If you were watching Pitt’s victory over Virginia on Saturday at Heinz Field, you probably had similar reactions to what I did.
Leading 26-13 in the fourth quarter, the Panthers defense watched Virginia quarterback Matt Johns connect on a 32-yard touchdown pass to make it a one possession game. Then predictably the Panthers had to punt the ball back to the Cavaliers, who had the ball with a chance to tie the football game late in the fourth quarter.
I for one found myself saying in the press box “Oh no. Here we go again.”
But that wasn’t the case.
Even though Virginia connected on a fourth-and-23 play to continue their final drive, the Pitt defense closed things out, putting away memories of recent collapses that many been become accustomed to watching.
Sitting at 4-1 it looks as if the Panthers team has completely bought in to what head coach Pat Narduzzi has brought to the table.
“They had a pass on us and, all of a sudden, our kids start to go, ‘Oh, no, here we go again,’ ” Narduzzi said. “As coaches, it’s our job to make sure they don’t say that. We’ve talked about that. We’re not going back that way. We’re not taking that route. Our kids keep fighting. I think they have learned how to win.”
With the win, that makes two weeks in a row that the Panthers defense has closed out a game, also doing so on the road against Virginia Tech the week prior.
Narduzzi and his staff are quickly making sure that efforts such as the Pitt defense gave against Houston last year in the Armed Forces Bowl are a thing of the past.
“Our kids find a way to win. They fought through adversity. I told them before the game there are going to be ups and downs and how they react is going to be important. Give credit to our defense for being on the field at the end of the game and trying to finish out the game. They did a heck of a job.”
The defense as a whole has taken on Narduzzi’s energy.
You can tell by talking to them that they have embraced the challenge and look forward to bigger and better things in the future.
“We want to be out there on the field, and obviously you don’t want to be in that situation, but at the same time, we’re not nervous to be out there and we want to be faced with that challenge,” said linebacker Matt Galambos, who made a big play with an interception in the third quarter that he returned 51-yards to set up a Pitt touchdown.
This Pitt defense has already shown vast improvements under Narduzzi and defensive coordinator Josh Conklin. Not only did the Panthers enter last Saturday as the nation’s No. 4 defense, but they have been doing things they haven’t done in the past, like getting to the quarterback.
Pitt has already racked up 21 sacks through five games. To put that in perspective, they had just 19 the entire season last year.
“It’s a mindset and just knowing what to do on each play,” said Galambos “Just not really thinking and just playing fast, lining up and knowing where to go.”
So far this season the Panthers have gotten contributions from a lot of different players on the defensive side of the ball.
If someone goes down, the coaching staff has confidence in the guy behind them.
That includes linebacker Mike Caprara, who saw increased playing time when Nicholas Grigsby had to leave early in the first quarter with what Narduzzi described as a neck injury. All Caprara did was record a big sack in the end zone that resulted in a Pitt safety.
He for one notices the change that Narduzzi has brought to Pittsburgh.
“I think it’s the simplicity of everything,” Caprara said. “Every day it’s the same goal. I think that every day, when we go out there, there’s nothing different. I feel like in the past, ‘we got to work on this, we got to work on that,’ but as a team we know the job at hand and we’ve just got to get it done. We are excited. Every time we get a chance to go out there, we’re saying ‘let’s go. Put us out there. We want the stress on us so we can get the job done.”
The skeptics can point out to the fact that it has only been five games and there is a lot of football left to be played. While that may be true, the immediate turn around this team has made has been eye opening. It’s not hard to think that under the former coaching staff that Pitt may have only two wins at this point of the season, if that.
“We’re three points and a 57-yard field goal from being undefeated,” said Narduzzi. “Our kids are starting to believe and they are learning what it takes to win. We have to keep getting better though. Our kids will do what they do to win.”
If they continue to buy into what Narduzzi and his staff is selling, I would expect plenty of more wins to follow.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
