No. 25 Virginia Tech holds off Pitt in 39-36 win

One of the nation's worst secondaries kept daring Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans to throw. So he did. Over. And over. And over.

The junior shook off a right ankle injury to throw for a career-high 406 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 25th-ranked Hokies to a 39-36 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Joey Slye tied the school and Atlantic Coach Conference records by making six field goals to help the Hokies (6-2, 4-1) beat the Panthers (5-3, 2-2) on the road for the first time in 17 years.

Pitt came in with the nation's 120th-ranked pass defense yet played bump-and-run for most of the game, hoping its defensive backs could win more than they lost.

Didn't happen. Instead, three Tech wide receivers topped 100 yards in the same game for the first time in school history.Isaiah Ford's 10 receptions included his school-record 23rd receiving touchdown. Bucky Hodges caught six passes for 145 yards and a score and Cam Phillips added 109 yards on a night the Hokies piled up 556 total yards.

"It's a great feeling when you can do what you love doing and that's throw the ball up and down the field against a pretty good defense," Evans said. "One-on-one coverage. You can't ask for anything better than one-on-one coverage."

Pitt coach Narduzzi built his reputation as defensive coordinator at Michigan State by requiring his secondary to play physical. He's intent on doing the same at Pitt, even as the weeks pass and improvement only comes in sporadic bursts. Facing the Hokies, it was no different.

"We had guys in position to make plays," Narduzzi said. "We didn't make them. . There's not a whole lot of different ways to do it."

Evans left briefly in the third quarter after getting his right leg rolled up on but returned to lead a fourth-quarter surge that included Slye's sixth field goal. Slye joked it got a little bit boring knocking in chip shot after chip shot, though he's hardly complaining after the Hokies won at Heinz Field for the first time in five tries and assured themselves of a bowl berth for a 24th straight year, the longest active streak in the nation.

It's a notable streak, but bigger goals lie ahead. The Hokies will end the weekend no worse than tied in the loss column with North Carolina atop the Coastal. Virginia Tech owns the tiebreaker, having beaten the Tar Heels decisively this month.

TRICKERATION

James Conner ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers but offensive coordinator Matt Canada continued to masterfully tinker with the Pitt playbook.

Nate Peterman completed 13 of 22 passes for 267 yards with a touchdown and an interception while also catching the first pass of his. Pitt offensive tackle Brian O'Neill scored his second touchdown of the season, this time on a pitch from Peterman that resulted in the 6-foot-6, 300-pound O'Neill barreling over the goal line from 5 yards out. O'Neill, a tight end in high school, scored on a throwback screen against Georgia Tech earlier this month.

PINBALL WIZARD

One of the connections between Evans and Ford includes a wild 36-yard gain in which Ford and Pitt cornerback Phillipie Motley batted it back and forth to each other as they went to the ground. Officials ruled it a catch on the field after Ford ripped it away from Motley before it hit the ground. The call stood upon review.

WILD MAN

Narduzzi became increasingly animated on the sideline as the game wore on, convinced Virginia Tech's wide receivers were illegally giving themselves and advantage on all those alley-oop passes from Evans.

"They did a great job pushing off all night," Narduzzi said. "Give them credit for that."

THE TAKEAWAY

Virginia Tech: The Hokies have the weapons to run the table. If Evans can avoid turning it over, the Hokies will be in the ACC title game.

"When you have three elite wide receivers, you can't ask for more," Evans said.

Pitt: Midway through Narduzzi's second season, the defense remains a chaotic work in progress. Even the debut of ballyhooed freshman safety Damar Hamlin's long anticipated debut did little to help. If Pitt's pass defense was even average, the Panthers would be a threat to reach the ACC title game. It's not, and the Panthers almost certainly won't be in Orlando in December.

UP NEXT

Virginia Tech: Travel to Duke on Nov. 5. The Hokies fell to the Blue Devils 45-43 in four overtimes last season.

Pitt: Begin a tough two-game stretch at Miami on Nov. 5. Hurricanes have won two of three meetings since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013.

Defense wakes after half, leading Pitt past Virginia, 45-31

 James Conner ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns and Pittsburgh shut Virginia down in the second half in a 45-31 victory on Saturday.

The Panthers (5-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown from Quadree Henderson and a 59-yard interception return touchdown from Jordan Whitehead, the latter to allow the Panthers to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.

Virginia (2-4, 1-1) had its two-game winning streak end. The Cavaliers moved the ball at will in the opening 30 minutes, piling up 270 yards, but were just the opposite thereafter. They gained 15 yards in the third quarter and finished with 108 yards in the half.

Nathan Peterman threw two touchdown passes for Panthers, the last making it 42-28 with 9:47 left.

THE TAKEAWAY

Pittsburgh: The Panthers have scored at least 36 points in six consecutive games, a program record, so offense isn't a problem. Their run defense is statistically solid, but might be artificially so because its pass defense is spotty. Kurt Benkert thrived in the first half, when Pitt had no sacks, but the Cavaliers quarterback seemed rattled after the Panthers sacked him three times in four plays early after halftime.

Virginia: The Cavaliers have the capacity to play well for long stretches, but adversity still presents them with challenges that coach Bronco Mendenhall attributes to a history of more failure than success. The adversity against Pitt came in two stages - Whitehead's interception return touchdown, and when the Panthers came out firing on defense and applied pressure Benkert hadn't seen before halftime.

UP NEXT:

Pittsburgh: The Panthers have a bye next weekend, and will then play Virginia Tech at Heinz Field on Thursday night, Oct. 27.

Virginia: The Cavaliers continue their three-game homestand by taking on longtime rival North Carolina.

Pitt scores twice late, edges Georgia Tech 37-34

 Another fourth-quarter lead gone and another "what if" loss looming, Pittsburgh responded with a little bit of savvy, luck and a dash of redemption for its beleaguered defense thrown in for good measure to surge past struggling Georgia Tech.

First, Scott Orndoff kept his head while hauling in a tipped pass from Nate Peterman the tight end turned into a game-tying 74-yard touchdown with 3:50 to play. Then nose tackleTyrique Jarrett stuffed Yellow Jackets running back Dedrick Mills on fourth down to give Pitt the ball back with 1:47 left to set up Chris Blewitt's bank shot 31-yard field goal as time expired.

Just another heart-stopping Saturday for the Panthers.

"I think it's just about believing and never getting down on yourself or on your team," Orndoff said. "Just hanging in there."

Something Pitt (4-2, 1-1 ACC) is getting used to under coach Pat Narduzzi. The outcome has hung in the balance in the final 2 minutes each of the last five weeks, including a last-second loss to North Carolina two weeks ago in which the Tar Heels converted four fourth-downs on the deciding drive.

That's what made Jarrett and linebacker Matt Galambos' stop so satisfying. The clock dwindling, Georgia Tech went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 34 rather than kick it. Galombos -- who Narduzzi describes as the defense's "computer" -- sensed a dive play was coming and changed the call right before the snap, leading Jarrett to stand up Mills short of the first down.

"I happened to guess right," Jarrett said. "It was perfect."

Pitt drove to the Georgia Tech 12 to set up Blewitt's winner, which smacked off the right upright and through as time expired. It's the second straight season Pitt topped the Yellow Jackets on a late kick by Blewitt, whose 52 career field goals are a school record.

"Called corner pocket," Blewitt joked.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson defended the decision to go for it rather than kick it and give Pitt's offense - which punted just once all day - another shot. Instead the Yellow Jackets (3-3) dropped their third straight overall and their sixth straight true road game dating back to 2014.

"If I to do over again at the end of the game, I probably still would have gone for it but I would have called a different play," Johnson said. "I felt the way the game was going, I felt like we could make a half-yard and we didn't so that's on me. That's my responsibility and I'll take the blame for it."

BIG MAN, BIG PLAY

Peterman finished 14 of 20 for 192 yards and the long score to Orndoff. The Panthers spread the ball around while running for 215 yards, including a 24-yard run by 300-pound Pitt lineman Brian O'Neill on a designed throwback lateral.

Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Canada installed the play this week specifically for O'Neill, a former tight end. He caught the ball and was surrounded by teammates while being escorted to the end zone.

"(Canada) told me don't do anything stupid when you score a touchdown because you're going to score a touchdown," O'Neill said.

THROWBACK FRENZY

The Panthers wore vintage blue-and-gold jerseys in a nod to the program's glory days of the 1970s and had Johnny Majors, the coach when Pitt won the 1976 national title, serve as honorary captain. As sharp as Pitt looked, however, Narduzzi made sure style didn't trump substance.

"(Narduzzi) told us those yellow helmets aren't going to make a tackle for you," defensive end Shakir Sotosaid.

TAKEAWAY

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets were much improved following losses at home to Clemson and Miami but the defense struggled all day and yielded at the end. Johnson, however, remains upbeat even though his team's margin for error in the Coastal Division is gone.

"I think you can see every team in our division is probably really close," Johnson said. "Just like North Carolina beat them on the last play, they beat us on the last play."

Pitt: The Panthers are finding plenty of depth around star running back James Conner, who was held to 60 yards and failed to score a touchdown for the first time in 14 games. Eight different Panthers were credited with at least one carry.

UP NEXT

Georgia Tech: take a break from ACC play when they host Georgia Southern. Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson led Georgia Southern to a pair of FCS titles in 1999-2000.

Pitt: Travels to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers. Each team has won on its home field in the series since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013.

Pitt holds off rally, tops Marshall 43-27

A once seemingly insurmountable four-touchdown lead gone against resilient Marshall on Saturday night, Pittsburgh could have played it safe and tried to hold on.

Not this time.

Up by just a field goal and facing third down near midfield, Pitt quarterback Nate Peterman lobbed a deep ball to Jester Weah down the sideline. The junior wide receiver pulled it in over a defender and raced to the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown with 1:04 remaining and the Panthers pulled away late for a 43-27 win.

"I loved it when they called the play," Weah said. "I knew I had the ability to make the play. I just had to go out there and just do it."

And help Pitt (3-2) avoid another late meltdown. Two weeks after giving up the go ahead touchdown with 2:18 to play in a loss at Oklahoma State and seven days after a 13-point fourth-quarter lead turned into a last-second loss at North Carolina, the Panthers appeared in trouble again when Marshall's Keion Davis scored on a 1-yard run with 4:01 to play to pull the Thundering Herd (1-3) within 30-27.

After falling to the Tar Heels, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said his team couldn't afford to become predictable in late-game situations. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada was listening. Peterman hit Scott Orndoff on third down to extend the drive before Peterman's second touchdown of the game let the Panthers exhale.

"The best thing is we made plays when we needed to at the end," Narduzzi said.

Peterman finished with a season-high 280 yards passing and two scores. Weah caught seven passes for 176 yards and freshman Chawntez Moss ran for 97 yards. Pitt outgained the Thundering Herd 532-344.

Still, it wasn't exactly easy.

Marshall quarterback Chase Litton returned after missing a loss to Louisville last week and threw for 240 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Michael Clark caught four passes for 147 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown as part of Marshall's methodical rally, one that hardly seemed possible after an opening 30 minutes in which Pitt did whatever it wanted.

PAYING TRIBUTE

Pitt held a moment of silence before the national anthem in honor of golfer Arnold Palmer. The native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania (about an hour from Heinz Field) passed away at 87 last week.

The Panthers also saluted Dr. Stanley Marks following the first quarter. Marks served as Pitt running backJames Conner's oncologist while the 2014 ACC Player of the Year underwent treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma discovered last Thanksgiving. Conner, who ran for 39 yards and a touchdown, ran in to give Marks a hug and Narduzzi jogged onto the field to follow suit.

WELCOME RETURN

Pitt entered the game with the 127th-ranked pass defense in the nation, next-to-last in the FBS. While Litton and Clark heated up in the second half, the Panthers got in the final word. Cornerback Avonte Maddox - picked on repeatedly by opponents over the last three weeks - returned a Litton pass 33 yards for a score on the game's final play.

"Avonte Maddox needed that," Narduzzi said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Marshall: Litton appears to be just fine and may have one of Conference USA's better wide receivers in Clark. The 6-foot-7 sophomore will be a matchup nightmare down the road.

Pitt: The kids are starting to deliver. Narduzzi gave considerable playing time to a handful of freshman, including Moss and freshman wide receivers Tre Tipton and Maurice Ffrench, with promising results. The trio combined for 156 yards of total offense and a pair of touchdowns. "That's what we expect," Tipton said. "

UP NEXT

Marshall: Opens Conference USA play on the road at North Texas next Saturday. The Thundering Herd beat the Mean Green 30-13 last year.

Pitt: Gets back into ACC action when it hosts Georgia Tech next Saturday. The Panthers edged the Yellow Jackets 31-28 in 2015 on Chris Blewitt's 56-yard field goal with 1:11 to go.

Trubisky, Tar Heels rally past Panthers 37-36 in ACC opener

Mitch Trubisky capped a huge day by throwing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bug Howard with 2 seconds left to help North Carolina rally past Pittsburgh 37-36 on Saturday.

Trubisky threw for career highs of 453 yards and five touchdowns for the Tar Heels (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who never led until the final play and trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter.

But Trubisky coolly directed a 17-play, 63-yard drive that included three fourth-down conversions in a stunning finish that had UNC's players running onto the field to celebrate when stopping Pitt's last-play kick return.

"We had talked about before the game that we had an opportunity to establish the identity of this football team," UNC coach Larry Fedora said. "And I can say there's a lot of grit in this football team for one, a lot of toughness - all the intangibles that we need to be successful."

Ryan Switzer was the main target, tying a program record with 16 catches for 208 yards and a score in a matchup of the teams that finished 1-2 atop the ACC's Coastal Division last season.

Quadree Henderson ran for 107 yards to for the Panthers (2-2, 0-1), who ran for 281 yards but went three-and-out on their last two drives to give UNC its opening.

"When something like that (comeback) happens, you have to look at yourself first: Did I do everything I needed to do to get us a victory?" Pitt defensive end Ejuan Price said. "I think that answer is no."

THE TAKEAWAY

PITTSBURGH: As good as Pitt's rushing game is, the Panthers' upside will be limited if they don't solve their pass defense issues. Going back to last week's loss at Oklahoma State, Pitt has surrendered 993 yards through the air in two games and couldn't get a stop when the game hung in the balance late.

NORTH CAROLINA: Maybe the Tar Heels have a little more toughness than it appeared as the Panthers kept running through them for much of the day. The defense came up with needed stops in the final quarter after struggling through the first 45 minutes, while Trubisky has settled into a mistake-free groove in his first month as a starter.

UP NEXT

PITTSBURGH: The Panthers step back out of ACC play to play Marshall, hosting the Thundering Herd for the first meeting between the schools.

NORTH CAROLINA: The rotating schedule of cross-division league games did the Tar Heels no favors. They travel to No. 13 Florida State for their first trip to Tallahassee since winning there in 2010.

Pitt holds off Penn State rally to win 42-39

 Pitt and Penn State spent the days leading up to the renewal of their once annual series in a semantic argument over whether they're still rivals.

The Nittany Lions tried to downplay the stakes, with coach James Franklin pointing out the current roster on both sides were toddlers the last time the two schools faced each other in 2000. The Panthers went the other way, with coach Pat Narduzzi bringing in the 1976 national championship team to give a pep talk on what facing Penn State used to - and still could - mean.

Four quarters, nearly four hours and one well-timed interception by a fifth-year cornerback later, consider the debate over. Pitt-Penn State is still very much a thing.

James Conner ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and caught another and senior Ryan Lewis picked off Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley in the end zone with just over a minute to play as the Panthers held on for a 42-39 victory on Saturday in front of the largest crowd to watch a sporting event in the city's history - 69,983.

"I would say going to next year, they're going to think it's a rivalry now," said Pitt safety Jordan Whitehead.

One that shouldn't lack for juice when the two teams meet at Beaver Stadium next fall. Penn State nearly made it all the way back from a 21-point deficit. The Nittany Lions had the ball at the Pitt 31 with less than 90 seconds to play when McSorley dropped back and lofted a rainbow toward the back of the end zone to no one in particular

Lewis, who spent four long years in the program before finally earning significant playing time this fall, cradled it in his arms for the first pick of his career.

"I was just reading the quarterback the whole time," Lewis. "I saw it in the air and took it."

And dealt Franklin another significant blow in a tenure that is still searching for traction. A year after losing on the road in Philadelphia to Temple - next week's opponent - the Nittany Lions currently don't have bragging rights in any corner of the state after looking flat in the first half before getting back in it.

"The fact it was this close at the end of the game speaks volumes for us in the second half," Franklin said. "But we're going to have a hard time if we get ourselves into a 28-7 situation."

Saquon Barkley almost singlehandedly brought the Nittany Lions (1-1) all the way back. The sophomore running back totaled five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving), the most by a Penn State player since Ki-Jana Carter did it against Michigan State in 1994. Barkley's fifth score, a 2-yard dive with five minutes to play, drew the Nittany Lions within three.

"We started off slow, they punched us in the mouth first," Barkley said. "We responded but we've just got to come out earlier and be ready to play earlier."

SO CLOSE

Moments before Lewis' interception, McSorley threw a lob to wide-open DaeSean Hamilton, who was behind the Pitt defense and had nothing between himself and the go-ahead score. The ball smacked off Hamilton's hands and onto the turf instead.

"For us to get that close and not pull out a win is really upsetting," Hamilton said. "It just comes down to crunch time, us battling back so far and to see the game slip away from me right there is the hardest part."

THE TAKEAWAY

PENN STATE: Barkley is a star in the making but the Nittany Lions curiously didn't get him the ball when it was deep in Pitt territory trailing by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Penn State settled for a field goal instead and will have a year to think about what might have been.

PITT: First-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada's playbook is deep. A week after using a nondescript game plan to get past Villanova, Canada used a variety of jet sweeps, shovel passes and play-action to get the ball to his playmakers in space. The Panthers ran for 359 yards and held onto the ball for more than 35 minutes.

UP NEXT

PENN STATE: Welcomes the Owls to State College in a rematch of Temple's one-sided 27-10 win last year. Penn State plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Joe Paterno's first game as coach, a decision that has been met with stiff resistance in some areas, including the school's student newspaper.

PITT: The Panthers head west on Saturday to take on No. 22 Oklahoma State (1-1) for the first time in program history. The Cowboys lost on a last-second Hail Mary to Central Michigan.

Conner stars in return from cancer, Pitt tops Villanova 28-7

The comeback James Conner never doubted, not once, officially ended with an unremarkable 1-yard loss.

And while the Pittsburgh running back picked himself up and quietly headed back to the huddle early in the first quarter against Villanova on Saturday, thousands inside Heinz Field rose to their feet for a standing ovation that had nothing to do with football and everything to do with perseverance.

There will be plenty of time for Conner to nitpick his performance in Pitt's 28-7 season-opening win. Just not Saturday. Conner's well aware of the significance of his familiar No. 24 jersey sprinting onto the field for the first time in 364 days, a layoff that began with a knee injury last September against Youngstown State then became something far more harrowing when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma around Thanksgiving.

The road back included months of chemotherapy treatment, sessions that left him drained but undaunted. He soldiered through spring practice wearing a mask during drills to protect his depleted immune system, all the while hoping his example would resonate with those facing similar battles. It's a role he never envisioned having to fill, but one he's willingly embraced.

It's why the stands were filled with family members, the medical staff that helped restore him to health and hundreds of friends from back home in Erie, Pennsylvania. Conner's two-touchdown performance was as much a testament to their support as it was his resolve. At the same time he's only too happy to put this chapter - the first chapter anyway - behind him and get back to football and not the disease that temporarily brought the 2014 ACC Player of the Year's blossoming career to a halt.

"It's not my first game," Conner said. "I know it's a comeback game but it's felt like a regular season football camp really. My battle was already won, beating cancer. Everything else was a reward."

There was rust to be sure. There were also signs that he's going to be just fine. The proof came in the second quarter when Conner took a handoff and raced around the left end, stiff-arming a Villanova defender before crossing the goal line to give the Panthers the lead while the teammates who elected him as one of Pitt's three captains raced to congratulate him.

"That first touchdown couldn't be any better, stiff-arm into the end zone right into the student section," quarterback Nate Peterman said. "It was an emotional moment."

Conner was at it again just before the half, hauling in a 9-yard score by making a difficult grab in traffic over the middle. He finished with 53 yards on 17 carries and added three receptions for 16 yards as Pitt avoided an embarrassing slip-up a week before a highly anticipated showdown with Penn State.

"I'm sure as we watch the tape we're going to have a lot of corrections for him," coach Pat Narduzzi said. "Mainly that he's looking for a touchdown every play instead of hitting it up there for three or four yards and be happy with it. It's been a long time since he stepped on the field in a game situation. He made plays when he needed to."

Quadree Henderson returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a score to break things open. Peterman completed 19 of 32 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, including a pretty 16-yard lob to Jester Weah with six minutes to go. Still, the Panthers managed just 211 total yards.

The Wildcats controlled play for portions of the first half, but three straight drives into Pitt territory failed to produce any points, giving the Panthers time to get going. Rob Rolle returned a Peterman fumble 3 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter for Villanova's only score.

THE TAKEAWAY

Villanova: Coach Andy Tally said entering his 32nd and final season the Wildcats will have to rely heavily on their defense. There's reason for optimism as Villanova stayed within striking distance, keeping Pitt's running game in check for the most part and preventing big plays.

Pitt: The Panthers will need the passing game to develop quickly if they want to make noise in the crowded ACC Coastal Division. Villanova stacked the line of scrimmage and dared Peterman to throw it, which he did with only middling success.

UP NEXT

Villanova: Host Lehigh in their home opener.

Pitt: Resumes its rivalry with Penn State after a 15-year hiatus when the Nittany Lions visit Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh Panthers Season Preview

Narduzzi and his new staff will welcome back 17 returning starters from last year’s team, eight on off ense and seven on defense, as well as both PK Chris Blewitt and P Ryan Winslow... Heading into the fall, the main priorities are to fi ll the gaps on the off ensive line and fi nd a receiver to complement Boyd...Th e line should be helped by the return of C Artie Rowell, who can play C or G and missed all but two games of last year with an injury...Rowell will join returning starters T Adam Bisnowaty, G Dorian Johnson and C Alex Offi cer...At the other tackle, sophomore Aaron Reese will be a viable candidate while redshirt freshman Alex Bookser, also a leading candidate to fi ll the vacant guard position, is a possibility at tackle as well...At WR, junior Dontez Ford (3 catches) sophomores Zach Challingsworth and Jester Weah are possibilities to take some pressure off Boyd who will be in line for national honors this fall... Conner leads a talented tailback corps that includes RB Chris James (437 yds, 5.0 avg.) ...With a year of experience under his belt, QB Chad Voytik should also be more consistent...Defensively, DT Darryl Render and NT Khaynin Mosley-Smith return inside... Senior DE Ejuan Price ended spring ahead of last year’s starter Shakir Soto at one end, while sophomore DE Rori Blair is at the other with junior NT Tyrique Jarrett battling Mosley-Smith for starting honors...MLB Matt Galambos (72 tackles) is the lone returning starter at linebacker, while Bam Bradley (36 tackles) and Nicholas Grigsby, who both saw action last year head to the fall as starter with Quintin Wirginis and redshirt freshman Jamal Davis competing for playing time...Th ree starters return to the secondary in CBs Lafayette Pitts and Avonte Maddox and FS Reggie Mitchell (62 tackles, 7 PBUs) with sophomore Pat Amara and junior Jevonte Pitts competing for the boundary safety position.