On preparing for a Pitt defense that gets after the quarterback effectively
“They (Pitt) lost a couple of elite players off the edge from last year’s defense. They still got a bunch of guys that get after the quarterback. They do that in base down, first and second (down), third down. (They) have multiple schemes to try and mess with your protections and create matchups where they can get after the quarterback. You got to do a great job of chewing up yards (on early downs). You don’t want to be in third and long on these guys. At the same time, first or second down, up between their front four and pressures that they bring, you got to do a great job of protecting the quarterback.”
On rotating the linebackers
“I think you’ll see some rotation of our second-level guys throughout the course of the season because they’ve earned the right to go out there and play. I thought they played well the other night. I thought the two guys that started, Jeremy (Banks) and Juwan (Mitchell) were great the other night. (They’re) guys that we recognized inside the team room just playing with great effort and strain. They flew around, played sideline to sideline, were great in their communication between the third level and first level, too.”
NEXT: Josh Heupel previews Tennessee-Pittsburgh continued