The 27-21 loss to Cincinnati brought up more questions than answers about the 2023 Pitt football team. The struggles with Phil Jurkovec and the passing game were well documented from the start, but there were some surprising elements on the defensive side of the ball which also led to the defeat.
Pitt is generally very good at stopping the run. The Panthers have ranked in the top-12 nationally in run defense over the past four seasons. A lot of that is aided by the pass rush, but in general stopping the run is a core philosophy in Pitt’s defense.
Pitt allowed three players to rush for over 100 yards in 13 games last season, but in Saturday’s game with Cincinnati, Bearcats' tailback Corey Kiner was sitting at 100 yards on just six carries in the first half.
Kiner broke off three runs traveling over ten yards, including a 68-yard where he broke off the left side of his offensive line and knifed through the Pitt defense untouched before being tracked down eventually.
“They did a good job of mixing up inside and outside zone,” Pitt senior linebacker Shayne Simon said of Cincinnati’s first half rushing success. “keeping us honest forcing us to be perfect in our key reads and sometimes with the motions and the shifts, it kind of got us out of our focus, so we have to do a good job of maintaining our focus and reading our keys better.”
In total, Pitt allowed 263 yards of offense in the first half. 180 of those yards came on the ground, and the Panthers dug a 20-7 halftime deficit.
“We like to stop the run. We didn't do that,” said Pat Narduzzi after his team fell to 1-1 on the young season. “They do a nice job on offense with unbalance and some of the different things that they do. We didn't react, and we didn't do a good enough job coaching to get it stopped.”
Pitt had to replace a lot of defensive talent off of last year’s team and in the season opener Wofford did not provide much of a test. Cincinnati represented a step up in competition, and the Panthers did not respond well in the first half.
“We had to focus on ourselves,” said Simon. “Our plan is good, our plan is almost perfect, but if we don’t execute it bad things happen. So for us I think it was getting back to our plan, getting back to our focus and we had to make some plays in that second half.”
The Pitt defense did eventually buckle down in the second half. Cincinnati was limited to 108 yards after the break and were limited to 3-of-9 on third down attempts. The only points Pitt surrendered in the second half came on a short field due to a fumble, otherwise Pitt forced five punts and generated a turnover which gave the offense the ball in prime field position with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter.
We talk about being one of the best adjustment defenses in the country, and we did second half,” said Narduzzi. “They had seven points in the second half off of a 39-yard drive off of a turnover. Otherwise they're shut out in the second half. They had a short field in a sudden change situation, and it's hard to win like that. We should have shut them out in the second half, and we'd be winning, period.”
The defensive turnaround was nearly enough for Pitt to steal a game where they fell behind 27-7 early on in the third quarter, but the hole was apparently too deep, as the offense failed to make it to the red zone after getting the ball at the Cincinnati 39 yard-line with just under six minutes remaining.
Following the turnover on downs, Cincinnati pushed forward for two first downs to eat out the clock and set the final. The turnaround was an admirable effort, but the first half still counts too. Pitt’s defense got out of position early and allowed Cincinnati to strike early and often in the first half to build that lead.
“That’s always unacceptable,” Simon said of Cincinnati’s 216 rushing yards. “Our defense is built to stop the run and when we give up that many yards, it’s bad. That’s not even close to the standard, that’s not even close to what we do on defense and so that’s always a bad look there for sure.”
Pitt had a similar performance at the start of the 2022 season as well. West Virginia surprised Pitt and managed to rush for 190 yards in last year’s opener, with Mountaineers’ tailback CJ Donaldson coming out of nowhere to rush for 125 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries.
Pitt, of course, is heading to Morgantown next weekend for the Backyard Brawl for a rematch against West Virginia and Donaldson. West Virginia has a first-year starter at quarterback in Garrett Greene and they showed some reluctancy to let him throw in their opener against Penn State, so a steady dose of Donaldson could be what is facing Pitt.
“We have to watch the plays, get better, look at our mistakes,” said Simon. "We have to kind of take that loss in, but make sure we’re ready for the next game at West Virginia next week. It’s a big-time game, another rivalry game and get ready for that, focus for that, and kind of keep moving on that way.”
