That seems to be the focus of the stories today.
Pitt rebuilt its defense almost entirely in the offseason and it showed in the Panthers’ first game when they were scorched for 42 points and 502 yards by Notre Dame. Since then, however, the defense slowly has improved as players have settled into their new roles and the first-year starters have matured.
The same can be said about the offense, which couldn’t produce one touchdown in a 10-quarter stretch from the start of the second game of the season against Ohio University to halftime of Game 5 against Rutgers.
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt reflected on the growth of the Panthers yesterday and said he has been happy with their progress over the past two weeks. He said the team has grown more comfortable in the new system and, as that process continues, it will continue to improve.
Hopefully that is so. There are lingering doubts in my mind, because of the sluggish starts from the Pitt offense and the opposing offenses in the last two games were inept. I realize the same could be said about the Ohio and Nebraska game, and since Pitt is now winning that is clearly an improvement. I’m just saying that it lingers in the back of my mind.
For the defensive side, they are now creating turnovers. After starting the season with 1 fumble recovery in the first 5 games, Pitt got 3 in the next 2 games.
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said the equation for causing turnovers is combining confidence, anticipation and brute force.
“I remember when I was at USC, and I used to go to a clinic and they’d say what a great tackling team we were,” Wannstedt said. “We didn’t work on tackling any more than team X, who was in last place in our conference. We had great athletes that worked on tackling, and we were aggressive. I think a lot of it is the same with turnovers.”
Also, it doesn’t hurt to run drills, time and again, during workouts.
“We practice it every week, stripping the ball, ripping it, doing the tomahawk, whatever,” defensive end Chris McKillop said. “It’s more of a mentality. You want to get after the ball. If you win the turnover battle, then you’re more likely to win the game. That’s what we try to do.”
Generally, it helps to have people around the ball. Pitt got some fumbles in the early games, but there was no one else around so the opposing team was able to recover. Now, Pitt seems to have players getting to the ball.
Despite the improvement, Pitt is still last in the BE and near the bottom of the country overall in turnover margins.
It really shouldn’t be that surprising that Pitt still has a legitimate shot at the Big East title.
