Pitt's coaches, DBs distribute praise for secondary's 3 interceptions vs. Syracuse

Before Saturday, interceptions had been hard to come by for Pitt’s secondary.

Shadarian Harrison was the only cornerback (or safety) with a pick through six games, coming down with one against Boston College on Oct. 4.

Pitt’s linebackers made up for the drought, posting three as a position group.

But in the Panthers’ 30-13 win over Syracuse, Pitt’s secondary secured three interceptions against Rickie Collins.

“We’ve had our hands around it, but we’ve got to catch it,” defensive coordinator Randy Bates said. “I think also, the D-line and linebackers get a lot of credit because some of those (interceptions) were on pressures.

“The quarterback threw it a little high, and then there were a couple pass breakups. … Sometimes it’s the luck of the way the ball bounces, but you’ve got to cause those things to happen and I think that’s what happened.”

Cornerback Tamon Lynum picked off Collins on the third play of the game, with safeties Cruce Brookins and Kavir Bains-Marquez following in the second and fourth quarters.

Lynum’s interception came on a misfire from Collins when he tried to hit wideout Johntay Cook on third-and-9.

“I kind of knew it was coming because of the formation (Syracuse) was in,” Lynum said. “I just broke on it and made a play on the ball. We were in zone coverage, so I had my eyes on the quarterback.”

Lynum echoed Bates’ distributing credit for the interceptions, particularly to Pitt’s defensive linemen working to collapse the pocket.

“That helps us a lot, when the D-line gets pressure and the quarterback just throws it up in the air — that’s what we want,” Lynum said. “We’re attacking the ball all the time. Once the D-line gets pressure and (the quarterback) starts scrambling, we know it’s our time to make a play.”

Granted, Collins’ picks fell more on his own shoulders than as a result of pressure as there was a relatively clean pocket on each attempt.

Eliminating Syracuse’s ability to run the football helped the turnovers.

Despite an injury-ravaged defensive ends room and injuries to linebackers Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles, the Panthers allowed just 76 rushing yards on 32 plays.

That put more pressure on Collins and the pass game, with Lynum and Co. taking full advantage.

“I think just as a whole, we want to be aggressive,” Lynum said. “We want to stop the run and make (teams) throw the ball and be one-dimensional so we can drop everybody back in zone coverage and make plays on the ball. Our main key is stopping the run. We did that, and we made Syracuse one-dimensional. We played a good game.”

Though Pitt’s defensive backs took back some bragging rights from the linebackers Saturday, zero pick-6s was a minor disappointment for coach Pat Narduzzi.

Bains-Marquez came the closest late in the fourth quarter as a good pass from Collins bounced right off the chest of Darrell Gill, who was then taken down by Lynum.

The bobbled ball remained mid-air for Bains-Marquez to come down with, and he returned it 57 yards to the Orange 18-yard line.

Biles remains the only Panthers player with a pick-6 this year, having taken one back 75 yards versus Louisville.

But Narduzzi, who keeps a running tab on dropped interceptions, isn’t complaining too loudly.

“Sometimes they come in droves,” Narduzzi said. “Our linebackers have been the guys catching the ball, and it was just a matter of time. Tamon, Kavir and then obviously Cruce would have liked to have scored on one of those returns. Kavir had the best chance of scoring. … Sometimes you’re lucky, and sometimes you’re not. I’m just glad they caught the ball.”