Pitt Preparing For Wake Forest's RPO-Heavy Offense

The Pitt Panthers' defense will lean on prior experience and fundamentals against Wake Forest's RPO-centric offense.

PITTSBURGH -- Following a strong second-half performance against Louisville, the Pitt Panthers' defense is in for a difficult yet familiar challenge against Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons deploy a slow mesh point offense that centers around RPO's. It's a distinct scheme that's scarce across college football, yet Wake Forest has enjoyed immense success while running the system under offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero. 

Pitt got a taste of Wake Forest's offensive style in the 2021 ACC Championship Game and fared well, holding one of the best units in the sport that season to 21 points while coming away with four interceptions. Both the Panthers and Demon Deacons have undergone quite a bit of roster overhaul since then, but Pitt's secondary has a few holdovers that knows what it takes to overcome its impending test. 

Starting cornerbacks Marquis Williams, M.J. Devonshire and A.J. Woods were all a part of that title-winning team alongside safeties coach Cory Sanders. Williams, who recorded a pick in the contest, shared his mindset and perspective heading into Saturday's game. 

"A couple of us were on that championship team in 2021. We know some of the things that they did. They’re great at what they do scheme-wise, team-wise, coaching-wise and with the players as well. You just got to play each and every play, no matter what’s going on in the game," Williams said. "You’re going to have negatives, you’re going to have positives and you’re going to have adversity. You just got to continue to grind and talk to your players around you."

Sanders, who stated Wake Forest is the most RPO-heavy team that the Panthers have faced all season, shared the coaching points and details that he has focused on and hammered home to his players. 

"It’s just one-on-ones on the perimeter, so we have to have good eye discipline - our eyes down, our chin down, all of that, have good eye discipline, not seeing too much in the backfield and everything. And we have to make plays in space. We have to tackle in space and we have to tackle well," Sanders said. "We have to make sure we get our hands on the football as well. It’s going to force us in one-on-one situations but those are the challenges we accept in this secondary and the challenges we want - to be able to be out there on our own and make those plays.”

Williams concurred with Sanders and was complementary of the coaching staff's ability to prepare the players for all that Wake Forest will throw at them. 

"With the RPO, you just got to stay on your receiver longer. You never know when a quarterback’s going to pull the ball to throw it," Williams said. "We got great coaches. They're the best coaches in the nation at adjusting in what we do scheme-wise on defense. We will adapt to it and whatever they do, we will be ready.”

Sanders also preached about the concept of sticking together and ensuring everyone plays their role within the scheme against a different style of offense. 

"At the end of the day, it’s just like option football: you have to do your job and you have to do your piece, and that’s in everything," Sanders exclaimed. "There’s a certain piece of the puzzle that you fit into in every single play, and you just have to do your piece. So, it’s not going to change, be it RPO or not; you still have to play fast and understand where you fit in the scheme."

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