Pitt defense should not take all the blame

The setting was perfect. The air was cool, the sky was clear and, as the Panthers kicked off… The setting was perfect. The air was cool, the sky was clear and, as the Panthers kicked off to the Fighting Irish, it looked as though it was going to be a great night for Pitt football.

Looks can be deceiving.

After forcing the Notre Dame offense to go three-and-out on its first possession, it looked like the defense might have a strong performance. But after William Ferguson’s fumbled fair catch attempt, the Notre Dame offense was back in business as they took over on Pitt’s 34-yard line, setting up a 25-yard Julius Jones touchdown run.

That long touchdown run was only the beginning of what ended up a record setting night for Jones. Jones racked up 262 yards on the ground, 106 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.

So why was Jones able to find so much success against the Panthers’ defense?

You could start by pointing out the fact that the Panthers did not tackle particularly well, or even the fact that Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham ditched the west coast offense and played a physical, smash-mouth style of football against the Panthers.

While these are both valid arguments, I believe that Pitt’s lack of offensive production was a key factor in the defensive meltdown.

The Panthers simply could not get anything done offensively, especially in the second half. Pitt only managed to pick up 73 yards of total offense in the second half and maintained possession of the ball for only nine minutes and 20 seconds.

Pitt’s offense hung its defense out to dry.

Notre Dame played mostly cover two defense in the second half, which is not surprising considering the big-play capability of wide out Larry Fitzgerald. What is surprising is that the Panthers were not able to run the ball against the cover two.

For the second consecutive game, Jawan Walker filled in for Brandon Miree, whose injuries seem to be worse than originally diagnosed. Walker was only able to pick up five yards in the second half, and aside from that long 31-yard run in the second quarter, was held in check all night.

Walker was not the only member of the Pitt offense shut down by Notre Dame in the second half. Fitzgerald did not make a single reception in the second half, mostly because of Notre Dame’s ability to pressure Rod Rutherford while staying in the cover two.

Since Pitt could not move the ball on offense that meant that the defense was forced to stay on the field much longer than it should have.

Notre Dame ran 22 plays in the fourth quarter, 20 of which were runs that combined for 138 yards. This leads me to wonder why Pitt did not line up with eight or even nine guys in the box and make Notre Dame beat them with the passing game. At that point the Irish had already proved that they were capable of moving the ball on the ground.

Pitt’s defense was able to stop Brady Quinn from getting anything done through the air, holding the freshman quarterback to just 33 yards passing. However, the Panthers failed to capitalize on two crucial Quinn mistakes that could have altered the outcome of the game.

First, in the second quarter, linebacker Malcolm Postell dropped what could have been a game changing interception. If Postell had held on to the ball, he would have had plenty of room to run and probably would have scored. Then, on Notre Dame’s first possession of the second half, Shawntae Spencer intercepted a pass only to watch the offense squander the opportunity, as David Abdul missed a 48-yard field goal.

The bottom line is that the Panthers could not run the ball against Notre Dame’s cover-two defense. That allowed the Irish to shut down the Panther’s passing game by playing tight coverage on the outside and getting good pressure up the middle. Pitt’s defense still needs to step up, but the lack of offensive production would have made it tough for any defense to be successful.

The Panthers were physically outplayed on both sides of the ball. As they get set to open up their Big East Conference schedule this weekend, they need to regroup and come out strong, or it could be a long season.

Ryan Walker is a columnist for The Pitt News.