Pitt wins thriller against Virginia to nail down ACC Coastal championship

With the lights high above Heinz Field bouncing off the ACC Coastal championship trophy Saturday night, Pat Narduzzi couldn’t help thinking about an even greater prize.

After all, winning half a title was never a goal.

“Winning the division is nice, but I’ve been part of division championships,” Pitt’s seven-year coach said after the Panthers’ 48-38 victory against Virginia nailed down the Coastal title for the second time in four years.

“But the real championship is to come. We want to win an ACC Championship. I think that’s the ultimate goal.

“Until we do that, like Clemson has, we haven’t done anything, to be honest with you.

“What really have we done?”

Actually, it’s a question that has an easy answer.

For starters, Pitt earned a berth in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 4 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. They will play the Atlantic winner that will be decided next week among Wake Forest, N.C. State and Clemson.

The Coastal was Saturday’s prize. How Pitt captured it was the real story, played out in front of 45,183 people inside Heinz Field.

Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison, candidates for the Heisman and Biletnikoff trophies, were the playmakers. Pickett completed 26 of 42 passes for 340 yards, including four touchdown passes to Addison.

The final dagger came on third-and-5 with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game. Pitt was nursing what looked like a shaky 41-38 lead, but Pickett threw a line drive that Addison yanked from the grasp of Virginia’s Darrius Bratton. He turned and sprinted into the end zone for his Pitt record-tying fourth touchdown.

“We’ve been working on that play all week in practice,” Addison said. “When gametime came, third down, my team needed a play, I was just happy to go out there and make it for them. (Bratton) almost had it, and I just had to go get it.”

Players on the Pitt bench feared the worst.

“When that ball was thrown, we thought it was going to be intercepted,” linebacker John Petrishen said.

Addison liked the element of surprise in the play.

“Third and short,” Addison said, “I’m thinking (Virginia) is thinking, it’s going to be a run play and we’re going to play it safe.

“Coach Whip (offensive coordinator Mark Whipple) made a great call, put the players in position to make a good play and we just went out there and executed.”

Going for broke on third and fourth down was the theme of Pitt’s offense. Two of Addison’s touchdowns were fourth-down calls that might have been a field-goal attempt or punt under other circumstances.

In the second quarter, Pitt had fourth-and-14 from the Virginia 18 when Narduzzi allowed Whipple, Pickett and Addison to seize the moment. Pickett hit Addison for a score.

Then, in the third quarter, the score was tied at 24 and Pitt needed only 1 yard on fourth down from the Virginia 34.

Again, Pickett found Addison in the end zone.

“It’s not easy as a head coach watching us throw the ball on fourth and 1,” Narduzzi said. “They thought it was there, and it was. It was a great call, and we made some big plays.”

They were part of Addison’s 14-catch, 202-yard effort, making him the first Pitt pass catcher since Larry Fitzgerald in 2003 to surpass 200 yards.

Pickett, who has thrown multiple touchdown passes in every game this season, set a Pitt standard for passing yards in a season (3,857), surpassing Rod Rutherford’s 3,679 in 2003. His four scoring strikes gave him 36 this season, one off the school record set by Dan Marino in 1981 and tied by Rutherford in 2003.

“Maybe (they will) tie for the Heisman,” Narduzzi said of Pickett and Addison. “If Jordan Addison didn’t get the Biletnikoff (Saturday), I don’t know who does.”

Added Pickett: “I hope there are no questions about that. He played out of his mind today. I made sure I knew where No. 3 was at all times. He gives us our best chance (to win).”

Playing all but three snaps without middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who was ejected in the first quarter for targeting, Pitt survived several lapses on defense. Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who missed the previous game with a rib injury, threw for three touchdowns and 487 yards, almost all of Virginia’s 514-yard total.

But Pitt had something that Virginia didn’t have. Vincent Davis ran for 100 yards on 12 carries and Izzy Abanikanda returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

The defense did have its moments. Pitt collected five sacks – two by senior defensive end Deslin Alexandre and 1 ½ each by Calijah Kancey and John Morgan.

Still, Petrishen wasn’t satisfied.

“A lot of things to work on. There are some mistakes,” he said. “I made a few mistakes. Other guys wish they could have a few plays back as well.

“If we would have lost today, we would have been really disappointed in our defense giving up a few big plays.

“Seeing (the Pitt offense) score touchdown after touchdown (we said), we need to get a stop and help those guys out.”

After the game, Petrishen was thinking like his coach. He believes there’s more work to be done.

“We want to enjoy it for the next two hours,” he said. “Once (Sunday) comes along, we have bigger goals that we’re chasing. We wanted the ACC Coastal championship, but we want the big one even more. This is just a box being checked on the way to our big goal.”