Georgia Tech dual-threat quarterback Jeff Sims provides serious test to Pitt secondary

Pen, paper and clicker at the ready, Pitt sophomore safety Rashad Battle was sitting at his desk at 6:15 one morning, watching Georgia Tech video.

And he isn’t even a regular starter in Pitt’s secondary.

“He’s excited to be going back home,” Pitt safety coach Cory Sanders said of the Atlanta native.

But Battle’s diligence goes beyond trying to impress friends and family when Pitt plays Georgia Tech on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“You have a test on Saturday. I hope you don’t just walk into that test,” Sanders said. “You have to study leading up to that test. It’s no different in football. You have to study daily what you’re doing and what you’re up against.

“When I played, that’s what helped me. It wasn’t my athleticism. It’s always big keying into your opponent, knowing what they’re doing. That classroom work is always big.”

Pitt’s defensive backs may get beat Saturday, but they plan to prepare for every possibility. The challenge is a big one: Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims is a threat to tuck it and run, or pretend to run and throw it. He accounted for four touchdowns in the 45-22 victory against North Carolina last week (three rushing, one passing).

JEFF SIMS WITH THE EXCLAMATION POINT❗️@GeorgiaTechFB upsets No. 21 North Carolina, 45-22. pic.twitter.com/aw9dXlFEa5

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) September 26, 2021

“He can change a game with his feet as well as his arm,” Pitt strong safety Brandon Hill said. “Keeping him bottled up in the pocket and forcing him to make those throws, I feel like we have a good chance.”

That’s why Sanders is pleased when Hill gets his men together to watch video on their own at Pitt’s practice facility or at home on Forbes Avenue. Plus, when players spend their free time studying, it doesn’t count against the NCAA’s mandated limit of 20 hours per week of scheduled practices, games and video sessions (with coaches).

“While (coaches are) doing meetings, those guys are coming in as a group and leading (meetings), coaching each other up,” Sanders said.

“Instead of taking their naps, (or saying), ‘I’ll get to it later,’ they’ll bring each other together and watch together.”

Such togetherness is important for Pitt’s secondary after it lost Damar Hamlin, Paris Ford and Jason Pinnock from last season’s team, leaving holes for less experienced players to fill.

But are they really college novices? Hardly.

Cornerback Damarri Mathis is in his fifth year, while free safety Erick Hallett and cornerback Marquis Williams are veterans of four seasons.

Hill is a redshirt sophomore who was thrust into a position of great responsibility over the final four games last season when Ford left the team.

“It allowed me to get the reps I needed as a young player and develop myself and develop my chemistry with my teammates,” Hill said.

Hill made two of Pitt’s biggest interceptions over the past two years, taking a pass 50 yards for a touchdown against Florida State in 2020 and halting a Tennessee rally this season with a fourth-quarter interception at the Pitt 17.

Sanders said Hill is growing comfortable in his role, but he knows developing defensive backs takes time.

“He’s still growing and maturing like the rest of those guys,” Sanders said. “He’s still seeing a lot of things for the first time. Not quite a veteran yet.”

Pitt is 3-1, but the 44-41 loss to Western Michigan, a MAC team that completed 70% of its passes and threw for 357 yards, stings. Players believe they are better than that.

“That’s not the type of image we want to put on TV as the Pitt defense,” Hill said. “We took that under the chin and corrected it.”

With Pitt set to embark on a nine-week, eight-game march through the ACC, the question arising is this:

Will the Panthers’ pass defense be the unit that allowed two weaklings, UMass and New Hampshire, to throw for a two-game total of 227 yards? Or, are there still many problems to fix after Tennessee and Western Michigan combined for 595?

The hope among the coaching staff is Sanders was right when he said, “As those guys continue to get reps together, they continue to grow together.”