Virginia Tech enters the game at 5-2 (3-1) on the season.
Advertisement
College football fixtures and ESPN3 live stream for the Week 9 games on Thursday night, October 27. It gave up a long field-goal drive, then a 31-second touchdown drive of 57 yards and then couldn’t hold on at the end, surrendering a first down on three consecutive running plays and thus depriving the offense of one last shot.
The Hokies appeared to be in business, at the Panthers’ 19 yard-line. Narduzzi’s Panthers are allowing 36 points a game against FBS opponents this season, and this was the third quarterback to pass for 400-plus yards against Pitt.
A 2-0 Tech team lost 35-17 at Pitt in 2012.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies have the weapons to run the table. On Pittsburgh’s next possession, quarterback Nathan Peterman was picked off by Mook Reynolds. But Dennis Briggs was ruled offsides, and the Hokie drive continued. Before Ford finally secured the catch, the ball bounced back and forth between the two a few times like a pinball. However, the Hokies will have to reverse recent history at Heinz Field.
After one and a half quarter of ineptitude, the Pitt offense gathered itself.
Still, Pitt was able to keep the game interesting when the Panthers scored another touchdown to put the game within three points. If the Hokies convert even two of those drives for touchdowns, it becomes a much more comfortable win. The result was a record-breaking night in the air for the Hokies’ receivers, with Hodges finishing with 145 yards, Ford with 143 and Phillips with 109. Slye hit a 21-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead at 8:05 of the first. The score would remain heading into intermission.
And the Panthers quickly picked up where they left off to start the second half.
In the kickoff department, don’t expect a big day from Quadree Henderson, as Joey Slye has sent 40 of his 48 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.
“No doubt about it, with extra practices – usually on Thursday we work on every special team, and then on a normal Tuesday, we work two phases and field goal, and then on Wednesday we work two phases, as well, with no field goal”, he said.
“I know they had a tough one the last time (against Temple), but they’ve been playing really well”, Niumatalolo said, adding that the Bulls’ high-scoring attack begins but doesn’t end with dual-threat star Quinton Flowers.
PITTSBURGH (AP) One of the nation’s worst secondaries kept daring Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans to throw.
Evans was injured with 7:16 left in the third quarter when he was sacked on Pittsburgh’s 9.
Pitt: Begin a tough two-game stretch at Miami on November 5.
The Hokies were nursing a 22-21 lead late in the third quarter when Evans re-entered the game after missing a series while trainers treated his sprained right ankle. And when Peterman tossed a shovel pass to Conner for the 2-point conversion, the game was knotted at 29.
Is Virginia Tech a safe bet to cover on the road tonight versus Pittsburgh at 7:00PM ET? Buoyed by a 27-yard catch by Ford and a 15-yard run by Evans, the Hokies pushed the ball down to the 13-yard line.
Virginia Tech responded with a seven-play drive that only took a shade over two minutes. The Hokies defense has averaged 105 yards allowed on the ground in 2016.
Advertisement
But the Panthers decided not to onside kick, betting on their defense. They return to the field next Saturday, traveling to Miami to take on the Hurricanes.
