Pitt Shuts Down Va Tech In 17-13 Victory

The Pitt defense brought their lunch pails yesterday and shut down the Virginia Tech Hokies en route to a 17-13 victory in Blacksburg, VA in the ACC opener for both schools.

Pitt’s defense was so dominant the Hokies only managed 9 rushing yards and 91 passing yards (100 total yards of offense) along with 7 sacks. It was the worst offensive day for the Hokies since 1987, the first year with Head Coach Frank Beamer at the helm.

After shutting down the Hokies on their first series with a three and out, Pitt’s offense went to work. New starting QB Nate Peterman was sacked on 1st down and the Panthers once again played musical chairs at QB. Former starter Chad Voytik spelled Peterman on 2nd down and rushed 26 yards on the next play.

Then Pitt went to their workhorse for the day, redshirt freshman RB Qadree Ollison who ran it for 3 and 13 yards on the next two snaps. Ollison would finish the day with 19 carries, 122 yards and 1 TD.

After Voytik got stuffed for no gain on first down, Peterman escaped the Va Tech pass rush with small gains of 4 and 3 yards. Pitt would settle for a 45 yard Chris Blewitt Field Goal and led the Hokies, 3-0.

The Panthers shut the Hokies down on the next series and once again went back to work on offense.

It started with Va Tech flagged for a 5 yard off-sides penalty, when Ollison ran for 2 yards and Voytik for 6 yards on the next couple of plays.

Then Hokie senior LB Deon Clarke was flagged for a 15 yard roughing the passer penalty which moved the ball to the Hokie 41 yard line on an incomplete pass play. The Pitt QBs went back to ground. Peterman gained 2 yards, Voytik gained 4 yards and then Peterman again scampered 12 yards to the Va Tech 23 yard line.

That set up the game’s prettiest pass play when Peterman found Pitt senior TE JP Hotlz for a 23 yard TD strike. Pitt led 10-0 over Va Tech.

Va Tech would answer though with a 12 play 83 yard drive of their own.

Redshirt junior QB Brenden Motley handed it off first to redshirt junior tailback Trey Edmunds for 3 yards. After the Pitt defense was called for a 5 yard off-sides penalty, Motley ran for 3 yards then threw 2 incomplete passes before adding on another 3 yard gain.

After Motley failed to connect with star TE redshirt sophmore Bucky Hodges, Pitt junior strong safety Terrish Webb was called for a 15 yard Pass Interference penalty. This moved the ball to the Pitt 46 yard line.

Pitt redshirt junior LB Mike Caprara then sacked Motley for a 9 yard loss, one of 7 sacks the Pitt defense would have on the day. Motley then scrambled 22 yards to the Pitt 33 yard line on the ensuing snap.

Motley would then get sacked by Pitt redshirt junior outside LB Bam Bradley on the next snap. Following a series of penalties, Motley finally connected with Hodges for 28 yards to the Pitt 12 yard line.

Hokie junior tailback Sam Rogers then toted the rock 1 yard, before Motley hit sophomore WR Cam Phillips for a 11 TD strike and put Va Tech back in the game. Pitt led 10-7 going into halftime.

Pitt then decided to go back to the power running game to start the 3rd quarter. In two plays, they wasted no time in seeing dividends.

Ollison took the first carry 43 yards off left-tackle to the Va Tech 25 yard line, then took the second carry on almost the same play 25 yards to paydirt. Pitt led Va Tech 17-7.

It turned out to be the decisive score as the Hokies would add on 2 more field goals and toss a 2 more interceptions. Pitt would go on to win 17-13. It was Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi’s first ACC win.

Pitt raised their record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. Va Tech fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.

Next up:

Pitt Homecoming Weekend

Virginia at Pitt, 12:30pm EST – Sat 10/10