ATLANTA — Now this, this is what plenty of Pitt players, coaches and fans had been waiting for.
No, not the 35-17 loss Saturday at Georgia Tech. And no, not starting a season 1-3 for the first time since 2005, the first year under Dave Wannstedt, four head coaches ago.
But a defense — and more specifically a secondary — featuring Jordan Whitehead and Damar Hamlin on the field at the same time, well, that’s been the dream for a while. Probably since Feb. 1, 2016, when Hamlin committed to take his four-star talents just down the street from Central Catholic High School to Pitt, where the former Central Valley star Whitehead already had made an impact as a freshman safety.
And yet, it took all this time to see the two paired together as Panthers. Sure, Hamlin played in a few games a year ago at cornerback, but it was mostly a debut season lost to injuries. He and Whitehead saw their 2016 campaigns end at the same time, in the upset of Clemson, and it was a long road back for both to Georgia Tech, where Saturday the two one-time stud recruits played together and did so extensively with Whitehead at strong safety and Hamlin at free safety against the Yellow Jackets.
“It felt great,” Whitehead said after the game. “I felt like I had a lot of energy out there. I forgot, kind of, how it felt, and it felt good — real good.”
Granted, Whitehead and Hamlin had been missing from the equation for the early part of this season for different reasons — Whitehead for a three-game suspension, Hamlin still recovering from an undisclosed injury — but their performances at Bobby Dodd Stadium were equally intriguing.
Whitehead — who actually hadn’t played in six games after hurting his arm at Clemson — started and rarely left the field, finishing with seven tackles and a fumble recovery. Hamlin — who played briefly the previous week in garbage time against Oklahoma State — didn’t start ahead of redshirt freshman Bricen Garner, but replaced him on Georgia Tech’s second possession, stayed there for much of the game and also totaled seven stops.
“It was good having Damar out there, because he’s a guy who hasn’t really played that many snaps because of his injury,” Whitehead said. “But it was good. And the other safety, Bricen Garner, they both did a good job. Young players, so my job is just to help them, and we’ll move forward from here.”
Coach Pat Narduzzi, who landed both highly touted defensive backs in his first two recruiting classes at Pitt, said he would reserve judgment on how the much-anticipated duo fared until after he watches the tape. But he did notice Hamlin’s missed tackle on Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who spun past the former No. 1 defensive prospect in Pennsylvania for an 18-yard run that set up a touchdown.
“I feel like I did a decent job,” Hamlin said. “I left some plays out there, but it just wasn’t enough to get the win.”
Not by a long shot. But on a day the defense did what it could to make up for a scuffling offense, a defensive backfield bolstered by two safeties with the pedigrees of Whitehead and Hamlin might be needed even more than expected this year. If Pitt continues to struggle scoring, it will have to be a role reversal from a year ago when a high-scoring attack often rescued a reeling secondary.
“There’s so many components to the game that offense doesn’t just hinder everything,” Hamlin said. “We gotta keep points off the board on our side, and we didn’t do that well enough.”
It has been quite a while since Pitt sophomore Damar Hamlin was playing a major role on a defense. Hear from him postgame after Georgia Tech pic.twitter.com/ULcWXv3ZGa
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) September 23, 2017
While the back end of Pitt’s defense was much different with those two in place of Garner and Dennis Briggs, the front four had a different look for much of Saturday, as well. Redshirt freshman Rashad Weaver started opposite Dewayne Hendrix at defensive end, seemingly surpassing redshirt senior Allen Edwards for that spot. And inside, Narduzzi rotated in redshirt junior Mike Herndon, who started his college career as a defensive tackle, switched to guard, switched back to defense last year, then offense again this season, and now is apparently back at his original position with Kam Carter not making the trip to Atlanta because of an illness.
This inexperienced defense could even add another dynamic piece at some point this season if top-rated freshman Paris Ford gets up to speed after being ineligible for training camp, but as the unit gets younger, Pitt may also need it to get better.
“We just gotta execute more, make more plays,” Whitehead said. “But offense, hey, sometimes you only score 17 points. Defense just has to step up and hold ’em under 17 to win.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: September 24, 2017, 10:19 p.m.
