Pitt is second in the ACC in total defense. Virginia Tech is fifth, but the past two weeks, the Hokies have been the Hokies of old on D.
Saturday in Lane Stadium will be a backyard brawl.
It also has the effect of being a playoff game in the context of the ACC Coastal race. Pitt (7-3, 4-2 ACC) already has a loss to division leader Virginia (7-3, 5-2 ACC), which hosts Virginia Tech next week, but there are scenarios where the Panthers could lose this weekend and still end up repeating as Coastal champs.
And for Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2 ACC), same thing, with that game in Charlottesville as a possible pathway.
That said, win, and you’re better off, clearly.
More context for this one comes from the 2018 52-22 Pitt blowout of the Hokies.
Obviously, different teams – Pitt was on its way to a Coastal championship, Tech was in the midst of a four-game losing streak and its first losing season in 26 years.
That said, anything we can glean from the 2018 matchup?
“I mean, you watch it, you look at it. You obviously change things up from what you did a year ago, so you’re never going to keep anything the same. You have to do something different offensively and defensively,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said at his Monday presser.
“But it’s a totally different football game. Last year doesn’t matter, two years ago doesn’t matter. It’s 2019, it’s this football team. It’s the talent and the personnel you have right now that you have to deal with and work with.”
And the 2019 Pitt team is different, very different, particularly on offense, which is much more pass-oriented than the 2018 Panthers, who had two 1,000-yard rushers and ran for 227.9 yards per game.
The ’19 Panthers throw the ball 40.5 times per game, up significantly from the 22.6 pass attempts from a year ago.
The 2019 Hokies are also a very different team, even from what they were just a couple of weeks ago.
In its past two games, the Tech defense held Wake Forest to 301 total yards, more than 200 yards below its season average coming in, and held Georgia Tech to just 134 yards in a 45-0 whitewash of the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.
The Pitt D has been stout from the get-go in 2019, ranking second in the ACC in total defense (298.0 yards per game) and leading the nation in sacks (4.5 per game).
Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente acknowledged the challenge that his young offensive line faces on Saturday.
“They have a great third-down package where they mix up the looks and bring guys from everywhere and then also drop out in coverage,” Fuente said at his Monday presser. “They’re talented pass rushers. They’re not just third-down scheme rushers, they are a penetrating defense, an aggressive defense on early downs as well, and they’re able to get pressure with only four people. So, that can make for a dangerous recipe if you get behind the chains.
“I don’t know what the statistics say, but watching the film I think they force people to throw the ball more than they want to because they are so good against the run. It’s going to be tight down the field, we know that going into the game, but they’ve certainly down a good job getting pressure on the quarterback.”
Story by Chris Graham
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