Syracuse, N.Y. — When Pittsburgh prepared this week to meet Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, practices focused on how the Panthers would stop the Orange.
Pitt surrendered 96 points in two overtime periods and nearly lost at home to Wake Forest on Tuesday. For a program that prides itself on defense, Pitt's slide to No. 14 in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense had become an unacceptable performance indicator. ACC teams were shooting 49 percent against Pitt before Saturday afternoon.
"We really got after it the last couple days," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We addressed some things.