Pitt Cornerbacks ‘Growing Up Every Single Play’

When you’re stranded on an island, all you can do is find a way to survive.

Pitt football’s resident islanders Rashad Battle, Ryland Gandy and Tamon Lynum have no choice but to handle the one-on-one matchups that are presented with very little help from elsewhere on the field.

“We live and die on that aggression. There is no issue with that, we have always been on an island, and we love it that way,” secondary coach Archie Collins said on Wednesday.

For the trio, there were some uncertainties about how a fresh group of Pitt cornerbacks would step up to replace three predecessors who are chasing NFL careers in M.J. Devonshire, Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods.

Battle has been limited over the past two seasons due to injury and has stepped into a starting role for the first time in his collegiate career.

“He’s been resilient this year,” Collins said. “His career, he’s had a few injuries throughout time. I’ve been pleased where he is. He’s been fighting through and been healthy through fall camp and the spring. It’s been really good to see him at a healthy state.”

It’s much of the same in terms of inexperience for Gandy, a redshirt sophomore, who served as a reserve corner a season ago, totaling seven tackles. As for Lynum, he joined the Panthers after four seasons with Nebraska, but with only one start at corner to his credit.

With very little experience, it’s safe to say there’s been some baptism by fire through three games, but Collins has watched his group develop in real-time.

“They’re growing up every single play, every single day. That’s all you can ask for for a person with inexperience and or experience. The one thing about it, I was able to watch those guys in the last game grow up. I was very pleased with where they were mentally throughout that game. I thought they stood up pretty tall towards the end of the game.”

Veteran safety Donovan McMillon has witnessed firsthand the growth that the corners have endured as well.

“They’re really killing it,” McMillon said. “We’ve had defensive touchdowns, but that’s going to happen at the end of the day. They’re in man coverage almost every snap. They’re getting comfortable as it goes, and our communication’s been going really well.”

Against Cincinnati, Pitt’s corners were targeted often in the first half. Gandy was on the defending end of a 52-yard pitch and catch a touchdown from Brendan Sorsby to Jamoi Mayes.

As the game progressed Gandy’s coverage tightened up nearly leading to an interception in the second quarter. The same could be said for both Lynum and Battle, who made key plays down the stretch.

“My job is to get guys better every single play,” Collins said. “That’s what I strive to do. I’ve been encouraged and I’ve loved the way how I’ve watched them grow up in front of my eyes.”

In the Backyard Brawl, the corners once again were face-to-face with a tough task to hold down the perimeter. It wasn’t perfect, but the Panthers found a way to lock in and that was evident when Battle made one of the biggest defensive plays of the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Garrett Greene located Hudson Clement in solo coverage with Battle entering the end zone and lofted up a pass. However, Battle fought through the play and forced an incompletion, making the Mountaineers settle for a field goal.

“What that is, is that he wants to make sure we always do what we call ‘Hound finish.’ That’s an example of a ‘Hound finish.’ We don’t like passing touchdowns, period. We don’t like running touchdowns, period. We don’t like anybody scoring on us, period, at all. For him to be able to make that play, he’s doing what he’s coached to do. He’s doing what he loves to do, and that’s finishing plays,” Collins said.

While corners often get put under the spotlight for allowing big passing plays, it often goes unnoticed when they shut down a route and allow for the pass rush to get home.

“Things that you don’t see, that are outside of those big plays,” Collins said on what’s impressed him about the corners. “I think they’ve been doing a very good job as far as technique, as far as fundamentals and they’re playing hard. They’re imposing their will on receivers which does not show up on that tape and TV screens.”

Stranded on an island isn’t for the faint of heart, either, as the corners on Pitt’s team were recruited to adapt to those circumstances.

“It’s a mindset. The job of the defense is to win your one-on-one battle. They’re just in them a lot. You’re looking for that characteristic, that mindset, that confidence. That guy that does get beat and comes back that next play and gives his all and line right back up again. Not getting shy. When you lose confidence, a lot of times, people won’t come back and do that the next play. The guys that we have that are out there, they come back right in your face the next play, it doesn’t matter,” Collins said.

Despite allowing 229.7 passing yards per game, Pitt’s corners are finding ways to make timely plays that have aided the Panthers’ 3-0 start.