Jordan Bass Shows Promise in Emergency Start
PITTSBURGH -- It didn't take long for the Pitt Panthers' Week 8 game against Wake Forest to turn sideways.
Mere seconds after kickoff, starting linebacker Solomon Deshields went down with an injury he would not return from. Backups Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace didn't make the trip as they recovered from injuries, leaving true freshman Jordan Bass to make an emergency start, the first of his career.
“I didn’t even realize what happened," super senior middle linebacker Shayne Simon said. "Seeing [Solomon] get up kind of wobbly and I’m looking over there like ‘Oh yeah, Braylan’s out too. Oh, here’s Jordan. Jordan’s here now.’"
Bass was expected to continue ramping up his workload from the four snaps he took against Louisville but this was much more than his teammates or coaches expected. He played 51 of the 62 total defensive snaps and showed some good things, but to no one's surprise, a true freshman played like a true freshman and made some mistakes that reflected his youth and inexperience.
Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and the rest of the coaching staff have been forgiving of those mistakes and simultaneously impressed with how Bass was still able to affect the game. Partridge pointed out one play, in particular, he liked when Bass ripped through a middle gap to hold Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne to a three-yard loss on third and 10 in the second quarter and force a punt.
Patridge added that the coaches as a whole could have done more to help Bass out. Just as there was limited time to get Bass prepared, there was almost no time to adjust the game plan to fit his artificially limited knowledge of the system and experience.
"In an emergency situation when DeShields went down in the game, there's probably a call or two that we shouldn't have called and that's on us as a collective as a staff," Patridge said. "Collectively as a staff, there are probably some things in between series we should have taken off his plate in hindsight just to reduce the thinking for him."
But on the field, Simon didn't notice a drop-off with Bass by his side. He praised Bass' fearlessness as he attacked a college defense for the first full game of his very short career.
"He stepped up and played great for us," Simon said. "He fit in right away. He kind of knew what he was doing, didn’t take a step back and kind of got in and did his thing. Super proud of him to step up in that crazy scenario where he’s running off the field full-speed, getting ready for another kickoff to come later in the game and he’s getting called to go out there and start.”
Head coach Pat Narduzzi shared the general sentiment about Bass. He was happy with how he managed to play against Wake Forest and is even more excited about what the future has in store. And with Lovelace, Louis and Deshields' status' in question for this week's game at No. 14 Notre Dame, the Panthers might get more of an immediate glimpse into the future with Bass.
"You play with young guys, sometimes they are not going to be perfect, and I mean close to perfect. Our guys who have played four and five years aren't perfect," Narduzzi said. "But I was impressed with the way Jordan Bass played, pulled the trigger and made the plays."
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