Driving in the fourth quarter with his team down 24-13, Pittsburgh redshirt sophomore quarterback Chad Voytik eluded the Cavalier pass rush and passed to senior running back Isaac Bennett 17 yards downfield to complete a critical first down.
The reception brought the Panthers (3-3, 1-1 ACC) to the Virginia (4-2, 2-0 ACC) 31-yard line, prime positioning to turn their 10 unanswered points since halftime into 17.
Then, the Cavaliers pushed back.
Senior strong safety Anthony Harris blitzed Voytik on first down, bringing him down for an 11-yard loss. After junior defensive end Mike Moore and sophomore outside linebacker Max Valles teamed up bring down Voytik as he scrambled on second-and-21, Pittsburgh was back at the Virginia 44.
The consecutive sacks encapsulated Virginia’s second-half effort against Pittsburgh under the lights Saturday night at Scott Stadium. Though the Cavaliers did not score a point after the break and ceded 16 to the Panthers, Virginia toughed out a 24-19 victory before 43,307 fans on one of the chilliest nights this fall season.
“We were resilient," coach Mike London said. "We made plays in the end when we had to do so. Again — with the effort — your hat goes off to players that make those types of plays.”
With their second straight win and fourth in five games, the Cavaliers head into a bye week tied with Georgia Tech atop the seven-team Coastal Division, a league senior middle linebacker Henry Coley said earlier this week is there for the taking by whomever is ready to seize it.
Pittsburgh sophomore running back James Conner rumbled for nine yards on the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage and chugged for 11 more in the next two. The six-foot-two, 250-pound Conner entered the game second in the nation in rushing touchdowns and total rushing yards.
Conner, though, who posted 83 yards on 21 carries, could not keep up with Virginia senior Kevin Parks.
Parks cut inside for 12 yards on his first carry of the game and threw a shifty spin move at the Panther defense to pick up nine yards on his third. The senior running back racked up a career-high 169 yards on 29 rushes for the game, including a 48-yard touchdown to spot Virginia a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter.
“This game was one of those games that he was making himself known,” London said. “He was a dominant force out there for us out there today, and I’m happy for him to have a career day.”
Parks said he fed off the Panthers’ meat-and-potatoes approach to the business of the gridiron. Pittsburgh came into Saturday eighth nationally in total defense, yielding a mere 265.2 yards per game. Parks ate up more than half that figure in the first half alone, when he racked up 115 yards on 16 rushes. On his touchdown run, he hit his hole and built up a head of steam in the open field.
“It was a very physical game, and that’s what I’m about — these tough games, grind-it-out games,” Parks said. “I feel like that’s my game and that’s my style, so it was very fun tonight for me.”
Parks was not the only Cavalier to play inspired football, however. On a night when Scott Stadium positively buzzed and students flooded the student section and the Hill, Virginia and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild got creative.
Late in the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Matt Johns rushed three yards to the Pittsburgh 32-yard line. On the next play, he slung a horizontal pass to senior receiver Miles Gooch, who fired a 28-yard strike to senior tight end Zachary Swanson to move Virginia to the Panther four.
Prior to the flea flicker, Gooch, a converted quarterback, had not thrown a pass in a game since his senior year at Towers High School in Decatur, Georgia.
Johns complimented Gooch on his spiral, but Gooch was not sure about his pass as he let it fly.
“To be honest with you, I was so happy that it was a completion,” Gooch said. “As soon as I let it go, I’m like, ‘Oh, please get there, please.’ And Zach made the catch.”
The play set-up Johns’ three-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Khalek Shepherd for a 17-3 Virginia advantage.
Just 68 seconds later, Valles stepped in front of a Voytik pass intended for Conner and took it back 35 yards for his first touchdown in a Cavalier uniform.
“It’s been a while since I had the ball and [was] running with it, so I made sure I had it high and tight so I didn’t fumble,” Valles said.
After the break, Pittsburgh issued its retort.
Panthers redshirt sophomore receiver Dontez Ford blocked a punt by senior co-captain Alec Vozenilek to give Pittsburgh possession at the Virginia 31 with 12:50 to play in the third quarter.
The Panthers made the most of their field position five plays later, when redshirt senior receiver Manasseh Garner beat normally lockdown junior cornerback Maurice Canady down the right sideline and hauled in a 17-yard touchdown reception.
After freshman cornerback Pat Amara picked off Johns, the Panthers looked to put another seven points on the board. Virginia, however, came up with a goal-line stand, snuffing out Conner rush attempts on first and second down and holding Pittsburgh to a field goal.
The Panthers scored once more with 1:20 left in the game on Voytik’s pass to junior tight end J.B. Holtz in the back of the end zone, a play that cut the Cavalier lead to 24-19. But their two-point conversion failed, as did their bid to regain possession via onside kick.
The Cavaliers are off this weekend and return to action Oct. 18 against Duke in Durham, North Carolina. The game’s start time has not been announced.
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