Hint: not much
I hate to sound overly simplistic but Bates and Narduzzi aren’t doing anything drastically dissimilar from what we’ve seen before.
The key is (as is it’s always been for Duzz) the secondary. Jackson, Mathis, and Pinnock are pro-caliber corners. They can cover any WR trio - and I think if Pitt plays Clemson again this season, you’ll see them prove it.
But the ripple effect is where the difference is being made this season. Narduzzi wants his linebackers attacking constantly. Downhill, at the ball, full speed. In 2015 the defense actually did this quite well with way lesser athletes.
The adjustments by other teams in 2016 and to a lesser extent in 2017 was to throw deep and wide. In 2016 the secondary just couldn’t hold up. This made the defense less aggressive and more reliant on LB’s in coverage.....leading to another ripple effect: opponents started pounding the defense as Idowu and Zeise were asked to cover more ground.
The back half of ‘18 saw the secondary improving but the run defense remained an issue. What’s changed this year? An upgrade in athleticism across the board but especially in the secondary and I think the perfect example of that is the insertion of Paris Ford.
As an example, this kid is making tackles at the LOS that were being made 10 yards downfield before. Teams aren’t hitting plays in the flats to h-backs off run action because Ford keeps blowing them up.
In short, the defense is limiting the plays that are available to offenses. Teams are stuck running power plays with their backs, options plays with their Quarterbacks, and throwing outside the hashes.
The linebackers are focused completely on the backs. If the back blocks, the LB is heading towards the QB. There’s nothing short available. Watch the first series UCF ran. They tested Pitt’s short pass defense and then abandoned it.
Often it looks like Pitt brought the house for a sack but there are times that only happened because the offense ran a max protection and it signaled the LB’s to look for blood. You can only do that if you trust your secondary completely and I have to say the emergence of Mathis really puts the defense over the top.
This post might have been a bit rambling but it’s amazing seeing the philosophy work like it’s meant to work. Spread offenses are designed to make defenses account for every inch of the field. Duzz and Bates counter that by forcing the offense to run certain plays and trusting that our guys can make plays. This season they have. It’s a real treat.
I hate to sound overly simplistic but Bates and Narduzzi aren’t doing anything drastically dissimilar from what we’ve seen before.
The key is (as is it’s always been for Duzz) the secondary. Jackson, Mathis, and Pinnock are pro-caliber corners. They can cover any WR trio - and I think if Pitt plays Clemson again this season, you’ll see them prove it.
But the ripple effect is where the difference is being made this season. Narduzzi wants his linebackers attacking constantly. Downhill, at the ball, full speed. In 2015 the defense actually did this quite well with way lesser athletes.
The adjustments by other teams in 2016 and to a lesser extent in 2017 was to throw deep and wide. In 2016 the secondary just couldn’t hold up. This made the defense less aggressive and more reliant on LB’s in coverage.....leading to another ripple effect: opponents started pounding the defense as Idowu and Zeise were asked to cover more ground.
The back half of ‘18 saw the secondary improving but the run defense remained an issue. What’s changed this year? An upgrade in athleticism across the board but especially in the secondary and I think the perfect example of that is the insertion of Paris Ford.
As an example, this kid is making tackles at the LOS that were being made 10 yards downfield before. Teams aren’t hitting plays in the flats to h-backs off run action because Ford keeps blowing them up.
In short, the defense is limiting the plays that are available to offenses. Teams are stuck running power plays with their backs, options plays with their Quarterbacks, and throwing outside the hashes.
The linebackers are focused completely on the backs. If the back blocks, the LB is heading towards the QB. There’s nothing short available. Watch the first series UCF ran. They tested Pitt’s short pass defense and then abandoned it.
Often it looks like Pitt brought the house for a sack but there are times that only happened because the offense ran a max protection and it signaled the LB’s to look for blood. You can only do that if you trust your secondary completely and I have to say the emergence of Mathis really puts the defense over the top.
This post might have been a bit rambling but it’s amazing seeing the philosophy work like it’s meant to work. Spread offenses are designed to make defenses account for every inch of the field. Duzz and Bates counter that by forcing the offense to run certain plays and trusting that our guys can make plays. This season they have. It’s a real treat.
