Football: Trietley: Offense fine, but defense struggles again

Pittsburgh’s secondary faced two tasks against North Carolina State: limit quarterback Russell… Pittsburgh’s secondary faced two tasks against North Carolina State: limit quarterback Russell Wilson and stay disciplined.

Neither happened.

Though Dion Lewis’ 16 yards after halftime and the late missed opportunity will face scrutiny, the pass defense — not the offense — should face the brunt of the blame for the loss.

Coach Dave Wannstedt said entering the matchup that the Panthers had to stay disciplined. He said late penalties are “a matter of winning and losing football games.”

Jarred Holley and Aaron Berry both took 15-yard pass interference penalties on the Wolfpack’s game-winning drive, both on third down. The penalties — Holley’s especially, occurring outside of field goal range — gave North Carolina State second and third chances.

And when not committing costly penalties, Pitt’s secondary fell apart against Wilson. The redshirt sophomore torched the Panthers for 322 yards and four touchdowns, two for more than 30 yards.

The secondary’s struggles have been evident before, as Wilson isn’t the first quarterback to light up the Panthers for four touchdowns. Buffalo quarterback Zach Maynard also threw four — along with 400 yards — when the Bulls fell to Pitt earlier this season.

Opponents have tallied over 500 total yards of offense twice this season against Pitt.

Takeaways have since been few and far between for the secondary. Though the Panthers get a free pass against Wilson, who hasn’t thrown an interception in 364 pass attempts, they still have just one pick since the season opener.

And yet criticism will likely swirl around Stull this week, whose offense stagnated at the eight yard line with two minutes to go. But Stull had his third straight game without an interception, and Pitt put up 31 points against the second-ranked defense in the nation.

Thirty-one points should be enough to win.

The offense clicked well against the Wolfpack. It’s the secondary that must fix their flaws this week if the Panthers hope to make any noise in the Big East this season.

In-conference play begins next week at Louisville.