Pitt looks to solve defensive puzzle

The Panthers head to Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday to avenge a loss that came late in… The Panthers head to Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday to avenge a loss that came late in the season last year to West Virginia.

Pitt has been waiting for this game since the fourth quarter expired in last year’s game. A banner in the team’s weight room that reads “11-15-03” reminds each Panther of the importance of this game.

Practice was closed to the media to calm the hype for the game, and the Panthers play it off as just another game.

“This is the next game, so this is our biggest game,” free safety Tez Morris said.

This is Pitt’s biggest game to date. There is a lot at stake in this year’s edition of the Backyard Brawl – not just bragging rights, but the top spot in the Big East is on the line.

The West Virginia team Pitt will see this year is just as dangerous, if not more so, than last year’s team that won, 24-17, at Heinz Field.

After a rough 1-4 start, the Mountaineers have won four games in a row, including their own upset of Virginia Tech in the national spotlight.

In this streak, the Mountaineers averaged 33.25 points on offense and 18 points given up on defense.

“Nobody, so far, has any answers [for the West Virginia] defense,” head coach Walt Harris said.

Harris spoke of the 3-5-3 base defense that the Mountaineers run. It involves three down linemen, five defensemen underneath and three men deep. It’s effective against the pass and has allowed the Mountaineers to intercept 15 passes this year.

West Virginia’s defense is not the only worry for Harris and the Panthers. The Mountaineers use a spread offense, and they run it efficiently. It’s a type of spread offense that Pitt saw in its loss to Toledo back on Sept. 20.

The most dangerous part of their offense, however, is not the pass, but the run. West Virginia is averaging 210.7 yards per game, as compared to its 152.2 passing yards per game.

Quincy Wilson has 1,018 yards and eight touchdowns on the season. He’s a fast, powerful running back who has bowled over several defensemen standing in his way, and is just licking his chops to get a piece of Pitt’s defense, which allows an average of 170 yards per game and has allowed two running backs to gain more than 200 yards in a game.

“He’s going to come after us at full throttle,” linebacker Brian Bennett said of Wilson.

The other offensive threat for the Mountaineers is quarterback Rasheed Marshall, who sat out the last game against Boston College because of a concussion he suffered in a win over Central Florida.

“I’ll never forget the throw he made against us last year in the second half [of the game], when he faked one of our players up in the air and threw a strike 40 yards downfield,” Harris said about Marshall’s touchdown pass, which would prove to be the decisive score in last year’s game.

Marshall can hurt teams with the run, but he is not a big threat passing the ball. He averages only 133 yards passing per game and has nine touchdowns.

The Pitt defense has to stick to its assignments and keep Marshall and Wilson contained.

“As long as we’re accountable [and] everybody plays their position, like they’re supposed to, like we practiced, then we should be all right,” Morris said.