michigan’s Waldo Stadium is expected to be provide a tough road test for the Panthers. A ranked ACC team does not head to Western Michigan very often, with a nationally televised night game at that, it should provide a raucous atmosphere.

“It’s their home opener, so I expect it to be packed,” said Hallett.

“I love that type of environment,” Green said of heading into a hostile road game. “I just like when everybody boos us and we’re like the underdog and everybody is against us.”

Pitt finished a perfect 5-0 in road games during last year’s 10-2 regular season.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, we’re always setting the tone,” Sanders said. "Obviously you have a bad taste in your mouth from last year.”