PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The quarterback is the most important player on a football team, in all sports, that’s not a controversial statement. You can tie directly what is happening with Pitt’s 5-0 start to QB Eli Holstein. But there is another quarterback.
The position is also called middle linebacker. You’ll hear it be referred to as the quarterback of the defense. The importance is not shown in tackle numbers in today’s game as much as it’s shown in team results and stat filling.
Senior Brandon George is the Panthers middle linebacker and the only defensive captain of a team that is ranked 22nd in the nation.
“Everything starts with the middle linebacker Brandon George,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “His first thing is to get them lined up.”
“For everybody on the field he provides that confidence we are going to be lined up in the right call, everybody going in the right direction,” said Pitt linebackers coach Ryan Manalac. “He’s a physical presence in there. He’s a tough guy. He’s going to play as hard as he possibly can. He’s prepared to be that guy for so long and now he’s getting that opportunity.”
“I feel like I’m just playing football,” George said. “It helps when you have such a good staff, such a good defense, such a good set of brothers around you.”
George has been around Panthers defenses since before COVID. He worked hard on special teams and waited. He served as a backup and waited. He battled through injury and waited. Now is Brandon George’s time. Instead of finishing his eligibility somewhere else, George committed again to Pitt after a three-win season.
“What we did last year was not Pitt football and that’s not how we play the game,” George said. “With that being said it was an emphasis throughout the offseason and all of camp and now every week that is an emphasis. We need to go 1-0 and play Pitt football. What we see now is the product to all the work and effort that was put out during the offseason.”
Now in his sixth season, George is fourth on the team in tackles and appears in all of the statistical categories (tackles for loss, sacks, pass breakups, quarterback hurries, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries, everything except interceptions). As much as anything he’s proud of the big plays sophomores Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles have made. Without George setting the defense and being in the right spot, it’s hard for them to do their jobs.
The 24-year-old is now trying to lead his team through another challenge. It’s called relief syndrome. It signifies when a team feels like they’ve figured it all out. When you see a complacent team lose a game they should never lose. It’s not that Cal falls into that category, but it’s a younger team ranked for the first time.
“That’s something you have to find in every program,” George said. “It’s driving home the point that we haven’t done anything this week. Until Saturday, we are 0-0, the goal is to go 1-0. You will hear Coach say ‘prove it’. We need to prove it every week that we deserve to be where we are. That we deserve to win the football game.”
Panthers pregame with Bob Pompeani and Pitt All-American Dorin Dickerson starts 93.7 The Fan coverage at 12:30p on Saturday. Larry Richert hosts the network pregame and then joins Dickerson, Pat Bostick and the Voice of the Panthers Bill Hillgrove for kickoff at 3:30p.
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