CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va — Pitt defeated Virginia 37-7 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 6-4 on the season. The Panthers jumped out to a 28-0 first quarter lead thanks to a pair of interception returns by MJ Devonshire and Marquis Williams on the first two plays of the game.

Here are five takeaways from Pitt's win on Saturday.

A once in a lifetime start

I think every football fan always comes up with the dream scenario before each and every game. ‘They’re going to run back the opening kickoff…or a touchdown pass on the first play’…well the dream scenario kind of actually happened for Pitt on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers had an astonishing 14-0 lead just :16 seconds in the game and the offense (or special teams) were not the ones to make those plays happen. The Pitt defense looked like they threw some zone blitz schemes at Brennan Armstrong early on, and the veteran quarterback looked confused, OK, he looked very confused. Armstrong floated two ill-advised passes to open the game, and both times Pitt made him pay with 6 points. The first one went to MJ Devonshire, the second to Marquis Williams. It was the second time this year that each player had a ‘pick six’ in a game. Devonshire’s one against West Virginia drew the attention, but Williams had one of his own against Western Michigan. They are the first players for Pitt to have two pick sixes in a season since Darrelle Revis accomplished that feat back in 2006.

Both were huge plays today, and really set the tone for a Pitt win.

You can always come up with that dream start in your head and rarely does it happen as you have it scripted, but Pitt actually got to go out and live it on Saturday. The Panthers took that 14-0 advantage to start the game, and turned that into a 37-7 victory.

The defense is playing at a high level

The Pitt defense has only surrendered one touchdown in the last two games and unsurprisingly the Panthers are 2-0 in both contests following Saturday’s 37-7 win over Virginia. The two interceptions stole all the attention, but really this was a great four quarter effort by the Panthers defense.

At halftime, the Virginia offense only had 60 yards of total offense, and at one time during the first half they punted on five straight possessions. Pitt took away their running game entirely, and of course really piled on with the sacks as well.

Pitt recorded eight sacks as a team with All-American candidate Calijah Kancey leading the charge with three of his own. He is the first Pitt player to record three sacks in a game since Patrick Jones did it back in 2020. Kancey looked like the best player on the field on Saturday, and backed it up with an All-American level performance.

Virginia’s offense has been off the tracks all season long. The Cavaliers were without leading receiver Kenton Thompson as well, and it showed. Armstrong still came out firing, and while that turned out to be the biggest issue in the game, he just never really looked comfortable out there.

Pitt’s defense was in control for the entire game, and even after Virginia’s one scoring drive, the defense clamped down even further and shut the door and threw away the key.

The two best aspects of this Pitt team right now are running the ball and playing good defense. In the year 2022, it’s not the most commonly used strategy to win football games, but that’s what they have and the Panthers are 2-0 this month employing that game plan.

The passing game showing some signs of life

For the first time since September, Pitt made it an entire game without turning the ball over, which had been an issue throughout a dreadful month of October. The Panthers did not really play a great offensive game. The early two-score lead sort of made them play more complacent and conservative then then you would have liked to see.

Having said that, Saturday’s game against Virginia was one of the better showings for Kedon Slovis in months. The Pitt quarterback spread it around to his different weapons, protected the football, and kept the offense moving for the most part. They need to find the end zone more often to be sure, but penalties and miscues by others seemed to be the cause of that more than the play of the quarterback.

Slovis finished 14-of-24 for 204 yards. He threw a 31-yard touchdown to Bub Means in the first quarter. Slovis had six of his completions go 16-yards of more. There has been a better deep ball element to Pitt’s offense of late, and he’s finding some rhythm hitting guys like Jared Wayne and Means for big games.

You would still like to see more from Slovis, the play calling, and just the entire offense overall. There is no question, and Pat Narduzzi said as much following the game, but you are also looking for any positives or signs of improvement. No turnovers and hitting on big plays are two good things, and those were helpful in Pitt’s win on Saturday.

Izzy being Izzy

Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda did not play last week against Syracuse. The Panthers’ star tailback did dress that day, and probably could have played if the team felt he really needed him, but they held him out with a shoulder injury. Abanikanda dressed on Saturday, but you could tell early from the time he hit the field at Scott Stadium that he was there to play.

After missing last week, the ACC’s leading rusher picked up right where he left off and rushed for 121 yards and 1 touchdown on 24 carries. It was not a game where Abanikanda dazzled with long touchdowns or highlight reel plays, it was just an elite running back churning out yardage in a workmanlike effort.

Abanikanda has now rushed for over 100 yards in seven of the nine games he has played. He has 17 rushing touchdowns on the season, which tied him for the fourth highest single season total in Pitt history with Dion Lewis. The three players higher on that list are James Conner, Tony Dorsett, and LeSean McCoy.

Not bad company to keep for Abanikanda.

He has been solid all season long, and Saturday’s game only added to that. Abanikanda didn’t need to have a huge game, he just needed to be himself. Fortunately for this Pitt team, being himself is rushing for over 100 yards and a touchdown against a conference opponent. Not bad for the Brooklyn native.

A big game with…Duke?

Pitt’s goals of winning the ACC Coastal are long gone, but just after talking to Pat Narduzzi and the players in the postgame, there does seem to be an emphasis on a late season push to finish the year strong. They always preach going 1-0 every week, but you did hear the sense that they want to go undefeated in November.

The Panthers are 2-0 this month, and have churned out two solid victories to gain bowl eligibility in the process. It’s been a welcomed change from October for this football team, after a dreadful 1-3 record that month.

Next on the horizon for Pitt is a home game with Duke. It will be Senior Day at Acrisure Stadium and the home finale for the Panthers. Pitt has played better football, especially on defense, in the past two weeks, but in order to go 7-4, they’ll need that kind of effort again against the Blue Devils.

Duke was not expected to do to much under first-year head coach Mike Elko, but the Blue Devils are off to a 7-3 start and they have won three in a row, including a 24-7 decision over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Duke boasts a productive offense behind first-year starting quarterback Riley Leonard. The Blue Devils also like to run the ball as well, with four players over 300 yards rushing for the season.

Duke is a big game for Pitt, and that in itself is a surprise given who the opponent is. The ACC Coastal sort of got turned on its head in the final year of existence. Teams like Miami and Pitt were supposed to be the top teams, but North Carolina has taken that top spot, and a team like Duke really surprised this season and outplayed expectations.

Pitt can’t win the ACC. They can’t win 10 games. We all know this, but they can win next week and move to 7-4 on the season. That has to be the goal, and judging from that locker room, it is the goal.