Pitta Unplugged

I talked for a while this week with tight end Dennis Pitta about his performance last week against Colorado State. Here are excerpts of the interview:

Talk about your first fourth-quarter touchdown, the one where you got drilled by a couple of CSU defenders and your helmet popped off in the end zone.
‘On that particular play, I was one-on-one with a nickel back. Max (Hall) saw that on the line and he threw a great ball on my back shoulder and we were able to make the play. I took a pretty big hit at the end, but in the emotion of things, I didn’t really feel it. I was able to hold on.’

And the game-winner?
‘The last touchdown of the game was a play where basically I had to get open. I was fortunate enough to go up and catch the ball and barrel into the end zone.’

When things are going so well, like they were for you in the second half against CSU, do you feel like you’re in a zone?
‘You do get in a zone. Your confidence is high, you trust in the other guys, and you’re willing to make plays and do whatever you can to help your team be successful. What Colorado State did, we were able to take advantage of offensively. Austin is drawing so much attention on the outsides that it’s really opened up the middle and Max is delivering the ball nicely.’

How good is it to get one-on-one coverage instead of being double-teamed?
‘It’s nice. I love Austin Collie. He’s making big plays and drawing all kinds of attention now. That’s freeing my up more. It’s nice to get one-on-one coverage again.’

Do you feel that loss at TCU has helped the offense?
‘Yeah. Up to that TCU game, the offense was getting a little complacent and stagnant. It humbled us and got us to refocus. We got back to doing what we were doing at the beginning of the year. We went back to the basics.’