Everything You Need To Know: Pittsburgh

By: Kris Wright |
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Virginia has not forced a turnover on defense this season. ~ Mike Ingalls

Virginia’s non-conference schedule ended somewhere between poor and disastrous. The Hoos floundered at UCLA, left heartbroken against Notre Dame, survived a scare from William & Mary, and then got smashed by Boise State. The Hoos limped into their bye week at 1-3 as a result with many questions and uncertain answers.

When the Cavaliers return to action this Saturday for their ACC opener, they are trying to take a fresh mentality into Pittsburgh.

“Now that you get into the conference play where you’re 0 and 0 and you have opportunities … to realize some goals and opportunities that you set at the beginning of the season,” UVa coach Mike London said.

The Hoos have lofty aspirations. Players like Ross Burbank openly talk about playing for championships and making it back to bowl eligibility. The next eight weeks will determine if those hopes are realistic or rhetoric. To make a bowl game happen, they will need to defy recent history. Since making it to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in 2011, Virginia owns a 5-19 record in conference play. At 1-3 currently, the Cavaliers need to produce a 5-3 record in their eight ACC games to reach the 6-6 barrier.

The first shot at one of those wins comes at Pitt on Saturday. Here’s Everything You Need To Know.

Essentials

Game Nuggets

  • UVa and Pitt first met in football in 1953. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series 4-3. The Cavaliers won the most recent meeting in 2014, but the Panthers are 3-0 at home in the series.
  • This is the seventh season over the last 10 years season that Virginia will open ACC play on the road. This is UVa’s latest ACC opener since opening at Duke on Oct. 12, 1968 and the fourth latest conference opener in program history. The Cavaliers’ win against Louisville in 2014 snapped a four-year losing streak in ACC openers.
    Virginia enters this game after a bye week on the schedule. The program is 27-29 all-time after a bye week, but 5-2 all-time under coach Mike London.
  • Pitt can notch its first 4-1 start since 2009 with a win. The Panthers are also 1-0 in ACC play after defeating Virginia Tech last week. Since joining the ACC in 2013, Pitt has not won its opening two league games.
  • Pittsburgh has claimed 699 all-time wins in program history – the next win puts the Panthers in the 700-win club with just 18 other Bowl Subdivision teams.

Spotlight On Pitt’s Ejuan Price

While Virginia coach Mike London joked that Pitt junior receiver Tyler Boyd had been around for what feels like more than three years, one of the real old-timers on the roster is Ejuan Price. The defensive end is in his fifth season at Pitt, making him one of just two players on the roster to have played for former coach Todd Graham. Graham left after one season and was followed by Paul Chryst, who stayed for just three.

Price appears to be a candidate for a potential sixth year after two season-ending injuries earlier in his career. After playing as a true freshman in 2011, he missed all of 2012 with a pectoral injury. He returned in 2013, but had his season cut short with a back injury. Price then sat out all of the 2014 season with a chest muscle injury.

In other words, it’s been a long road for the 6’0″, 255-pound Pennsylvania native. That’s one reason for his modest stats: 58 tackles in his career. Still, when healthy, Price has shown the ability to be disruptive as a defensive end (or hybrid linebacker in the past) and that can be a concern for Virginia this week (back in 2013, he had four tackles with two tackles for loss against the Hoos). His strengths are a quick first step off the line and a speed rush around the end – two areas that seem to give Michael Mooney and Eric Smith trouble at their tackle spots for UVa.

Price has eight career sacks despite those limited snaps. He’s leading the stout Pitt defense this season with three sacks, thanks to logging two sacks a week ago against Virginia Tech. That performance appears to have boosted Price’s confidence as he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that it “kind of lifts a weight off my shoulders.” Keep an eye on Price this weekend to see if he causes trouble in the trenches.

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Zach Bradshaw could be challenged by some back-side action from Pitt’s offense. ~ Mike Ingalls

Matchups To Watch

Pittsburgh receiver Tyler Boyd vs. Virginia corner Tim Harris and the secondary. As noted in the Boise State preview article, Virginia has had trouble with explosive receivers all season long. The Hoos have allowed eight touchdowns of at least 24 yards so far this season and six of those scores have come on passes to wide receivers (UCLA’s Thomas Duarte-30 yards, Notre Dame’s Will Fuller-59/39 yards, William & Mary’s DeVonte Dedmon-41 yards, Boise State’s Thomas Sperbeck 30/64). Boyd is as talented as any of those players so he’ll be a handful for UVa this week. He caught three passes for 63 yards in last season’s meeting and he torched the Cavaliers for 111 yards and a touchdown on seven catches in 2013. That’s one of 12 career 100-yard games for Boyd.

Virginia running back Taquan Mizzell vs. Pittsburgh linebackers Nicholas Grigsby and Bam Bradley. Mizzell leads the nation’s running backs with 292 receiving yards (the only RB with two 100-yard receiving games). One way UVa uses those pass-catching skills is by getting Mizzell matched up on linebackers. Mizzell’s ability to change direction quickly out of cuts allows him to get those LBs off balance and then take advantage of the space. In the last two games, he’s posted touchdown catches of 80 and 45 yards. Outside linebackers Grigsby and Bradley will need to be on their game when challenged this week; Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi called Mizzell “electric” and “a heck of a football player” so you know the Panthers will be prepared.

Pittsburgh defensive back Avonte Maddox vs. Virginia quarterback Matt Johns. Johns is coming off a nightmare performance against Boise State where he completed 12 of 25 passes with three interceptions (two pick-6 style) and three sacks. Maddox, meanwhile, is thriving with Pitt’s new coaches. He has seven passes defended (six breakups and one interception), an average of 1.8 per contest. That is tied for first in the ACC and 12th nationally. The Hoos picked on corner Lafayette Pitts a little bit in last season’s game so keep an eye on that side too.

Virginia linebacker Zach Bradshaw vs. Pittsburgh tight end J.P. Holtz. Bradshaw has been caught out of position on the backside of play-action or misdirection looks multiple times through four games so look for Pitt to test him in this one. One way to do that is with Holtz, the Panthers’ second-leading receiver with seven catches for 102 yards. The senior tight end has two touchdown catches and Pitt potentially can manufacture an opportunity in the red zone against Bradshaw. Narduzzi also noted this week that one way to take advantage of double teams on Boyd is with Holtz and company at tight end.

Kris’ Keys

1. Block somebody. Virginia’s offensive line continues to be a picture of inconsistency. While the loss numbers aren’t disastrous (top 45 in sacks allowed and tackles for loss allowed), the line isn’t creating much running room for the backs and receivers. And Matt Johns has moved away from pressure to help the line out on passing downs. If the O-Line can raise its level of play for conference games, it would help the offense.

2. Get to third down. The Panthers are tied for 67th nationally in third down conversion offense at 38.98%, while the Hoos are 31st nationally in third down conversion defense at 30.36% allowed. The issue, of course, is that Virginia isn’t getting to third down safety often enough. Opponents have just 56 third down attempts, which is the 17th fewest in the nation. Why? The Hoos are 118th in first down passing yards allowed and 95th in second down rushing yards allowed. Explosive plays are a big part of that equation.

3. Don’t let penalties stifle opportunities. Virginia ranks 72nd nationally in penalty yards per game and is tied for 62nd in penalties with 30. Pitt, on the other hand, is among the national leaders in fewest penalties (10th) and fewest penalty yards per game (eighth). Penalties can crush a team’s momentum and mentality when the other team isn’t committing the same mistakes.

The Pick

Virginia can win if … Matt Johns finds the openings. Against Boise State, Johns struggled from the outset. He had trouble reading coverage, hesitated regularly, and locked on to receivers throughout. Pitt’s aggressive defensive style will differ from BSU’s ‘drop eight’ strategy that was featured before the bye and Johns has seen heavy doses of that from Jon Tenuta’s side in practice. If he can get more comfortable and find the right openings – he has lot of weapons on hand all of the sudden as the Hoos get healthy – it could spark the offense and lead to a win.

Virginia can lose if … turnovers are lopsided again. The Hoos are last in the nation in turnover margin with nine turnovers lost and zero gained. Against Boise State, Virginia had five turnovers and that included two direct scores off of interceptions. If this trend continues, it’ll be another long day.

And the winner is … Pitt. This game is on the road. Mike London hasn’t guided his team to the winner’s circle on the road since 2012 at NC State. While that road win in Raleigh came off a bye week as well and London has had post-bye success overall at 5-2, I don’t expect the Hoos to make enough plays to win at Heinz Field. Panthers 28, Hoos 21. 2015 record to date: 3-1.