If I digged through the schedules for the other 64 major conference teams, I might find another program that plays as many if not more teams that run the triple option as Pitt does this year. But I’m not sure. Georgia Tech, Navy and New Mexico. 25% of Pitt’s schedule. And in a perhaps well-planned layout, the quality of the opponent increases each time Pitt faces it. Unfamiliarity with the style will not be an excuse by the time Pitt goes to Atlanta in November.
That does mean that the defense will have to be disciplined, and a lot of pressure on the linebackers to make plays.
“It’s a totally different offense,” defensive ends/linebackers coach John Palermo said. “Florida State, they spread you out more, they use more four wideouts. This crowd wants to run the football.”
Palermo said stopping an option offense starts by playing “alignment, assignment football.”
Sometimes, that might even mean a defender going against his natural instinct of swarming to the ballcarrier. If a linebacker is assigned to stop the pitch man, he needs to stay with the pitch man.
“You better do what you’re supposed to do or else you’re going to get gutted,” Palermo said. “I’d like to tell you there’s a fine line, but if I’m supposed to squeeze and take the dive, or if I’m supposed to take the quarterback, if you don’t do it, you’ve got big issues on defense. You really do.”
Yes, the same linebackers who have been highly criticized for their performance against FSU will have to play a big role in the game against New Mexico. Even — presuming this — with safeties coming up to help on a team that primarily keeps it on the ground, the linebackers will be vital.
