Pitt has been shredded for 1,122 yards and 91 points in consecutive losses to Connecticut and West Virginia. Many of the problems that have dogged the Panthers for the past four years -- missed tackles, bad angles, poor execution, failure to get key stops -- have returned, renewing calls to fire defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.

One person who hasn't jumped on the bandwagon is the only person whose vote counts -- head coach Dave Wannstedt. Rhoads declined comment yesterday, but Wannstedt came to his embattled defensive coordinator's defense, saying the criticism of Rhoads has not been fair.

He then took a page out of former President Harry S. Truman's book and said that, in essence, "the buck stops here."

"We are coaching these guys as hard as we can coach them," Wannstedt said. "Paul does a great job, and all of our defensive coaches are very good coaches. As a coach, you try and get players to play as hard as they can and put them in position to make plays, and for the most part we've done that.

"You can't just say at the end of the day, 'They gave up 300 yards rushing by a quarterback scrambling for 150 of them, so therefore the defense stinks and it is a bad scheme.' That's not true. People may want to think that, and that's fine, go ahead and think it, I don't care. I know that's not the case."

Wannstedt was referring to the 130 yards scrambling the Panthers gave up to Connecticut quarterback D.J. Hernandez in a 46-45 overtime loss Nov. 11. The Panthers had a formation drawn up that included a "spy" designed to stop Hernandez, but he either outran the spy or broke a tackle almost every time it was used.

Against West Virginia, the Panthers did a decent job of slowing the Mountaineers' running game in the first half but were victimized by two big touchdown passes from Pat White to Steve Slaton. In both cases, linebacker Tommie Campbell, the Panthers' fastest player, was covering Slaton, but he wasn't able to make the play.

"Three weeks ago we were 13th in the nation in scoring defense," Wannstedt said. "We've given up some points and yards that we shouldn't have, and we're all accountable to make that better. All of us. That means me, [Rhoads], the coaches, the players -- we are all accountable because we won't be a great team unless we play great defense. That doesn't bother anyone more than a coach whose background is defense."

Rhoads, who is generally loved and respected by his players, is in his seventh season as the Panthers' defensive coordinator. At one time, he was considered a rising star in the coaching profession but now he is starting to show some tarnish.

In 2001, Rhoads directed the seventh-ranked defense (out of 119) in the NCAA. The Panthers gave up 284.64 yards and 20.5 points per game. The rush defense that season limited opponents to 118.8 yards per game and 2.94 yards per carry.

Two years later, the defense ranked 79th in the NCAA (402.62 yards and 23.9 points per game).

And Rhoads still has been unable to get his defense to regain the form it had his first three years.

The Panthers ranked 73rd in total defense in '04 (395.42 yards and 24 ppg). Last year, they were 31st in total defense (338 ypg) but 94th against the run (185.2 ypg, 4.27 yards per carry). This season, they are 105th in rushing defense (183 ypg, 4.51 ypc), 72nd in total defense (350.73 ypg) and 48th in scoring defense (20.5 ppg).

Despite the struggles, Rhoads' players insist the criticism of their coach is not justified.

"Anybody can draw up game plans, it is up to players to execute it," said linebacker H.B. Blades. "And when you don't tackle and you don't do your assignments, teams will get points and yards. People always look to blame the coach, but it mostly falls on us because we're out there on the field."

Cornerback Darrelle Revis added: "I don't think anything coach Rhoads is doing is wrong. I don't doubt him in any way."

NOTES -- Wannstedt said Blades and Tyler Palko have been invited to play in the Senior Bowl Jan. 27 in Mobile, Ala. ... Revis is likely to forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL draft, though he didn't comment on the subject yesterday. When asked about Revis' future, Wannstedt said: "I don't know what is going to happen. I have a philosophy that I've talked about with our players, and once the season gets done we'll see where it goes."