After Virginia cornerback Maurice Canady intercepted a pass against Kent State and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown, there was renewed discussion of how teams had been avoiding Canady for much of the early season games. He had been targeted just eight times before the KSU game.

Pittsburgh didn’t get the message. In fact, the Panthers appeared to be deliberately going after Canady with a specific route in the red zone. Both looked similar to last season’s touchdown by Devin Street that beat Canady at Pitt so that’s not surprising.

In the second half following a blocked punt, Pitt faced third-and-seven from the 18-yard line. The Panthers aligned with two receivers and an H-Back to the right of quarterback Chad Voytik under center. Before the snap, Pittsburgh motioned H-Back Scott Orndorff out wide to create a three receiver look to the wide side of the field. That movement shifted Virginia’s coverage responsibilities because Brandon Phelps was assigned to the outer most receiver and he moved out to take Orndorff. That moved Canady off the inside receiver to the middle receiver while linebacker Daquan Romero took responsibility for the inner most receiver.

At the snap, Pittsburgh’s Manasseh Garner got a clean release and turned outside to run past Maurice Canady. From his starting point on the hash marks, that gave him the angle he wanted for a corner route to the back right pylon. He gained just enough leverage and space to make the touchdown catch on Voytik’s throw.

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