Defense leads Pitt to victory over Virginia

In the week leading up to Pitt’s 14-3 victory over Virginia, the masses grumbled about the Panthers’ defense in their 58-55 triumph at Duke the game before. To be fair, the defense allowed an unsightly number of points against the Blue Devils, an amount that had some calling for the job of defensive coordinator Matt House after only three games. 

For the next two weeks, the defense won’t be a concern, as it flipped the script from Pitt’s shootout win at Duke last week to a dominant defensive effort against the Cavaliers on Saturday. Behind the efforts of the front seven and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Pitt held Virginia to 188 yards of total offense. 

“Last week we missed plays, and that is the difference between last week and this week,” Donald said. “Communication was real important, and everybody was making plays. We got out there and did what we had to do.”

Because the defense did what was required to meet the challenges presented by Virginia’s offense, the Panthers (3-1, 2-1 ACC) ride into their bye week on a three-game winning streak. The three-game run marks the first time since 2009 that Pitt has won three straight and also broke the streak of win two, lose two that has prevailed since head coach Paul Chryst took the helm last season. 

“Our defense played really well,” Chryst said. “They brought a lot of energy.”

Between weeks, the adjustments that led the defense to play with more energy than it did against Duke weren’t so much technical as simple, and they were those that Chryst made sure to get across to his defense.

“He was just telling us what we had to do,” Donald said. “He told us communication was important on making plays. We went out there and tried to show that.”

Communication’s impact was on full display in the fourth quarter when the Cavaliers were threatening to score from Pitt’s 3-yard line with just under five minutes left in the game. Down by 11 points, a touchdown would have rendered the contest a one-possession game and made the atmosphere at Heinz Field tense. 

On back-to-back plays, Virginia quarterback David Watford looked for tight end Jake McGee. But Anthony Gonzalez flattened McGee after he caught a swing pass in the flat, and defended an attempt to McGee in the back of the end zone, which forced a turnover on downs. 

After the success Duke had against Pitt, the stop wasn’t just critical to the proceedings of Saturday’s game, but also served as a moral victory for the Pitt defense. 

“It was really important at the end,” Donald said. “It was a big fourth down stop.”

Gonzalez led Pitt with 10 total tackles Saturday from his spot as an outside linebacker.

“There were a lot of good performances on defense, but mostly I felt everyone was doing their job,” Chryst said. “The players were cutting loose, and that was good to see.”

Donald was one player who made an impact, as he penetrated the Virginia backfield on seemingly every snap. Donald finished with three tackles, including two sacks. 

Donald’s fellow defensive tackle in Pitt’s starting lineup, Tyrone Ezell, added three tackles of his own. While no one’s numbers were gaudy, Pitt’s defense executed its assignments on virtually every play to limit Virginia to gaining just 2.7 yards per play.

“We all just did our jobs, and we did them well. That was the same saying for the whole week,” Ezell said. “We made sure all of our eyes were on our keys, and we did that well.”

Next to Gonzalez at linebacker, true freshman Matt Galambos stepped into the starting role at middle linebacker after Shane Gordon was unavailable because of an unspecified injury. The opportunity for Galambos was another granted to a freshman this season, and he was ready for it. 

“As soon as Shane went down, I figured I was the next man up,” Galambos said. “Coach told me that ‘this is your job,’ and that I should be ready to play.”

Galambos recorded four tackles and anchored a defense that prevented its opposition from striking for any big plays like Duke was able to do. 

“We came in with a different mentality this week and tried to be more of a unity and down on big plays,” Galambos said. “I thought we leveraged the ball a lot today, gang tackled and played really relentless.”

The end result was a suffocating 14-3 victory, led by the defense, to bring a lot of good feelings into the Panthers’ bye week. 

“It felt great to go three in a row,” Ezell said. “It’s something we haven’t done in a while here at Pitt, and it feels great right now.”