A Quick Look at Pitt's Defense

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:13 am

Pitt's defensive coordinator is in his first year, replacing Phil Bennett's mustache; however, Keith Patterson lacks the personal responsibility of having a mustache. Prior to joining Pittsburgh, Patterson began his college coaching career as the DC at Tulsa under current Pitt head coach, Todd Graham, so I expect KTP to chime in here.

Keep an eye on turnovers
The kitty cats forced 6 turnovers (4 fumbles/2 interceptions) in their last game of the season against Syracuse including a 20 yard fumble return in the last 3 minutes to put them ahead for good 33-20. For the season, they recovered 12 forced fumbles and picked 8. Star Safety, Jarrad Holley, has 9 career interceptions and a pick 6 this season. Quarterback Tino Sunseri has 10 interceptions thrown (and 10 touchdowns) of the teams 13 thrown compared to JJ McDermott that has 16 interceptions thrown (and 16 touchdowns) of the teams 19 thrown (Padron has 3 interceptions and no TD's).

Overall, their defense ranks 33rd in points against allowing 22.4 per game.

Star players
6 of Pitt's players were named all conference, 5 of which are on the defense (the one offensive player is their stud junior running back). From the defense, they have 2 from the line (second team), one linebacker (second team), and two from the secondary (Holley, safety received first team recognition).

Holley has a pick 6, a forced fumble, 64 tackles including 5 for a loss and 2 sacks. Antwan Reed is a senior cornerback with 2 forced fumbles including the one returned against Syracuse which sealed the game. He has 26 tackles and leads the team in broken pass plays.

The biggest threat will likely come from Chas Alecxih, defensive tackle. He has 54 tackles with 13.5 for a loss and 5.5 sacks. He also has 2 forced fumbles, an interception, and multiple broken pass plays and quarterback hurries. He is widely regarded as their most potent defensive player.

Go Mustangs!

RGV Pony · Post by **RGV Pony** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:19 am

wow nice work 2&L

OR-See-Nee · Post by **OR-See-Nee** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:23 am

Well done.

SMU 86 · Post by **SMU 86** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:24 am

I expect they will flood the secondary as most teams have started to do that against us.

whitwiki · Post by **whitwiki** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:00 pm

Thought padron had 2 picks and one fumble.

ojaipony · Post by **ojaipony** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:07 pm

Sounds a lot like USM, but without the offensive firepower.

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:29 pm

whitwiki wrote:Thought padron had 2 picks and one fumble.

He threw two picks against the aggies and another one against Northwestern State. I know we fumbled the ball to give up a touchdown in the last 2 minutes of that game, but I don't recall who dropped it. Thought it was a receiver for some reason.

2ndandlong · Post by **2ndandlong** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:29 pm

ojaipony wrote:Sounds a lot like USM, but without the offensive firepower.

I haven't really dug into their offense yet. Probably next week.