Pitt tries to stay hot vs. No. 23 Virginia
With last week’s 54-45 shootout win over Duke, the Pittsburgh Panthers (4-4, 3-1 ACC) control their destiny in the ACC Coastal Division race.
“A great team win Saturday,” Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi said.
“I think any time you can get a win, doesn’t matter how it was … there’s obviously a lot of good things when you watch the tape on Saturday night or Sunday morning. A lot of great things to take from it. There’s a lot of things we need to get a lot better if we expect to continue to move on and win games in this league, win in the ACC.”
The dark-horse Panthers get another opportunity at an inside track this Friday night as they face the No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 ACC). Virginia Tech is also 3-1 in the Coastal; Pitt plays host to the Hokies on Nov. 10.
Pittsburgh’s rushing attack is coming off a parade-worthy performance against Duke as the Panthers tallied 484 yards on the ground. The Panthers were led by Qadree Ollison, who tallied 149 yards and one touchdown on a team-high 18 carries.
“I think it builds everybody’s confidence, builds everybody. Builds the offensive coordinator’s confidence that you had success, we did it, we can do it again,” Narduzzi said.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett didn’t put up gaudy numbers against Duke, but he wasn’t charged with any game-breaking mistakes either. He completed 8 of 18 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had seven carries for 76 yards –a season high –and a touchdown.
“I think as you get near the end of the season, you start to do some different things,” Narduzzi said. “Certainly ACC games are more important. Certainly you don’t want to get your quarterback smashed.”
Pittsburgh and Virginia kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday night. The game will be televised on ESPN2.