PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He’s Pitt’s most consistent player and biggest playmaker this year, linebacker Kyle Louis summing up the feeling as the Panthers try and end a three-game losing streak at Louisville Saturday at 4p on 93.7 The Fan.
“We are starving, this is embarrassing,” Louis said. “No matter if you are not ACC championship contenders any more, still you are playing for the name on your chest.”
While the offense has struggled and the team has lost, Louis remains a star. The redshirt sophomore has a tackle for loss in every game but one this year. Ironically the one game he didn’t have a tackle for loss was Syracuse where he had a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown.
He has no equal in FBS in several categories
· First nationally in interceptions by a linebacker and seventh overall with 4 picks.
· First nationally in tackles for loss by linebackers with an average of 1.5 TFL per game
· Second nationally (first among Power 4 players) with 29 tackles for loss/no gain (per ESPN stats)
· Only player in the nation to compile 80+ tackles, 14+ tackles for loss, 7+ sacks and 4+ interceptions
Louis also finishes games
· A game-ending interception to go with 13 tackles in Pitt’s 38-34 win over West Virginia
· Closed out the Panthers’ 34-24 win at North Carolina with a fourth-down sack in Pitt territory, adding nine tackles and 2.5 TFLs.
His stat line this year
· 83 tackles, 14.5 TFLs, 7 sacks, 4 INTs (including 1 returned for a TD) and 1 forced fumble.
According to stathead.com Louis is the first FBS player to achieve those numbers since Utah consensus All-America linebacker Devin Lloyd in 2021
What is different with the linebacker who arrived on the Pitt campus three years ago?
Film study, and not just with the coaches, but on his own.
“That is the biggest thing that changed my perspective on how I see football games,” Louis said. “Athleticism is one thing, especially at linebacker, all you got to do is take one wrong step and you already lost a play.”
He leaves his residence at 5:30 every morning and gets to the Pitt facility on the South Side no later than 5:50, every day. And he doesn’t drink coffee. Louis said he learned the routine when he was coming in for rehab when he was nicked up a couple of times his first two seasons.
He’s now obsessed with watching film, not just of games, but of himself during practices. He does it at six in the morning, after practice in the afternoon into evening and admits he sneaks peaks during class occasionally. Louis said linebackers need to know everything to excel.
Most of the times he will be there alone, but will also work with linebacker Rasheem Biles. He said they worked tirelessly in the offseason, Louis saying they would rep plays hundreds of times, often in just one day.
“Some days I feel motivated, other days I don’t feel motivated,” Louis admitted. “I definitely conditioned myself that you got to go. You got to go, who else is going to go for you. That’s the same way on the field, you got to go make this play. Don’t wait for the next man, you got to go make it. They are counting on you.”
“Even before people knew my name, I thought the same way. You got to make that play.”
As a team they haven’t made enough plays the last three weeks, Louis felt they slacked in the game against SMU.
“We got to stop now,” Louis said of the three-game losing streak. “We can’t go from 7-0 to 7-5. We are starving to get over this hump and win out the rest of the season.”
Louis has done his best and it’s gaining attention.