What Narduzzi's in-game defensive switches must cover up

It's no secret now that Western Michigan knew its run-pass option plan was more than enough to overwhelm Pitt Saturday at Heinz Field. But now, the Panthers have to regroup and make sure the tape put out for all of the ACC to see isn't a key to future losses.

Despite Western Michigan's head coach Tim Lester calling out Pat Narduzzi after the game, there were still adjustments Narduzzi could've made in-game that helped Pitt's respond to Kaleb Eleby's passing game. Those adjustments just didn't hit the field often enough to keep the Broncos' offense in check.

Narduzzi acknowledged his shortcomings of in-game adjustments during his Monday press conference, saying he may have been too caught up in the other aspects of the game to have his hands on the defense with Randy Bates to make the necessary adjustments.

"I’ve got to do a better job," Narduzzi said Monday. "I trust our defensive staff, but there's times where I’ve just got to make decisions on offense and the things were going fast. We're scoring in one play, or it's three plays and out and a punt, then we get ready for the next series. And to just hang on the headphones on the defense the whole time, it's tough. But I'm going to have to get over there a little bit more just to see what's going on. And we didn't make in-game adjustments like I would like to and I'm used to."

The pace of the game was pretty fast with both teams scoring more than 40 points, but Narduzzi's in his seventh year coaching and ha been through several barnburner games during his tenure. This is where the week's work of pre-game plans for potential adjustments have to make sure Pitt's defenders know what adjustments might be made in-game while the coordinators and position coaches address each group with those changes.

"As I watched the video," Narduzzi continued. "I realized if I would have saw that from the box, I know what I'm doing -- and we didn't do that. And I’ve got to put it on me, because ultimately I’ve got to get it done some how, some way."

That some how, some way, needed to be Pitt's defense playing to its strengths to neutralize Western Michigan's RPO offense. Eleby did a good job with accurate passes to fit he ball into tight windows, but there would've been smarter ways in key moments to protect against his passing attack.

One aspect Narduzzi often addresses when his defense struggles is how his players need to focus on playing fast and less about thinking in the moment. The problem with that notion is that if an offense is hitting at the defense's soft spots, defenders are naturally going to think more.

"So to play great defense everybody's got to do their job," Narduzzi said. "You can't think, 'Well, they keep throwing it over my head, so I'm just going to try to do this or maybe I'm going to run around the tackle and get a pass rush in.' That's what happens if they start dinking, dinking, what's everybody think? Let me go help somebody else. Let me go do somebody else's job, and you don't do your own job and that's when things leak out."

That framework needed to stop players from going to do others jobs means players should stick to their roles. The defense has several athletic linebackers to rotate between when covering the middle of the field, but it seemed the right combination could never be reached against the Broncos.

SirVocea Dennis has looked much better in the money linebacker role in run support while Wendell Davis has been the Panthers' best mike linebacker and Cam Bright being the best star linebacker. Pitt's pass rush has seen its best contributions come up the middle from Keyshon Camp and Calijah Kancey at defensive tackle, but Habakkuk Baldonado and Deslin Alexandre also have been assets off the edge.

But in a key 3rd and 12 during the third quarter, Pitt called up a defense that didn't confuse Eleby and put two defenders in situations that weren't their strengths. Watch how linebacker John Petrishen blitzed from five yards off the line of scrimmage while Baldonado dropped back into coverage.

The move might've been made to confuse Eleby, but it didn't, and it put one of the Panthers' best edge rushers as the player to try and close down a passing window over the middle. Meanwhile, Petrishen never had a chance to get home, nor was he going to be explosive enough to catch the Broncos' pass protectors slipping:

If Petrishen stayed in his normal role of coverage, that would've given him a much better chance.

That's an adjustment that took away two strengths and put them in situations they were much less likely to succeed. If Narduzzi's plan is for players to play fast, they need to be put in the positions that will let them accomplish that goal.

"We were thinking," Narduzzi said of his defensive players. "A little bit worried about, like, 'What's going on back there? What can I do to help?' I talked to one guy that said, 'I was thinking too much. I should have just played.' And that was a guy that shouldn't be thinking at all."

Narduzzi wouldn't identify who that one player was, but there were plenty of candidates. Dennis has to be part of the Panthers' plan at helping over the middle, but there's also concerns for how Pitt's secondary couldn't make more routine switches.

When the Broncos attacked with the RPO, their primary routes targeted were slants over the middle behind frozen linebackers, or quick pop passes to the flat where two receivers were lined up and one could block for the other. The issue came for Pitt's cornerbacks failing to switch between the blocking receiver and the intended target.

Watch how A.J. Woods was lined up on the outside with his receiver cracking down on Rashad Battle, and how he didn't come off his man until Battle was blocked and the sideline was given up for the big play:

This problem persisted throughout the game and was even exploited by Tennessee for a long score.

These aren't complex adjustments, but simpler switches that must become more fluid before Pitt starts its ACC schedule with Georgia Tech on Saturday, Oct. 2, which received a noon kickoff time Monday:

Pitt gets this week to prepare for New Hampshire at Heinz Field and show that last week's problems won't be easily exploited again. But the adjustments the Panthers will need to make if attacked with more RPO offenses will need to be more natural responses that won't take Narduzzi having to be so hands-on with his defense that it messes with the flow of his coaching.

Whether he's in the booth or on the field, Narduzzi's Panthers need to find answers in a more natural fashion.