Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Pitts finds home on Marshall defense
10/15/2020 7:11:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
Junior safety is tied for second on the team in tackles
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Western Kentucky quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome dropped back to pass on third-and-10, and then tucked the ball and ran to his left. Several Marshall defenders gave chase as Pigrome angled his run to the first down marker.
Then, Thundering Herd safety Derrek Pitts sprinted in from nowhere, leapt toward Pigrome and dragged him down 3 yards short of a first down. WKU was forced to punt, and never crossed the MU 40 in the first half.
"That's who he is," Marshall defensive coordinator Brad Lambert said of Pitts. "He plays really fast and he trusts himself. He'll let it go … That play indicated who he is and him making that play on third down was huge for us."
Pitts, a redshirt junior from Dunbar, West Virginia, has been a crucial part of one of best defenses in college football. Marshall (3-0, 1-0 Conference USA) enters this Saturday's game at Louisiana Tech (3-1, 2-0 C-USA) ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense, No. 9 in rush defense, No. 17 in pass defense and No. 10 in total defense.
Pitts ranks second on the team with 17 tackles, and has two pass breakups.
"That was an effort play," Pitts said of his tackle of Pigrome. "We talk about that every day in our film room. Our defense is so competitive. It's a race to get to the ball."
Pitts tweeted earlier this season that it's "first come, first serve" on the Marshall defense because every player moves swiftly to the ball to make the tackle. When Pigrome tucked the ball to run on that third down play, there were three defenders in front of Pitts, but he whizzed past them to pull Pigrome to the ground just in time.
"Derrek is an athletic guy who runs extremely well," Lambert said. "He's done a good job of adapting to our system, learning our system, and coming in and being a playmaker. I've been really proud of how he's worked from the standpoint of studying film, learning our defense, studying opponents. He's an active guy. He's a really good tackler in the open field. He trusts himself and he trusts his eyes. He'll see something and go get it."
Pitts was a decorated high school player and one of the most sought-after recruits in West Virginia. He won the Carl Lee Award, which goes to the top defensive back in the state. He was a first team all-state player and the Gazette-Mail Kanawha Valley Player of the Year. He scored touchdowns on receptions, rushes, kickoff returns, fumble returns and a punt return.
He brings that type of versatility to the Herd secondary, where he is dangerous against the run and in pass defense.
"I love playing safety because I can see everything and I can see it all develop," he said, citing NFL safeties Marlon Humphrey and Tyrann Mathieu as his favorites. "I can cover if I need to and I can blitz if I need to. It's a mix of the things I like to do.
"Coach Lambert – he knows I like to go 100 miles per hour, but playing safety you can't do that all of the time."
Pitts called his place within the Marshall program "a blessing" and that he is grateful Lambert has trusted him in the starting lineup, so he wants to continue to keep that trust from the second-year defensive coordinator.
In the mean time, the 6-foot, 187-pound safety is going to enjoy playing in not only one of the best defenses in Conference USA, but the country.
"There's so much love here," Pitts said. "I've honestly never been around so much love before. Everyone has a smile on their face and everyone congratulates everybody. Nobody is out there for themselves. Everybody wants it for everybody else. I love competing and this is a team that competes all of the time."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and an eight-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd)
