The Pitt Panthers defense demands the respect of everyone

PITTSBURGH – The No. 19 Pitt Panthers received a lot of praise for their offensive prowess early in the season, but the defense has shown with its recent performances that it deserves the same respect and recognition.

The Panthers faced the Cal Golden Bears with a struggling offense and held them to 15 points in Week 7. They did the same thing in Week 9 against the Syracuse Orange, preventing them from gaining momentum in a 41-13 win.

Pitt scored more points defensively than Syracuse, with five interceptions and three of them for pick-sixes. Second-year linebackers Rasheem Biles and Braylan Lovelace and redshirt senior Kyle Louis all got into the end zone, while sixth-year Brandon George caught a pass on the ground.

Sophomore linebacker Jordan Bass also played a role in the final interception, tipping the pass and allowing senior defensive back Phillip O'Brien Jr. to catch it.

The Panhers' defense made Orange senior quarterback Kyle McCord's worst night of his college career. They finished the win with four sacks, eight quarterback hits, nine tackles for loss and eight pass breakups.

McCord managed more than 300 yards passing, but even with 41 minutes of possession, Syracuse managed just two second-half touchdowns in the loss.

When the national media talked about the game this week, they praised McCord and viewed this as an offensive showdown between him and the newcomer in Pitt's redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, who the Pitt defense, particularly Louis, didn't like.

“…They hyped up Kyle McCord, they outplayed our pass defense,” Louis said after the game. “So, you know, the whole week, the whole bye week, our defense took it personally. Definitely disrespectful to us…”

Louis praised the linebacker corps, known as “The Sharks,” for their effort in winning and for not being kind to those who think they can outdo them and disrespecting them.

“We’re hungry, brother,” Louis said. “We are treated disrespectfully, for example no one shows respect to our defense. So we're hungry, we're hungry for respect. For anyone who can try and come in here and think they're disrespecting us and think they can get away with it. We're proud of that.” If you come here, you'll learn to swim better. It's that simple.

The three pick-sixes Pitt made in that first half were the first time an FBS team had done so since USC beat Rice in a 66-14 win on Sept. 3, 2022. They also became the first team to do so in the first half since FIU in a 52-6 victory over FAU on November 26, 2005.

Biles and Louis also made their pick-sixes in the first quarter, the first time for Pitt since MJ Devonshire and Marquis Williams caught the first two touchdown passes of the game against Virginia from quarterback Brennan Armstrong on November 12, 2022.

“It has to be the best performance ever on this team,” Louis said. “Someone has to show me something better. That's crazy. Five picks, three pick-sixes, four sacks. They had about 18 rushing yards (six). Come on, come on. Someone needs to look that up in the history books. We need to be hung on a wall or something after the performance.”

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi argued after the game that they should change the pick-six rule to give the ball to the offense of the team that scored, rather than the team that threw the interception. He has also never seen a team that plays as explosively and as explosively as them.

“I’ve never had three interceptions for touchdowns,” Narduzzi said. “Five total interceptions, first time since 2008 you had five interceptions in a game. That's dominant. We had a few pick sixes everywhere I went. But three of them in one game. I hope we didn’t use them.” They’re all up. We have to save a few.

This performance wasn't just about the pick-sixes, but more about the entire defense showing that no team can get past them for the rest of the season.

Pitt changed with the additions of new offensive coordinator Kade Bell, who helped bring in redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein from Alabama and also brought some of his players from Western Carolina, including junior star running back Desmond Lee and wide receiver in redshirt junior Raphael “Poppi.” “Williams Jr. and Censere “CJ” Lee.

The new attacking style, which quickly distributes the ball to numerous options, has been a huge success this season, but the last two games show that top defense is crucial to winning ball games.

If the defense continues to play like this, no team in the country will have a chance to respect them for the rest of the season.

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