Pitt Travels to Virginia Tech in Key ACC Coastal Showdown Saturday


BLACKSBURG, Va. – Pitt will try to keep its ACC Coastal Division title hopes alive when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to take on Virginia Tech in a matchup of two teams that are both 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.

(Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)

The game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN2.

Pitt has won six of its past seven games. A win in Blacksburg would enhance its credentials for bowl invitations as well as the Top 25. The Panthers are receiving votes in both polls this week. The Hokies are No. 25 in the AP poll.

The Panthers have won seven of their past 10 games against Virginia Tech, including a 52-22 victory at Heinz Field in 2018. However, the Panthers are just 2-6 all-time in Blacksburg. Pitt last won at Lane Stadium in 2015 (17-13).

Since taking over as Pitt’s head coach in 2015, Pat Narduzzi has directed the Panthers to 24 victories in ACC play, trailing only Clemson (38) and Miami (25) during that span.

Pitt Quarterback Kenny Pickett is coming off one of the finest performances of his career. Pickett threw for 359 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 34-27 overtime win over North Carolina.

Pickett has already thrown for a career-high 2,311 yards this season. He is averaging 256.8 passing yards per game, which ranks 25th nationally and third among ACC quarterbacks.

Pitt boasts the nation’s top pass rush. The Panthers lead the country with 45 sacks, an average of 4.50 per contest. Tackle Jaylen Twyman has a team-high 9.5 sacks and ranks seventh nationally (second in the ACC) with an average of 0.95 per game.

The Panthers are surrendering an average of just 90.9 rush yards, the lowest in the ACC and seventh nationally. Pitt last yielded fewer than 100 rush yards per game in 2000 (97.0 for 12 games).

SERIES NOTES

This marks the 19th meeting between Pitt and Virginia Tech in a series that dates back to 1993…Virginia Tech leads the overall series, 10-8…since 2013, Pitt and Virginia Tech have met annually as Coastal Division members…the ACC series is tied, 3-3…the Panthers defeated the Hokies at Heinz Field last year, 52-22, and have won seven of the past 10 games in the series…Pitt is 6-4 at home and 2-6 on the road against Virginia Tech…the Panthers are 5-1 all-time against the Hokies at Heinz Field (since 2001), the lone loss occurring in 2016…the initial 11 games of the series were played when both schools were members of the Big East…the Panthers lost the initial four meetings before earning their first victory in 1997, a 30-23 decision at Pitt Stadium…five of Pitt’s wins have come against nationally-ranked Virginia Tech squads (No. 13 in 2012, No. 5 in 2003, No. 3 in 2002, No. 12/13 in 2001 and No. 19/20 in 1997)…one of the most memorable games occurred in 2003 when a late touchdown by fullback Lousaka Polite lifted Pitt past the Hokies, 31-28, in an ESPN primetime battle of Top 25 teams at Heinz.


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