Pitt's loss to Virginia Tech was bad, but Boston College game offers hope

You can’t put makeup on Pitt’s shutout loss to Virginia Tech and make it look like anything but what it is:

A disappointing performance that included 10 penalties, something you might think would not happen to any team after four months of practice and 10 games. Especially a team that has shown fight all season and won seven times.

Yet, there remains hope, if only because a game remains in the regular season — Boston College on Saturday at Heinz Field — and Pitt is bowl eligible. There’s still time for Pitt (7-4, 4-3) to win nine games for the first time in 10 years. It should be noted, however, Pat Narduzzi is an 0-3 bowl coach.

Perhaps Boston College will present an opportunity for Pitt’s offense to get well after the Panthers fell to 96th in the nation and 12th in the ACC in average total yards (372.3, which is just 2.6 better than last season).

Boston College (5-6, 3-4) is 128th in total defense — only New Mexico and Massachusetts are worse — giving up an average of 488.2 yards. The Eagles allowed 48 (to Kansas), 41, 59, 38 and 40 points in five of their losses.

They are playing for bowl eligibility and have the nation’s No. 3 running back in A.J. Dillon, who has rushed for 1,507 yards this season (4,204 in three years).

But defense hasn’t been an issue this season for Pitt, which is sixth nationally and leads the ACC in run defense (92.6 yards per game). Virginia Tech dominated the game Saturday from start to finish but only totaled 263 yards, a season low for a Pitt opponent. The Hokies scored two of their four touchdowns on a fumble recovery and after Pitt gave up the ball on downs at its 25-yard line.

Junior center Jimmy Morrissey said he and his teammates will play the last game this season at Heinz Field “for our seniors.”

“They’ve given a lot to this program,” he said.

Senior linebacker Kylan Johnson said the best course of action is to forget the Virginia Tech game.

“We can’t really stay focused on that,” he said. “We’re moving on to Boston College. We’re disappointed. We lost, but we can’t stay mad at that.”

NOTES: Kicker Alex Kessman has taken over most of the punting duties from Kirk Christodoulou. Pitt punted nine times, and Kessman averaged 43.4 yards on eight of them, including five dropped inside the 20-yard line. … Pitt had three more sacks and leads the nation with 48, the most by a Pitt team since 1987.

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