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Need to know: Everything you need to get ready for Pitt-VT

Pitt (4-1, 1-0) is back from its off week and looking forward to a big Coastal matchup at Virginia Tech (3-2, 1-0) this Saturday.

Here’s everything you need to know to get ready for the game.

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Time, TV and radio
Pitt-Virginia Tech will kick off at 3:30 pm ET at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg (Va.). The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with radio coverage on 93.7 The Fan.

What’s the spread?
As of Monday morning, Pitt is favored by four points, according to BetOnline, and the over/under set at 57.5.

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.

Notes of note
- Pitt is 9-11 all-time against Virginia Tech and 4-4 against the Hokies since joining the ACC. The Panthers entered the ACC on a four-game winning streak against Virginia Tech, having defeated the Hokies in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2012.

- Pat Narduzzi is 3-3 against Virginia Tech.

- The last three games in the series have been blowouts, but Pitt’s other five ACC matchups with Virginia Tech have been close, with four of the five finishing as one-score games.

- Narduzzi’s teams have fared well when playing after an off week. Since 2015, Pitt has played nine regular-season games after a break of at least 10 days, and the Panthers are 7-2 in those nine games. They have won six in a row after a break of at least 10 days, including three games last season.

Top storylines
- The key storyline in Saturday’s game is the battle for Coastal supremacy. There are still a lot of games to be played, but with Pitt and Virginia Tech standing as the only division teams with perfect conference records, Saturday’s game will loom large in the division standings and tiebreakers moving forward.

- While the Panthers and Hokies have only played one conference game each, they are rather unique among Coastal teams in that regard. Virginia (2-2) and Georgia Tech (2-2) have already played four ACC games and North Carolina (2-3) has played five. Meanwhile, Duke is off to an 0-2 start and Miami is sitting at 0-1 in conference play.

- Saturday’s game will be a battle of strengths, to some extent. Pitt has the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 52.5 points per game, while Virginia Tech ranks No. 24 nationally in scoring defense, allowing an average of 18.6 points per game. The Hokies have held four of their five opponents under 30 points this season, with Notre Dame as the lone outlier after the Irish scored 32 to beat Virginia Tech this past Saturday.

- During the off week, Pitt dropped from No. 10 to No. 11 in ESPN’s Football Power Index. The Panthers are still the highest-ranked Coastal team and second in the ACC only to Clemson, despite having a higher percentage chance of winning the conference than the Tigers, according to FPI.

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