Whenever someone brings up the fact that linebacker Brandon George is in his sixth year with the Pitt program, he always brings a similar response.
“Aw, don’t call me old like that,” he joked with a smile following Pitt’s home-opening win over Kent State.
For George, Saturday was different than any other game he has suited up for the Panthers. It was his first career start. However, he didn’t reflect on his long journey or how special the moment was. Instead, it was just another day at the office.
“Today was another football game for me. When you approach a game, you approach it the same way every time. In the past couple of years, I’ve approached it the same way, same preparation no matter who’s putting on the hat in front of us,” he said.
The game also marked the first as a captain for Pitt. He once again deflected anything about him being in the spotlight to make it about his entire defensive unit.
“It’s not a one-man show. It’s 11 guys on the football field at a time. It’s an honor to have the ‘C’ on my chest, absolutely, but when you’re out there, you’re not thinking about that. You’re thinking about how can I help this team win a football team,” George said.
It goes to show the type of selfless leader George will be for this Panthers team this season.
He also led in a different way. In his 52 career games up to that point, George had never forced or recovered a fumble. He had also only recorded two sacks.
With Kent State driving late in the fourth quarter, George burst into the backfield unimpeded, swiped the football out of the hand of Kent State quarterback Devin Kargman. George then stopped in his tracks and fell on the football. A sack, forced fumble and recovery all in an instant for George.
“It was a great play call by our coaching staff knowing the tendencies of their offense and players making plays. All 11 guys did their job and that allowed the play to be successful,” George said reminiscing on the play.
“Shout out to B. George, he got a strip sack,” linebacker Kyle Louis added. “Heard he could of scooped and scored, but he still got the ball.”
George’s sack was one of five for the Panthers defense on the day. It was a return to normalcy for the Pitt pass rush getting to the quarterback.
“We have some cleaning up to do, but I think we’re flying around to the football. We’re back to kind of where we used to be as far as being violent, being aggressive, flying around and being a bunch of rabid dogs on the football field,” George said.
As the Panthers found a way to get into the backfield, that also came in stopping the run. George was instrumental in stopping the run, holding Kent State to 31 yards, but it’s an area that he vows will continue to improve.
“In our mindset, that’s not good enough. Our goal every week is zero yards rushing. That’s how we want to attack it, that’s how violent we want to be, that’s how aggressive we want to be as a defense,” he said.
In game No. 53 of his Pitt career, George totaled seven tackles and two tackles for loss, to go along with his strip sack.
