Published Nov 15, 2021
Need to know: Everything to get ready for Pitt-Virginia
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Chris Peak  •  Pitt Sports News
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No. 21 Pitt (8-2, 5-1) will host Virginia (6-4, 4-2) at Heinz Field on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to get ready for the game.

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Time, TV and radio info
Pitt-Virginia will kick off at 3:30 pm at Heinz Field. The game will be broadcast by ESPN2 with radio coverage in Pittsburgh on 93.7 The Fan.

What’s the spread?
Pitt Is favored to beat Virginia by 12.5 points on BetMGM.com, with an over/under of 66.5.

Weather outlook
According to weather.com, Saturday in Pittsburgh will have a high temperature of 48 degrees with an 11% chance of precipitation.

Game week schedule
Pat Narduzzi will hold his weekly press conference on Monday at noon. Select players and assistant coaches will address the media on Tuesday and Wednesday; Narduzzi will also have his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.

On Thursday, Narduzzi will have his final press briefing of the week.

Here on Panther-Lair.com, The Kenny Pickett Show debuts every Wednesday morning and the Panther-Lair Show live stream airs Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m.

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Notes of note
- Pitt is 8-4 all-time against Virginia and 5-2 against the Cavaliers since joining the ACC. Pat Narduzzi won his first four games against Virginia before falling to the Cavaliers in the 2019 season opener. Pitt and Virginia did not meet last season.

- Only one of Narduzzi’s five previous meetings with Virginia has finished as a one-score game. Pitt won 26-19 at Heinz Field in 2015; since then, the Panthers have won 45-31, 31-14 and 23-13, and Virginia won the 2019 game 30-14.

- If the Panthers beat Virginia on Saturday, they will clinch the ACC Coastal Division championship for the second time under Narduzzi. Pitt clinched the Coastal in 2018 with a win at Wake Forest in the penultimate game of the season.

- If the Panthers lose to Virginia, both teams would have a 5-2 conference record with the Cavaliers holding the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. In that scenario, Pitt would need to finish the regular season with a win at Syracuse and have Virginia lose its season finale against Virginia Tech in order to win the division.

- Pitt’s current ACC record of 5-1 gives Narduzzi at least five conference wins in five of his seven seasons with the Panthers. The team has finished 6-2 in conference play twice (2015 and 2018).

Top storylines
- As has been the case for most of the season, Pitt’s top storyline is the play of Kenny Pickett. The Panthers’ senior quarterback put up another impressive set of numbers in Thursday’s win over North Carolina, throwing for 346 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

That performance moved Pickett to the top of Pitt’s career passing list with 11,501 yards.

- Thursday’s game also brought Pickett’s season totals to 3,517 yards, 32 touchdowns and four picks. With 163 more yards, he can set Pitt’s single-season passing record, and with six more touchdown passes, he can set Pitt’s single-season passing touchdown record.

- Pickett needs nine passing touchdowns to set Pitt’s career passing touchdown record.

- Pickett currently ranks No. 5 nationally and No. 3 in the Power Five conferences in passing yards, and he is No. 3 nationally and No. 2 in Power Five in total offense per game.

- The only Power Five player ahead of Pickett in total offense will also be at Heinz Field on Saturday: Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong. A stat machine who has led the ACC in all passing categories throughout the season, Armstrong suffered a reported rib injury in Virginia’s loss to BYU two weeks ago and did not play in the Cavaliers’ loss to Notre Dame this past weekend. Armstrong’s status for Saturday is unknown.

- Pitt is currently No. 2 nationally in total offense, averaging 531.1 yards per game, and No. 4 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 43.5 points per game. Virginia enters the game allowing an average of 30.5 points per game, which ranks No. 99 nationally, and 461.9 yards per game, which ranks No. 120.