Pitt Topples Virginia, Looks Forward To Bye Week

The 2016 Pitt Football season is half over. What we’ve learned so far, rather fairly conclusively, is that the Panthers have some really big holes on defense. Conversely, the Panthers appear to be very explosive on offense en route to setting a school record of 6 consecutive games of scoring 35+ points.

The result this past weekend against Virginia was no different. The Panthers defeated the Cavaliers 45-31 to raise their record to 5-2 overall (2-1 in the ACC).

The Virginia homecoming crowd was treated to a good start though as the Hoos scored on their opening drive, which was aided by a few Pitt penalties including one on 4th down while the Panthers were trying to switch into their punt coverage unit.

Virginia tailback Albert Reid scampered 5 yards to paydirt to cap a 12 play, 69 yard drive. Virginia 7 Pitt 0.

After the teams traded punts, Pitt went to work on offense.

It began when sophomore tailback Qadree Ollison was stopped for no gain. Then senior QB Nate Peterman handed off to superstar redshirt junior tailback James Conner for 16 yards.

Peterman then tried to find true freshman WR Aaron Matthews but the Hoo defense was flagged 15 yards for Pass Interference.

After Conner tacked on 2 more yards, Peterman missed on a wide open flea-flicker play to sophomore WR Qadree Henderson. Instead, he found junior WR Jester Weah for 38 yards for the game-tying score. Pitt 7 Virginia 7.

Virginia would answer back with a 8 play, 75 yard drive that ended when Hoo tailback Taquan Mizzell ran untouched for 44 yards to put the Cavs back up 14-7 over Pitt.

Perhaps there’s no more exciting and explosive player on the Pitt Panthers right now than Qadree Henderson. And accordingly, Henderson responded. He returned the ensuring kickoff 93 yards to the house. It was Henderson’s 3rd TD kickoff return in his last 7 games. The game was tied at 14.

Virginia wasted no time to abuse the Panthers secondary when senior QB Kurt Benkert tossed a bomb to a wide-open WR Olamide Zaccheaus, who beat Pitt safety Terrish Webb easily, to put the Hoos back up 21-14 over Pitt.

The teams would trade punts again before Pitt went back to the ground again.

First, Henderson took a stock Matt Canada (Pitt’s Offensive Coordinator) Jet Sweep play 6 yards to the Pitt 32 yard line.

This led to a 1 yard loss on a similar play designed for Pitt redshirt freshman WR Tre Tipton.

After Weah was called for 10 yard holding penalty, Peterman rushed 7 yards to the Panther 29 yard line.

True freshman tailback Chawntez Moss then gained 2 yards before Peterman missed Weah on a crossing pass play.

Virginia would then get called for another 15 yard Pass Interference penalty before Moss ran loose for 16 yards. Moss then ran for no gain, as Tipton gained 3 yards before he fumbled and somehow recovered.

Peterman dropped back and found a wide-open Pitt senior TE Scott Orndoff for 20 yards to the Virginia 1 yard line.

It would take Conner two tries but he eventually scored to tie the score at 21.

Virginia returned the favor by continuing the scoring-fest that ended when Albert Reid added a 1 yard TD run. Virginia 28 Pitt 21.

Pitt, though, wasn’t done on offense in the first half.

The Panthers started their last drive after redshirt sophomore WR junior-college transfer Rafael Araujo-Lopes returned the Hoos kickoff 69 yards to the Virginia 26 yard line.

Peterman than ran for 2 yards before completing a small shovel pass to Orndoff for an additional yard. Tipton then caught a 6 yard pass before Conner added a 2 yard run. Tipton tacked on a 5 yard run before Conner added small gains of 3 and 2 yards.

Peterman then tried to connect with redshirt senior TE Jaymar Parrish in the corner of the endzone but he was tackled by the Virginia defense. The penalty gave Pitt a fresh set of downs inside the 10 yard line. Henderson would then lose 4 yards before the Hoos were flagged for a facemask penalty.

Conner then salted the drive with gains of 2 and 1 yard to paydirt. Pitt tied the game at 28.

At that point, Virginia looked like they would try to get into field goal range just before the half. However, it was the aggressive passing of Benkert that led to a 59 yard pick-6 by Pitt sophomore strong safety Jordan Whitehead. The result of the play would help to lift the Panthers to a 35-28 halftime lead.

The teams went into an offensive shell in a scoreless 3rd quarter when finally Pitt got the ball back later in the 4th Quarter.

Peterman then found Weah for 16 yards to the Pitt 35 yard line which led to Whitehead taking a snap on offense and a 6 yard Jet Sweep run.

Conner then busted through for 20 yards and Whitehead would follow his act with a 16 yard run of his own. Conner continued the ground attack with another 17 yard gainer before being stopped no gain and eventually losing 2 yards at the Virginia 5 yard line.

Peterman salted the series when he tossed a shovel pass to Pitt h-back George Aston 5 yards to put the Panthers up 42-28.

The teams would trade field goals, including a 25 yarder by Pitt senior placekicer and Virginia-native Chris Blewitt. This led to the final score: Pitt 45 Virginia 31.

Next Up: Thurs 10/27/16, 8 PM EST – Virginia Tech at Pitt

Va Tech leads the all-time series over Pitt 8-7 but Pitt has won 6 out of the last 7 meetings including last year’s 17-13 win in Blacksburg, VA.

2015/10/03 Pittsburgh 17 – Virginia Tech 13 W
2014/10/16 Pittsburgh 21 – Virginia Tech 16 W
2013/10/12 Pittsburgh 9 – Virginia Tech 19 L
2012/09/15 Pittsburgh 35 – Virginia Tech 17 W
2003/11/08 Pittsburgh 31 – Virginia Tech 28 W
2002/11/02 Pittsburgh 28 – Virginia Tech 21 W
2001/11/03 Pittsburgh 38 – Virginia Tech 7 W
2000/10/28 Pittsburgh 34 – Virginia Tech 37 L
1999/10/30 Pittsburgh 17 – Virginia Tech 30 L
1998/09/26 Pittsburgh 7 – Virginia Tech 27 L
1997/11/22 Pittsburgh 30 – Virginia Tech 23 W
1996/10/26 Pittsburgh 17 – Virginia Tech 34 L
1995/09/30 Pittsburgh 16 – Virginia Tech 26 L
1994/10/22 Pittsburgh 7 – Virginia Tech 45 L
1993/09/11 Pittsburgh 21 – Virginia Tech 63 L