Notre Dame defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta didn't have much to say about the defensive performance the Irish had in a 23-21 loss to Navy.
Notre Dame gave up 348 rushing yards, and Tenuta's reason for the big number was simple.
"We just didn't play well," Tenuta said.
Tenuta continued to stay short with his answers when asked about Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo saying last year's game gave the Midshipmen an idea of how the Irish were going to play on defense this year.
"I would say in some instances maybe, but not all the time," Tenuta said.
Tenuta barely commented on how building on what Notre Dame did last year in holding Navy to 178 rushing yards was countered by the Midshipmen because they were able to use last year's game tape to figure out a better game plan.
"It all depends on who you have and what you are doing it with," Tenuta said. "What about Pittsburgh? What do you want to talk about Pittsburgh?"
On to Pittsburgh
Here is what Tenuta had to say about No. 8 Pittsburgh, which plays host to Notre Dame at 8 p.m. Saturday:
On the Panthers' balanced offense: "I think (offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.) does a great job. He's come in there and replaced (Matt Cavanaugh), and he's done a great job of replacing his players. And since (running back LeSean McCoy) is gone with (Dion Lewis) at tailback, and obviously, he still has (receiver Jonathan Baldwin). Their attack is well balanced. He does a great job with down and distance, and (quarterback Bill Stull) has only been sacked nine times. And ball control. The only time they had to go to multi-receiver formations was when they were behind. And that was against N.C. State, and they were ahead of N.C. State and then they had to come back. He does a great job with his personnel. And obviously the power play is a big play you got to stop."
Lewis, a freshman, has run for 1,139 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Baldwin, a sophomore, has a team high 698 receiving yards with four touchdowns. Stull, a senior, has completed 67.6 percent of his passes (148 for 219) for 1,879 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions.
On getting the defense to bounce back from its performance against Navy: "I think the No. 1 thing is when you come into practice on Tuesday and they understand how Pittsburgh is going attack ya and what you are going to do defensively and work it through in practice. I feel the last two days we've done a pretty good job in practice. They are back to a similar offense and similar plays we've seen in the past. Those things have come up, and we've done a good job in practice.
On Stull's efficiency: "I give the credit to Cignetti and how he's approached how he is going to handle his offense and what he is going to do with Stull. They have a very good offensive line. And he does a good job game to game on down and distance on how he is going to attack people."
On Stull's experience allowing the Panthers to do more on offense: "I think the system for them dictates how he is going to do it whether run, pass, option, based on formation and how you line up against them. He's done a good of that."
