Panthers look to beat up Bulldogs

Pitt football looks to right the ship after its disappointing loss to Michigan State last… Pitt football looks to right the ship after its disappointing loss to Michigan State last weekend when it hosts The Citadel Saturday at Heinz Field.

Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

If Pitt wins, it will improve to 3-1 for the third time in five years. The Division I-AA Bulldogs enter the contest 0-2 with tough losses to Texas A’M and Charleston Southern.

This will be the first-ever game between Pitt and The Citadel, and the sixth matchup with a Division I-AA team in Pitt football history. The Panthers are 5-0 against I-AA opponents, including a 41-0 victory over Youngstown State last season, which happened to be Pitt’s first win after starting 0-3.

Stacked with young players, this will be the first time Pitt fans see how the Panthers react to a loss.

“Just from the response so far from the guys being around here lifting weights and coming in and getting treatment, stopping by in between class, I like the response from what I’ve seen,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “The older guys on our team are fine.

“[The older players on the team] were calling and wanting to see not necessarily what went wrong but what we can do to make it right.”

Michigan State defeated Pitt 38-23, rushing for 335 yards while possessing the ball for more than 35 minutes. Despite a fast start, Pitt conceded 38 unanswered points before its two last-gasp touchdowns that made the score respectable.

“We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” Wannstedt said. “We missed a couple tackles.

“And then when we missed a couple tackles, we got a bit rattled, and then we made a few mental mistakes.”

The bright spot in the game for the Panthers was junior wide receiver Derek Kinder, who collected his third-straight 100-plus yard receiving game for the season. As of last week, Kinder was the nation’s number-one receiver, amassing 16 receptions for 370 yards and four touchdowns.

Starting quarterback Tyler Palko threw for 277 yards, but the Panthers’ rushing attack managed just 81 yards on the ground. Add three Pitt turnovers to the equation, and the game slipped away.

Still, Pitt heads into Saturday’s contest healthy and ready to go.

“We got out of the game fairly healthy, there weren’t any major consequences from an injury standpoint,” Wannstedt said. “We’re focusing now on The Citadel.”

The Citadel marches into Pittsburgh in search of its first win. A military college located in Charleston, S.C., The Citadel is known for its disciplined and tough players

“They’re a high-energy team,” Wannstedt said. “Watching their players, we all know that they’re intelligent players. They play hard.”

Wannstedt compared the Bulldogs’ defense to Cincinnati’s, featuring a mixture of blitz packages and pressure schemes. The Citadel added a new defensive coordinator in the off-season, Isaac Collins, who isn’t afraid to blitz every down.

“We’ve got to be ready to handle [the blitzes and pressure],” Wannstedt said. “We need to bounce back and keep our focus.”

On the offensive side of the ball, The Citadel runs the option while spreading out the field, often using three or four receivers and a single running back. Sophomore quarterback Duran Lawson possesses a strong arm and accuracy, but still makes plays with his feet, showing off his agility and quickness as often as possible.

The option running attack was a considerable problem for the Pitt defense against the Spartans. Quarterback Drew Stanton and running back Javon Ringer both ran for more than 100 yards each. So, the Pitt defense must remedy whatever problems they had against the Spartans’ offense, because it wont get a break from the option.

“Their offense presents challenges similar to Michigan State,” Wannstedt said. “The main challenge this week will be the quarterback and all the things they do with him.”

With a chance to rebound after a tough home loss at Heinz Field, where Pitt is 5-2 under Wannstedt, Saturday’s game requires stability in the Panthers’ play.

“I think we need to be consistent, that’s the main thing,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got to go out there and get better.

“This is a new challenge, a new game.”