Pitt and Virginia are battling at Heinz Field. Here's the latest from the game.

FIRST QUARTER
Virginia won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving Pitt's new offense under Mark Whipple the spotlight first. The Panthers opened with some trickery, as multiple offensive linemen split out wide on the first snap and Kenny Pickett tried a screen pass to Maurice Ffrench. The pass fell incomplete, though, as did Pickett's next two attempts - a deep shot to Taysir Mack and another short throw to Ffrench - leading to a punt.

Virginia rather quickly moved into Pitt territory, crossing midfield in four plays and getting inside the 20 with a Bryce Perkins run to convert third-and-3. At that point, the Panthers' defense stepped up in the red zone; on first down from the 15, Paris Ford broke up a pass near the goal line. Then Damar Hamlin stuffed a screen pass for a three-yard gain. And on third-and-7 from the 12, Keyshon Camp and Elias Reynolds teamed up for a 10-yard sack to force a field goal.

Virginia 3, Pitt 0 - 8:17, 1st quarter

Pitt's second drive wasn't much better than the first. After a three-yard pass from Pickett to V'Lique Carter on first down, the Panthers missed on consecutive pass attempts and had to punt again. This time, Kirk Christodoulou's punt was blocked and Virginia recovered at the Pitt 19.

On first down of the Cavaliers' drive, they got a free 15 yards when Dane Jackson was called for his second pass interference penalty of the game. Three plays later, Perkins connected with Chris Sharp for a two-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to double digits.

Virginia 10, Pitt 0 - 6:11, 1st quarter

Pitt's offense got a first down on its next drive, but it wasn't necessarily earned, as Aaron Mathews drew a pass interference on a throw on third-and-11 to move the ball to the Pitt 39. But Pickett was sacked on play-action the next snap to lose 11 yards, and while AJ Davis ran for 16 yards to set up third-and-5, Pickett overthrew Mack on third down and the Panthers punted again.

Virginia took the ball at its own 24, but after a blown coverage moved the Cavaliers across midfield, the Panthers stepped up. First, Deslin Alexandre sacked Perkins. Then a fumbled snap led to another three-yard loss. And Perkins threw incomplete on third down to lead to the Cavaliers' first punt.

With the ball back after a big stop, Pitt's offense found success for the first time. Facing third-and-4 from their own 21, Pickett connected with Davis on a wheel route that saw the junior running back fly down the sideline for 59 yards. After a nice step-up pass to Ffrench to get inside the 5, Davis took another handoff and ran in from two yards out for Pitt's first touchdown of the season.

Virginia 10, Pitt 7 - 13:29, 2nd quarter

Virginia took the ball inside its own 20 but quickly moved with a 33-yard pass from Perkins to Terrell Chatman and a pass interference penalty on Damar Hamlin on the next play. That put the Cavaliers on the Pitt 30, and while they got inside the 20, three bad passes from Perkins doomed the drive to another field goal.

Virginia 13, Pitt 7 - 10:19, 2nd quarter

Neither team did much on the drives after the field goal. Pitt had a chance to extend a possession when Pickett rolled out and threw to Nakia Griffin-Stewart for a first down, but the Rutgers transfer dropped the third-down pass. And Pitt's defense held Virginia's offense to just one first down and forced the Cavaliers' second punt of the game.

The Panthers took the ball at their own 20 with 6:12 on the clock and put together their best drive of the game. With a mix of runs and quick passes, Pitt chipped away, marching across midfield and getting inside the 20. And just when it looked like the Panthers had stalled., Pickett converted a third-and-7 on his own with a scramble to the 6.

Three plays - and one false start penalty later - Pickett fired a shot to Tre Tipton for a three-yard touchdown pass, giving the Panthers their first lead of the game.

Pitt 14, Virginia 13 - 0:38, 2nd quarter

Virginia ran two plays to end the half, and Pitt went into the locker room with a one-point lead over the visitors. In the first half, Pickett threw for 122 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-20 passing and the Panthers out-gained the Cavaliers 177-151. Pitt's defense chipped in with three sacks of Perkins.

THIRD QUARTER

Virginia got the ball to open the second half, and right from the start, the Panthers got the Cavaliers where they wanted them: third-and-long. The problem was, Virginia was up to the task. First, Perkins completed a 17-yard pass to Terrell Jana to convert third-and-9. Then Perkins scrambled for 27 yards on third-and-10. But on third-and-8 from the 28. Perkins' pass to Joe Reed in the end zone was too long, and the Cavaliers had to settle for another field goal to retake the lead.

Virginia 16, Pitt 14 - 11:54, 3rd quarter

Pitt's first drive of the second half, didn't go well, as the Panthers seemed to be out of sorts. On first down, there was a miscommunication with the snap count. On second down, Mack dropped a nice pass from Pickett. And on third down, Pickett forced a ball to Ffrench that was intercepted by Virginia linebacker Matt Gahm.

The turnover - the first of the game - set up the Cavaliers inside the Pitt 30, and three Perkins runs set up a 13-yard pass to Jana on third-and-5. That play ended in the end zone, and Virginia went ahead by nine with its second touchdown of the game.

Virginia 23, Pitt 14 - 8:23, 3rd quarter

The Panthers took the ball looking for their first signs of life in the second half and found some success, largely with Pickett leading the way. The junior quarterback scrambled for 10 yards on third-and-5 and then escaped a sack to scramble for six yards on third-and-6. But he couldn't do it all, and on third-and-9 from the Virginia 28, a block from AJ Davis knocked a defender into him for a sack.

Pitt's defense stepped up on the next possession to force a punt, but the Panthers' offense couldn't capitalize on the opportunity, even when a V'Lique Carter sweep on first down gained eight yards. But the defense came through again as two pass breakups from Damarri Mathis forced another Virginia punt.

Pitt's next drive started at the 10, which didn't bode well for the Panthers' chances, but they managed to cross midfield with help from a personal foul penalty. But the plays after the penalty went as follows:

Sack. Sack. Interception.

That sequence effectively ended Pitt's chance of coming back in the game. The defense forced a field goal that went wide right, but the offense went three-and-out to give the ball back to Virginia, who proceeded to run for 27 yards over five plays to add one final touchdown.

Pickett finished the game with 185 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 21-of-41 passing. He was also sacked four times and recorded a team-high 12 rushing attempts.

The loss gives Pitt an 0-1 overall record and an 0-1 mark in the ACC to open the season. The Panthers host Ohio for a nonconference game next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Heinz Field.