Wirginis suffers season-ending knee injury

Pitt will play the second half of the 2018 season without its defensive leader, as redshirt senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis had surgery on his knee Wednesday.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi announced that Wirginis suffered the non-contact injury during Tuesday's practice.

“Our entire team is certainly heartbroken for Quintin,” Narduzzi said in a press release. "He was having an absolutely outstanding senior season, on and off the field, and we are very sorry it ended prematurely due to injury.

"Our team is one big family and we will certainly rally around him. Knowing Quintin, I have no doubt he will remain a huge influence in our locker room. His leadership will remain as valuable as ever for our program.”

Wirginis was Pitt's defensive leader on and off the field this season. He had a team-high 41 tackles through six games and also led the Panthers with seven tackles for loss and three sacks. In Saturday's overtime win against Syracuse, he forced a fumble that was recovered for a game-tying touchdown in the first quarter.

Pitt's top backup middle linebackers are redshirt sophomores Elias Reynolds and Chase Pine; Reynolds has 10 tackles on the season and Pine has three.

A Fox Chapel native, Wirginis joined Pitt in the recruiting class of 2014 and played 38 games over his first three seasons. Last year he was poised to step in as the starting linebacker, but he was suspended for the first three games and then suffered a season-ending injury during the suspension.

Wirginis' redshirt senior season was off to a strong start, but his career appears to be over in light of this week's injury.