Defense hopes to refocus vs. Va. Tech
pointed to three big plays that cost the Panthers, each took place in the first half. Pitt even came back to lead, 31-27, early in the fourth quarter. It was from there that an improving defense all of a sudden sprung too many leaks to close the deal.
In that final 15 minutes — the final 13:16, to be more specific, after Darrin Hall’s go-ahead score — North Carolina put up 152 of its 366 total yards of offense and averaged 7.2 yards per play after gaining 5 per play the first three quarters.
Thursday night, without much time to process the unraveling, Narduzzi replied that he’d have to look at the tape to determine why North Carolina was able to have so much offensive success late.
Monday, he put some of that on the play of the safeties, both before and after Damar Hamlin left the game with an undisclosed injury from which he never returned. But all three levels of the defense are willing to accept blame for failing to contain tailback Jordon Brown when the chips were down — even if it’s tough to explain why.
“I’m not sure,” Zeise said.
“Maybe just preparedness. Maybe not even preparedness, maybe just the week off before, you kind of get a little lackadaisical, maybe. Them being 1-8 going into it might’ve factored into it a little bit; those kind of things.”
The challenge to keep showing progress gets all the more daunting Saturday at Virginia Tech. Sure, quarterback Josh Jackson is only a redshirt freshman, but he’s a threat to throw and run.
He has tossed 17 touchdowns to just six interceptions, ranking third in the ACC in passing efficiency.
His favorite target is senior receiver Cam Phillips, who has 60 catches for 801 yards and six touchdowns. You might remember Phillips from last year at Heinz Field, where he caught six passes for 109 yards and also ran five times for an extra 49.
Harley also has his linebacker group on the lookout for freshman wideout Sean Savoy, a 5- foot- 9 speedster used on jet sweeps.
Obviously, Pitt won’t be able to cover all of its bases, but that’s part of the process for the 2017 Panthers — and not just defensively.
“It’s a slow process,” Narduzzi said Monday. “You’re happy with some of the things you see, and then there’s regression in some parts. You’re worried about this, so you ‘focus, focus, focus’ and all of a sudden, they forgot about that.
“I think it’s part of the process. Wherever your focus is, you see improvement, but you can’t focus on everything. … When you try to improve on one minor detail, that improves, but then something else goes wrong. That’s part of the youth, because they’re not seeing the whole picture.”
One reason for optimism?
The defense has played the past two games without its unquestioned leader, senior cornerback Avonte Maddox.
After dressing last week but being held out as a precaution, he’ll be back Saturday, albeit with a bulky brace on the right arm he injured at Duke.
Not that he minds, though. He’s as eager as anyone to start moving in the right direction again.
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.