How Pitt Is Preparing For Cincinnati's 'Godfather'

The Pitt Panthers offensive line will have their hands full with Cincinnati's strong defensive line.

PITTSBURGH -- When the Pitt Panthers welcome Cincinnati for the revival of the River City Rivalry, all eyes will be on the trenches, particularly the Bearcats' game-wrecking nose tackle, Dontay Corleone. 

To avoid ending up sleeping with the fishes Saturday evening, Pitt will need to neutralize the preseason All-Big 12 and All-American selection, Corleone and the rest of the Bearcats' formidable defensive line.

"They've got this nose tackle, Dontay Corleone, nicknamed 'The Godfather.'" Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said. "It starts with him and that defensive end, [Jowon] Briggs, are two really good players for them."  

Corleone is the star after compiling 45 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles a season ago. He is a lot like former Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, according to offensive guard Blake Zubovic, because of how he uses leverage as a slightly smaller interior defender. 

“He’s a natural leverage dude," Zubovic said. "A little shorter, really strong, really thick. I think he gets his strike really well. I think that’s the No. 1 thing is we’ve got to get our hands on him before he gets his hands on us because his strike’s really powerful and it comes from a really low position so we’ve got to play with leverage and we’ve got to strike before he can strike us.”

And the Panthers, who Narduzzi said struggled somewhat against Wofford, allowing pressure up the middle that affected quarterback Phil Jurkovec's accuracy, will face an even stiffer challenge this week, but they are embracing the step up in competition. 

Zubovic emphasized communication this week, saying the Pitt offensive line is still working on building chemistry. He added that this is the kind of game he lives for as a player. 

"They have a good defensive line all the way through," Zubovic said. "Excited for that matchup, though. This is something we look forward to. This is the reason you play. You don’t play to play guys you know you can block.”

Cincinnati is not a Group of 5 team anymore. Now a fully-initiated member of the Big 12, they kick off a run of 11 straight power conference opponents on Pitt's schedule and the Panthers are fully aware that the Bearcats look the part up front more than anywhere else. 

“Well, they’re big They got two 320-pound nose guards, big outside linebackers. They’re big and they’re physical. And fast," Running backs coach Andre Powell said. "Other than that, it’s no problem.” 

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