MORE HEADLINES - Full box score: Virginia Tech 39, Pitt 36 | Video: Narduzzi's post-game press conference | Live coverage of the game as it happened | Narduzzi on the officiating

In the wake of another game that saw an opposing quarterback and his receivers face little resistance as they put up absurd numbers, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi struggled to offer much in the way of solutions.

“It was a fade-fest out there and our corners were in position to make plays,” Narduzzi said Thursday night after Pitt lost to Virginia Tech 39-36.

“Gotta make one.”

That seems to be the bottom line for Narduzzi as he looks for ways to fix what has become one of Pitt’s worst pass defenses in recent history. After seeming to settle down in recent games - Pitt held Marshall, Georgia Tech and Virginia under 300 passing yards - Thursday night was a return to the dark days of September, when Penn State, Oklahoma State and North Carolina combined to throw for 1,325 passing yards in consecutive weeks.

But the Virginia Tech game might have been even worse than those three. Granted, Oklahoma State and North Carolina each threw for more yards than the Hokies, but Thursday night’s game saw Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans spread things around en route to his 406 passing yards.

Three Hokie receivers finished with at least 100 receiving yards, a distribution of wealth that the Cowboys and Tar Heels didn’t match.

And even more troubling than the yardage totals was the relative ease with which Evans and his top targets - Isaiah Ford, Cam Phillips and Bucky Hodges - were able to connect. Ford was the star, catching 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, while Hodges topped him in yardage with 145 on six catches and Phillips also reached the century mark, pulling in six passes for 109 yards.

Among those 22 receptions were nine plays that gained at least 20 yards. Hodges had four such catches, Ford had three and Phillips had two.

And while some of those 22 receptions could be termed “contested catches,” the Virginia Tech receivers seemed to be pretty adept at making them. Pitt defenders were in the area of the ball and often had rather tight coverage on the receivers but, more often than not, the visitors were the ones that came down with the ball.

“I thought the coverage was real good,” Narduzzi said. “I thought there were some things that were one-sided out there tonight that really irk me. We have guys in position to make plays; no doubt about it. We didn’t make them, and give them credit for making a play. Give some other guys credit for making a play and we’ll go from there.”

Narduzzi’s line about “some things that were one-sided” was one of several references he made to the game’s officiating - he also said the Virginia Tech receivers “did a great job of pushing off all night” - but, ultimately, it was Pitt’s inability to make a play that led to such gaudy numbers for the Hokies.

So when Narduzzi and his staff go back to the drawing board to look for new ways to fix Pitt’s pass defense, they will probably end up at the same conclusion that the head coach voiced Thursday night:

“You gotta make a play. That’s what you have to do.”