The Pitt Panthers' defense rests.

Actually, the opposite is true -- the Panthers' defense never rested last night in a 27-14 win against Navy before a crowd of 55,064 at Heinz Field.

That's a good thing because the offense went flat in the second half, creating some tense moments in the fourth quarter of a game that seemed like it should have been out of reach much earlier.

Still, despite an excellent performance against aa hard-to-stop, triple-option offense, Pitt's defense wanted more.

"We gave up 14 points, and that is way too many," said Pitt defensive end Greg Romeus after the Panthers raised their record to 3-0 for the first time since 2000 and the third time in the past 26 years.

"But tonight we played a full game and, for the most part, did pretty well against a team that is not really easy to play against."

The 14 points notwithstanding, the defense did shut down the Midshipmen's vaunted triple option. The Panthers might have even been able to shut them out had it not been for a few untimely, drive-extending 15-yard penalties against them on both of Navy's scoring drives.

Pitt held the Midshipmen (1-2), a team that averages 238 yards rushing per game, to 129 yards rushing and 218 total yards.

More impressively, Navy rushed for only 2.8 yards per carry, and the Panthers had six sacks.

"That was probably one of the worst performances as a team we've had in a long while," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo.

"We have to be able to run the option. Obviously, the option is our bread and butter, and Pitt did a great job of defending it.

"They've done it two years in a ro,w they've played great football [against us]."

The defensive performance was impressive on its own merit, but perhaps moreso because the Panthers played so well without starting middle linebacker Adam Gunn, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

That forced freshman Dan Mason to make his first career start. All he did was lead the team with 11 tackles to go along with two sacks.

"Adam Gunn tried to practice and worked everyday, but I made the decision at Friday's practice he would not play," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "Dan Mason played better than I thought he could. As a freshman, making his first start, I thought Mason was outstanding. He's certainly going to have play more.

"[Defensive tackle] Gus Mustakas had an outstanding performance on the defensive line and [safety] Elijah Fields had his first start and played well. This is a difficult scheme to prepare for, and I thought our coaches and players really bought into what we were trying to do this week.

"I was very pleased with our defense."

While the defense was dominant, the offense had yet another efficient performance. The star of the show was quarterback Bill Stull, who was a couple of dropped passes away from having a huge night.

Stull completed 17 of 24 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, completing passes to eight receivers -- nine if you include a 23-yard pass to himself off a deflection.

His main target was Jonathan Baldwin, who had six receptions for a career-high 111 yards. He also found tight end Nate Byham twice for 39 yards (his first two receptions this season) and did not throw any interceptions.

"Those were all progression reads," Stull said.

"Things were rolling today, the only thing that can stop us is ourselves. It was pretty much a sound day for us offensively."

Wannstedt added, "We came in with a plan to throw the ball, and I thought we did that effectively."

Pitt took a 7-0 lead with 8:31 to play in the first quarter on a 6-yard pass from Stull to Oderick Turner.

The Midshipmen responded with a 7-play, 52-yard drive, tying the game on a quarterback Ricky Dobbs' 1-yard run.

The Panthers opened a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter on freshman Ray Graham's 15-yard touchdown run, then capitalized on good field position to take a 21-7 lead right before the half on freshman Dion Lewis' 6-yard touchdown run.

Pitt's offense could only manage two Dan Hutchins field goals in the second half, but the defense made sure the Panthers were never in danger of losing the lead.

NOTES --Wannstedt hinted after the game that Mason could become a permanent fixture in the lineup even when Gunn returns. The most likely scenario would be for Gunn to move to weakside linebacker and redshirt sophomore Max Gruder would become the fourth linebacker. "We're going to have to take a look at that whole thing," he said. ... Mustakas had a career-high 10 tackles. ... Wannstedt reported no Pitt injuries.