Annapolis, MD--

Pitt had 16 days to prepare for Navy's vaunted flexbone offense, but during that time the Panthers discovered two key truths when it comes to defending the triple option keep it simple, and less is more.

The Panthers' defense used those principles to shut down the Midshipmen in an impressive 42-21 win before a crowd of 37,970 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. It was the Panthers' fifth win in a row since a season-opening loss against Bowling Green. The Panthers held the Midshipmen 4-3 to 194 yards rushing 119 below their average and forced two turnovers and four punts.

It was a stunning reversal from last season, when the Midshipmen shredded the Panthers for 331 rushing yards in a 48-45, double-overtime win at Heinz Field. In that game, the Midshipmen punted only once and had no turnovers.

"They embarrassed us last year in our house, they came out and punched us in the mouth, and we weren't able to punch them back," said Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop.

"This was our chance, for me, my teammates and our coaches to show we are a good football team and we're a good defense. It was embarrassing for us last year the way Navy did whatever they wanted. It has been a sore spot with us for a year.

"Don't get me wrong, Navy is a good team, we respect Navy, but today we just executed better than they did, and I hand it to our coaches because our game plan was top of the line. All we had to do was go out and make plays."

Along with the defense, the Panthers got a monster day out of tailback LeSean McCoy, who rushed 18 times for 156 yards and scored three touchdowns. It was the third consecutive game that McCoy has rushed for 140 or more yards, and he did so despite sitting out most of the fourth quarter because the Panthers had the game well in hand.

"I thought Shady made some great runs, and our offensive line has continued to come along," said jubilant Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt. "He had a couple of long runs, and those were long overdue for him."

The Panthers spent two weeks practicing their defensive assignments, including some of the time against an offense that didn't have anyone in the backfield other than the quarterback. The idea was repetition of assignments with each player forced to recognize his one-on-one match up and get off blocks.

The other key was the interior linemen making sure they stopped the Midshipmen's fullback dive play, because it usually drives the offense. The Panthers held Navy fullback Eric Kettani to 15 yards on eight carries 1.9 yards per rush. Last season, Kettani rushed 19 times for 72 yards 3.8 yards per carry. The difference was significant because it forced Navy to deal with unfavorable downs and distances throughout the game.

McKillop and most of his defensive teammates said the brilliance of the Panthers' strategy was its simplicity. They put the responsibility on the players to dominate the line of scrimmage, beat their Midshipmen counterparts in one-on-one matchups and make tackles once they got to the ball.

The fruits of the plan showed up early. With Pitt leading, 14-7, and Navy facing a first-and-10 at its 21, quarterback Jarod Bryant dropped back to pass, but Panthers defensive end Jabaal Sheard beat his man with a speed rush and stripped the ball from Bryant's hands. Tackle Gus Mustakas recovered the fumble, and, three plays later, LaRod Stephens-Howling scored on a 9-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers a 21-7 lead and put them well on their way to victory.

"It was all about fundamentals; we worked for two weeks on fundamentals and just getting off the ball quickly. Nothing fancy, just playing hard and winning the battles," Sheard said.

"It really just came down to execution. We talked about everyone being disciplined and being physical. We played disciplined almost the whole game we just kept at it. Coach Wannstedt told us, 'We're not going to lay back like last year, we're going come here and attack.' "We wanted to fire off the ball, come off the ball and be aggressive. We just wanted to play aggressive football."

Which is exactly what they did. "I thought our defensive coaches had a real good, sound scheme," Wannstedt said. "We did a lot of research on what they did and we felt like we had to stop the fullback, and we did.

"We kept it simple. Things weren't as complicated as they were a year ago, and we let some guys make plays and just used the athletic ability we have."

One difference between last year and this year was that the Midshipmen were without starting quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who missed the game with a hamstring injury. Last year, he rushed for 122 yards and passed for 166 and accounted for three touchdowns.