Football: Mason fills in for hurt Gunn and leads Pitt defense

It looks like the Pitt football team has a quarterback controversy after all.

It’s not Bill Stull against Tino Sunseri, though. It’s Dan Mason against Adam Gunn at middle linebacker, or “the quarterback of the defense” as Mason called it after Pitt’s 27-14 win over Navy on Saturday.

Gunn, a senior, started Pitt’s first two games at middle linebacker and led the team with 19 tackles and five sacks. Against Buffalo two weeks ago, Gunn sprained his left ankle in Pitt’s 54-27 victory. Although he only missed a few plays in that game, he didn’t play against Navy.

That opened up the starting linebacker spot for Mason, a freshman. He finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles and two sacks, tying Mick Williams for most on the team.

As a middle linebacker, Mason has to run the huddle, call plays and anchor the entire defense. Mason was nervous in his first start, saying, “As a freshman, it’s a big deal.”

“He was making all the calls [and] was confident with it too,” defensive end Greg Romeus said. “He’s a young guy, but didn’t act like it.”

Mason and the Pitt defense gave up 218 total yards, only 89 coming through the air. Navy’s leading receiver was Mike Schupp, who caught two passes for 24 yards. To put that in some perspective, Stull had 23 receiving yards himself. One of the quarterback’s passes was tipped at the line of scrimmage and he caught it and ran for 23 yards.

Part of the reason for so few passing yards is because Navy is an extremely run-oriented team. The Midshipmen ran for 129 yards on 46 carries, or 2.8 yards per carry.

The Panthers’ prowess on defense is all the more impressive given they didn’t know they would be without Gunn until the day before the game. Coach Dave Wannstedt said Gunn practiced all week but didn’t seem ready to play. He said he expects Gunn to play next Saturday when Pitt travels to North Carolina State.

Although Gunn is the starter, it’s clear Mason needs to get on the field. Whether that means moving either Gunn or Mason to one of the outside linebacker positions or just having Gunn and Mason split timing at middle linebacker, Wannstedt has a good problem on his hands. And he’s aware of it.

When asked if Mason will play next week, Wannstedt said, “We’ll look at the tape [of Mason playing in the Navy game],” then paused for about two seconds before cracking a wide grin.

“He’s going to play.”