Preview: Pitt Looks For Response Against Virginia

No. 23 Pitt Panthers looks for response against Virginia.

Oct 24, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein (10) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Syracuse Orange at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

PITTSBURThe Pitt Panthers are coming off their first loss of the 2024 season against SMU and hope to regroup after the loss against a bottom-tier ACC team in Virginia this weekend.

Pitt Suffers First Defeat of 2024

Pitt played its worst game of the season against SMU last weekend, losing 48-25 and the score doesn't reflect how poor of a performance they put on

Redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein had another underachieving performance with 248 yards through the air, a 60% completion percentage, an interception and no touchdowns to account for.

Backup in redshirt junior quarterback Nate Yarnell helped clean the score up for Pitt, tossing two touchdowns in relief of Holstein, but against the SMU backups.

The Panthers’ defense wasn’t much better than the offense, allowing a season-high 48 points and missed 16 total tackles according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Mustangs redshirt sophomore quarterback Kevin Jennings diced up the Panthers' defense, throwing for two touchdowns and passing for 306 yards on a 68% completion percentage.

SMU senior running back Brashard Smith also had a successful night against the struggling Pitt defense, rushing for 161 yards (182 total) and scoring three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) on his 27 touches. 

Pitt also struggled on special teams, with redshirt senior placekicker Ben Sauls missing his first field goal of the season and redshirt junior Caleb Junko having his worst game of the season, with a number of poor punts.

Virginia Recent Struggles

Pitt hosts a struggling Virginia team, coming off of a bye last weekend and three straight defeats.

They lost 24-20 to Louisville at home in Week 7, 48-31 to No. 10 Clemson on the road in Week 8 and suffered a 41-14 blowout to North Carolina at home in Week 9.

The Cavaliers only totaled 288 yards against the Tar Heels and allowed their opponent to amass 428 yards on offense.

Cavaliers offensive preview

The Cavaliers have the No. 15-ranked scoring offense in the ACC (third worst), scoring 26.3 points per game and the No. 9-ranked total offense in the ACC, tallying 405.5 yards per game.

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who has the 10th most passing yards in the ACC, leads the Cavaliers on offense.

He has spearhead the seventh-best passing attack in the ACC, with 1,805 passing yards, a 62.5% completion percentage, 13 total touchdowns (11 passing, 2 rushing), six interceptions and 219 rushing yards, which ranks third most on Virginia.

Colandrea had arguably his worst performance of the season against North Carolina, throwing two interceptions, no touchdowns and only throwing for 156 yards.

Virginia head coach Tony Elliott benched him for graduate student Tony Muskett who had a far better game, throwing a touchdown and passing for 125 yards.

Colandrea’s favorite target this season is senior wide receiver Malachi Fields, who has the third most receiving yards in the ACC with 654 yards on his 43 receptions, along with four receiving touchdowns

Fields caught his first collegiate touchdown when he last faced the Panthers in 2022, the only score in a 37-7 defeat.

The only other receiver on Virginia’s roster with over 300 receiving yards is graduate student tight end Tyler Neville, who has 26 receptions for 315 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cavaliers rushing attack is not as potent as its passing attack, ranking 11th in the ACC with 140.5 yards per game. Graduate student running back Kobe Pace, a Clemson transfer, has the bulk of the Cavaliers' carries with 88 carrires for 390 yards and two touchdowns, along with 16 receptions for 162 yards.

Junior running back Xavier Brown is the second-string running back for Virginia, and he has had a solid season so far, rushing for 368 yards on 53 carries, good for 6.9 yards per carry. Brown doesn’t have any rushing touchdowns on the year, but he has one receiving touchdown on his six receptions for 95 yards.

Virginia defensive preview 

Holstein has the perfect opportunity to figure out all of his troubles against one of the worst defenses in the ACC. The Cavaliers rank No. 14 in scoring defense in the ACC (fourth worst), allowing 27.6 points per game and No. 15 in total defense (third worst), suffering 408.8 yards per game. 

The Virginia defense has especially struggled against the aerial attack, ranking No. 16 in the ACC in passing defense (second worst), giving up 275.1 passing yards per game and has only five interceptions this season — half the amount that Pitt has in 2024.

Cavaliers senior safety Jonas Sanker is one of the few player who has excelled the season on defense.

Sanker ranks No. 8 in the ACC in total tackles per game with eight per game, has five tackles for a loss and three pass breakups this season. He is the only Virginia defender to take home an ACC Defensive Player of the Week award, winning ACC Defensive Back of the Week twice for his performances against Boston College in a home win in Week 6 and Louisville. 

The Cavaliers' defense is far better against the rush, ranking No. 7 in the ACC against opponents' rushing attack, only allowing 133.6 yards per game.

Sanker, who has 64 total tackles on the year and senior linebacker James Jackson who has the 13th most tackles per game in the ACC with 7.2, both lead Virginia in tackles.

Typically, a sign of a solid rushing defense in college is a team’s ability to get to the quarterback, but that is not the case for Virginia. They have just 12 sacks on the year, half as many as Pitt at 2024.

Virginia mostly succeeds at not letting opponents' running backs to not have massive games against it. 

This should give star junior running back Desmond Reid a great chance to exploit their defense on the ground and also as a receiver, ranking No. 5 in the FBS with 156.29 all-purpose yards per game.

Pitt should win this weekend, ranking better in every offensive and defensive team statistic aforementioned.

A loss against Virginia would ruin any hopes Pitt has of making it to the College Football Playoff but a win would set Pitt up for a pivotal game against No. 18 Clemson in Week 12 at home.

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