Virginia hopes bye week will help to bounce back at Pitt

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia, hoping to snap a three-game losing streak, heads to Pittsburgh this weekend where the Cavaliers will be a 7-point underdog to Pitt’s Panthers. The game is set for 8 p.m. on the ACC Network.

UVA (4-4, 2-3 ACC) is coming off its second bye week of the season and hopes to bounce back after a lopsided home loss to North Carolina. Pitt (7-1, 3-1) was pummeled by a 48-25 count in a conference showdown at SMU last Saturday night.

As a result, the Panthers slipped from No. 18 to No. 23 in the AP poll, but more importantly, blew a golden opportunity to put themselves in position to play for the ACC Championship and possibly a College Football Playoff spot in the process.

The Cavaliers were off to a 4-1 start and have tailspinned, giving them a slim chance of becoming bowl-eligible. Virginia will likely be underdogs in its remaining four games: at Pitt, at Notre Dame, home vs. SMU, at Virginia Tech.

More information on Virginia’s preparation will be available after Tony Elliott’s game week press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Pitt went to SMU for a game with huge implications. With Clemson losing earlier in the day against Louisville, the winner of Pitt-SMU appeared to be in the driver’s seat, along with Miami, to qualify for the ACC title tilt. SMU and Miami are both unbeaten in the conference standings.

Pitt looked unprepared as it fell behind 21-3 quickly in the game and managed to score only 3 points in the first 44 minutes as SMU rolled to a 48-25 victory.

The Panthers’ offensive line couldn’t protect quarterback Eli Holstein, who was pressured on 20 of his 57 dropbacks, as Pitt had to abandon the run and go to its passing attack in hopes of coming from behind.

Pitt’s defense wasn’t much better, having missed 15 tackles, some of those leading to big plays for the Mustangs.