Oct 10, 2015 6 min read

PITTSBURGH – Saturday’s game at Heinz Field had the feel of many in the past for Pitt.

There was the methodical comeback by the opponent, several missed opportunities on offense and untimely turnovers; but these Panthers believe they have something teams of the past didn’t – a belief in themselves.

Even as Virginia marched down the field in the closing minutes as Pitt held on to a seven-point, first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi heard a few players say, ‘here we go again.’ The defense changed that perception.

The Cavaliers drove to Pitt’s 42-yard line on their final drive, but Pitt got a stop on fourth down to clinch a 26-19 ACC victory.

The Panthers are 2-0 in the ACC for the first time and improved to 4-1 overall for the first time since 2009.

A week after shutting down Virginia Tech and despite allowing 348 total yards, the Panthers’ defense got a safety by linebacker Mike Caprara in the fourth quarter and linebacker Matt Galambos’ 51-yard interception return set up quarterback Nate Peterman’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd in the third.

“They have to believe. Even halfway through that fourth quarter, it was kind of quiet and I was just trying to get them cranked up because they have to have emotion,” Narduzzi said. “You can’t lose that emotion. As coaches, it’s our job to not say, ‘here we go again.’ We aren’t going back that way. We aren’t taking that route.”

Virginia quarterback Matt Johns completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver T.J. Thorpe on 4th-and-23 late to help the the Cavaliers drive to the Pitt 42-yard line on the final drive, but four consecutive incomplete passes ended the comeback attempt.

After a slow start, Johns completed 17 of 33 passes for 209 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown pass to Canaan Severin to draw Virginia to within seven points with less than six minutes remaining.

“They are going to pressure you, but the key word was incompletions,” Virginia head coach Mike London said. “If those balls are completed, then guys are still running and the chains are moving. That is the difference between turnovers on downs.”

Peterman had another strong game for the Panthers, throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Scott Orndoff, a Waynesburg native and Seton-La Salle grad, for a 7-0 lead on the first drive. His touchdown to Boyd gave Pitt a 14-point cushion.

With Virginia (0-1, 1-4) double-covering Boyd, Orndoff was left wide open on a crossing route. He caught the ball and dragged free safety Quin Blanding with him into the end zone. He also caught a 26-yard pass later in the first quarter to set up Chris Blewitt’s 33-yard field goal.

Orndoff has 16 career catches with six career touchdowns. His 63 yards were a career high.

“With Tyler getting all of that attention, they are realizing that we can make plays in the passing game,” Orndoff said. “The coaching staff is actually setting up plays to give us opportunities. We still have to block and do our thing in the run game, but we’re having a lot of fun with the passing game.”

Running back Qadree Ollison added a 4-yard touchdown run midway in the first quarter, when the Panthers had 217 yards of total offense.

The success didn’t last. Pitt had just 40 yards in the second quarter and finished with 363.

Pitt settled for a field goal after wide receiver Jester Weah dropped a pass in the end zone and in the second quarter. Then a Peterman fumble on a sack was plucked out of the air by Virginia defensive end Kwontie Moore, who returned it 15 yards for a touchdown with 10:40 remaining in the second quarter to cut Pitt’s lead to 17-10.

Ollison also fumbled on Virginia’s 1-yard line when he was stretching for the end zone, which would have given Pitt an 18-point lead early in the fourth.

“We had some missed opportunities and you can’t win a championship with missed opportunities,” Narduzzi said. “There were so many plays where we could have made more (explosive plays) and not really turn it into the good game it was.”

Sophomore running back Chris James looked patient and explosive, rushing for 96 yards on 11 carries. Though the offense had some success, it needed the defense to help close out the game.

Two plays after Galambos’ interception, Peterman threw a ball up to Boyd near the right pylon and the All-America receiver jumped over a defender to catch it for a touchdown.

The Panthers had four sacks and now have 21 in five games – two more than they did last season – but none was bigger than Caprara’s. He sacked Johns for a safety three plays after Ollison’s fumble on the goal line.

Unlike in previous years, the defense embraced the pressure of stopping an opponent with the game on the line.

“Every time we get a chance to go out there, we’re saying ‘let’s go,’ Caprara said. “Put us out there. We want the stress on us so we can get the job done.”

Notes

Defensive end Ejuan Price blocked an extra point after Severin’s touchdown catch to make it a seven-point game. … Freshman safety Jordan Whitehead had a team-high 12 tackles. … Outside of a 71-yard run, Pitt held Virginia to 68 yards on 30 carries.