Pitt heads into Saturday's trip to No. 1 Miami with a defense that has to solve more than one problem at once. The Panthers will try to slow Malachi Toney, but Mario Cristobal's team keeps forcing opponents to respect the passing game and the ground attack in the same snap.
Toney has been the most visible part of that offense, with 50 receptions for 758 yards and eight scores, and he can pile up numbers fast. He had 12 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opener against Stanford, then added 11 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns in Miami's 43-35 double-overtime win over Florida State. But Pitt is not walking into a game built around one receiver. Miami has scored 17 rushing touchdowns and averages 6.1 yards per carry, with Javian Mallory at 397 yards on 52 carries and five touchdowns and Mark Fletcher Jr. leading the team with 68 carries and six touchdowns.
That is why Pat Narduzzi is resisting the simple answer of doubling Toney and calling it a day. He said Miami is not just Toney and nobody else, warning that if Pitt loads up on the receiver, Miami can run the ball down its throat and force the defense to pay some other way. Narduzzi said the best answer is to be sound, know where Toney is and play good football. Miami enters at 6-0 and 4-0 in the ACC, which makes every answer Pitt gives on Saturday matter immediately.
Raion Strader is one of the players expected to carry that plan onto the field. He leads Pitt with three interceptions and five pass breakups, and he showed that playmaking ability in the 27-21 loss at Boston College, when he had two interceptions and two tackles. Strader said Toney is a really good, dynamic player, but added that Pitt believes it has a good scheme for him and plans to keep playing aggressive. That confidence will be tested against a quarterback-led offense and a backfield that Narduzzi described as having a slew of guys ready to play, not just one or two.
Pitt already knows what happens when Miami gets Toney rolling. Last season, the Panthers allowed him 13 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown in a 38-7 loss. This meeting feels less like a chase for one matchup and more like a decision on whether Pitt can stay disciplined long enough to make Miami work for every yard. If the Panthers lose contain, Mario Cristobal's offense has enough answers to make the day long.
