PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Early in the season with all of the changes on offense and then the big comebacks, it was all about them. Stories about offensive coordinator Kade Bell and QB Eli Holstein and tailback Desmond Reid. Deserved, but more recently it’s the Pitt defense leading them to wins.
“We are starting to show more to the country that this is how Pitt plays,” said Pitt linebacker Braylan Lovelace. “This is Pitt defense the rest of the time.”
If that is the case, this team could do something unprecedented.
Combine the five turnovers (three Pick 6s) and 12 points allowed from the win against Syracuse with the 15 scored by a Cal team that previously scored 38 against Miami.
“We’re hungry bro,” said Panthers linebacker Kyle Louis. “We are getting disrespected. No one is respecting our defense. We are hungry for respect. We are hungry for anyone that try to come in here and think they can disrespect us and think they can get away with it. We pride ourselves on being called the sharks. You come in here, you better learn how to swim.”
Sharks is the name the linebacker corps gave to itself for the obvious vicious, predatory, attack mentality of the animal.
“This sharks’ stuff is a movement,” said Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles. “It shows how much work we up in. How good we are. Anytime we see the shark signs, people dressing up, it brings joy to us. The more people that dress up like sharks, we love it.”
Narduzzi praised the development of the group led by sophomores Biles (the head coach called him dominant), Lovelace (who he said has played lights out the last two weeks), Louis (who he called dominant the entire year), Jordan Bass and the senior captain Brandon George (the solid inside linebacker). Assistant Coach Ryan Manalac was called out for his work with this group. Narduzzi said the group was on attack against the Orange.
“Jaws would be proud of what happened out there today,” Narduzzi quipped.
Lovelace said it’s a close group, referring to the linebackers but also the entire team. The Leechburg native said football is everything to them and they put their all into it every week.
“Incredible preparation every day, attacking each game like it’s the Super Bowl,” Lovelace said. “That’s what we say every day in the room. Every practice, every game is the Super Bowl no matter who we play, no matter what we are doing.”
“We all got stuff to prove,” Biles said. “We are all hungry. We all know what we want. We want to get to the next level and be the best in the nation. We keep training for that. We keep preparing for that. We just want it bad.”
Pitt will play five games in November starting with 22nd ranked SMU in Dallas on September 2. Followed by 4-3 Virginia at home and then 6-1 Clemson in the home, regular season finale. The Panthers will finish on the road at 5-3 Louisville and 4-4 Boston College.
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“We got a shot against everybody,” Louis said. “Not even a shot, we got an advantage because we got some real dawgs on our side. We definitely see more than just 7-0 as the goal. We are hungry, not complacent or satisfied.”