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PrintLOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It started with a promise -- from Pitt's defense to its offense.
"We had a team meeting on Monday," said middle linebacker Adam Gunn. "We made a promise to the offense -- we will never have a performance like we did against Buffalo or N.C. State again."
It then went from words to actions as a defense that had been shredded for 500 yards in a win at Buffalo and more than 500 yards and 38 points in a loss at North Carolina State went out and had perhaps its best week of practice since early in preseason training camp.
The result was a defensive unit that showed up at Louisville's Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Friday night with a chip on its shoulder and resembled the dominant unit most people predicted would carry the Panthers this year.
Particularly dominant -- at last -- was the front four.
So, while Pitt used big plays on offense to score points against Louisville, the Panthers made game-changing plays on defense to stuff any hope of an upset by the Cardinals and ran away with a 35-10 victory in their Big East Conference opener.
The Panthers' defense bent a little before the half, but unlike last week when it melted down in the second half against North Carolina State, Pitt came out after halftime and shut the Cardinals out.
Pitt (4-1, 1-0 Big East) outscored the Cardinals, 28-0, in the second half while limiting Louisville (1-3, 0-1) to 134 yards of total offense. Overall, the Panthers sacked Louisville quarterback Adam Froman six times.
Leading the way was the Panthers' vaunted defensive line which rarely had had a major impact on a game this season before this one.
Most notable of that group was end Greg Romeus, projected by some as a first-round NFL draft choice, who mostly had been held in check through the Panthers' first four games.
Romeus had 3 1/2 sacks against Louisville and, with help from fellow end Jabaal Sheard, kept Froman on the run almost the entire game.
The game swung in Pitt's favor for good when defensive tackle Myles Caragein chased down Froman and stripped the ball out of the quarterback's hands. Pitt tackle Gus Mustakas recovered at the Panthers' 29.
At the time Pitt led, 14-10, but, on the next play, Bill Stull connected with Jonathan Baldwin for a 71-yard touchdown pass.
Romeus and Gunn said the biggest difference in the Panthers' defense was the way it prepared for the game.
"I think from working hard at practice, we came together as players," Romeus said.
PDF"We told everybody that we need to start practicing hard because last week [against North Carolina State] wasn't acceptable for our defense. We were determined to go out there and let it show up that we work hard in practice.
"[The defensive line] took what happened last week personally. And we put pressure on ourselves because the defense goes through us and how hard we work. That rubs off on our defense."
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said that such production from the entire defensive line is imperative that it was missing in the first month of the season.
"Defensively, we settled down tonight and we got them into third-down situations and got off the field," Wannstedt said.
"If we can't make plays up front, we're not going to play very good defense.
"We could have great coverage in the secondary and great linebacker play, but the way this defense has been built we go as far as our guys up front take us."
Gunn added that "our defensive line was getting sacks all week, and it showed up today. And I'm sticking to this -- that is the best defensive line in the country.
"They showed up ][tonight], and it was great for our defense."
NOTE -- Saturday's Big East home opener against Connecticut will be a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and televised on WTAE.
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