ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Outside linebacker Greg Williams is one of the Panthers' fastest players, but early this season, his first as a starter, his speed was not a factor. He spent a lot of time thinking about his next move instead of just making it.

But the past few weeks it is clear something has changed -- the games are starting to slow for Williams and he's becoming the playmaker coaches thought he would be when they installed the redshirt freshman as the starter after senior Adam Gunn went down with a neck injury in the first game.

Williams, from Naples, Fla., now has a little experience and, with it, a better grasp of his assignments, his role in the Panthers' defense and how offenses work.

This was becoming evident in the Panthers' wins against Syracuse and South Florida, his third and fourth career games. But Saturday, in the 42-21 win against Navy, Williams played his best game against a very difficult offense. The Midshipmen operate out of a triple-option flexbone, which requires a defense to be disciplined and play assignment football.

Williams, because of his inexperience, was considered vulnerable to making some costly mistakes, but he did not. And the few times he got caught out of position, he was able to use his speed to get to the ball carrier and make a play.

"It felt really good to be able to stand up against an option team," Williams said. "I think it was tougher since we came from playing a spread team like South Florida, then switching to try and defend an option team. It was a lot of work, but we had a good game plan and I think we all played our assignments well."

"Greg Williams is getting better," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "I'm sure he and [weakside linebacker] Austin Ransom are going to have sore knees tomorrow because they were getting chopped on every play, but despite that, he did a really nice job."

One play in particular which showed that Williams is starting to play faster came in the second half against Navy when the Midshipmen attempted to run a screen pass to the running back.

The play was designed to send the defense in one direction then have the quarterback throw to the running back on the other side, encouraging a one-on-one matchup with a defender.

Williams, however, sniffed out the play, jumped the route and knocked the pass down.

"On the tipped pass, the tackle was up on me [trying to block] but I read the quarterback and saw the halfback flaring out to the side so I knew that was my guy and I ran out there and made a play," Williams said. "Every day at practice, I have been working on reading plays and trying to recognize things faster and it is helping me when I am in the game because I see things faster, I recognize them and I am able to see the plays happen before they actually do."

Williams, who is the team's fourth-leading tackler with 24 and has 1 1/2 sacks, finished the Navy game with four tackles, a tackle for loss and the pass breakup. He made a number of plays by forcing the play back into the middle where the Panthers had a host of defenders. The Panthers only gave up one big play to the outside of the field, on Navy's first drive.

Pitt middle linebacker and defensive captain Scott McKillop, a fifth-year senior, said it has been fun to watch the maturation of Williams.

"I think having two weeks to prepare really helped Greg because I don't know that he has ever seen this offense or played against it," McKillop said. "But he is picking things up every week and he is getting so much more comfortable in what he is doing that he is now able to use his physical tools because he is not thinking so much, he's just playing.

"He made a couple of big plays for us today, he's so athletic and he just runs around and runs guys down. I'm happy to have him on our side."

Pitt (5-1, 2-0 Big East) has now won five games in a row and will prepare for Rutgers (2-5, 1-2), which visits Heinz Field at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Scarlet Knights, who are coming off a 12-10 win against Connecticut, have beaten the Panthers in each of the past three seasons.