Posted on September 21st, 2009 by Admin

By David Whipkey | Pitt Panthers Gameday Correspondent

This is the defense many imagined Pitt would possess this season.

The Panthers defense, most notably the front seven, controlled Navy’s potent option attack during Saturday’s 27-14 win before more than 55,000 fans.

“I was pleased with our defense,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt following the game.

Pitt held the Midshipmen to 129 yards rushing, more than 100 yards below their 238 yards per game rushing average.

Both the Pitt players and coaches knew they had advantages in physical ability and talent along the line. But staying focused and playing solid assignment football would be key to winning this game.

“It’s a big step for us,” said defensive end Greg Romeus. “We know today was a better performance, but we’re still not where we want to be. We’d like to have teams not score at all. It’s something that we are happy about, but we’re not satisfied at all.”

Filling in for an injured Adam Gunn, freshman Dan Mason made his first career start at middle linebacker. The highly-regarded Mason made good with the opportunity and finished with a game-high 11 tackles and two sacks.

For his performance, Mason was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

“I thought Dan Mason played better than I thought he could,” said Wannstedt. “As a freshman with his first start, I thought Dan was outstanding.”

Pitt’s defensive front performers, which included Mason, Romeus, tackles Gus Mustakas, Mick Williams and Myles Carragein along with defensive end Jabaal Sheard combined for 45 tackles and four sacks. The defense as a whole collected six sacks, giving the Panthers 15 total in three games.

Pitt led the conference last year with 33 sacks.

Saturday’s performance may have calmed some nerves regarding the status of the defense following last week’s 54-27 shootout win at Buffalo in which the Bulls racked up more than 500 yards of offense.

But coordinator Phil Bennett and his charges were committed to not allowing another such offensive outburst before the home crowd.

“Our defensive front played well and came up big,” said safety Elijah Fields, who made his first start. “That helped us out a lot. This week, we went over our assignments over and over again so we were comfortable out there tonight.”

The Panthers (3-0) will travel this Saturday to Raleigh, N.C. for a date with the North Carolina Wolfpack at Carter-Finley Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

Pitt’s last meeting against the Wolfpack was a 34-19 win in the 2001 Tangerine Bowl.