What We Learned From Virginia Tech's 35-33 Loss to Pitt

Pitt had allowed 34 points all season. Virginia Tech scored 33 on Friday night and lost anyway.

The Hokies outgained the Panthers 499-295, led by 10 in the second quarter and lined up a 36-yard field goal on the final snap. They also turned the ball over four times, and fifth-year kicker John Love's try was ruled wide left in front of a sold-out Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech is 4-1 and 1-1 in the ACC. Pitt is 5-0.

The kick will own the week. The four quarters before it say more about this team.

The passing game can score on anybody

Junior quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer went 30-of-41 for a career-high 434 yards and three touchdowns. That's the most by a Hokie since Bryan Randall threw for 504 yards at Syracuse in 2002 and the fourth 400-yard game by a Tech quarterback in program history.

A week after sophomore Jeffrey Overton Jr. ran for 209 yards at Boston College, the Hokies finished with 65 rushing yards as a team. They had more penalty yards (82) than that.

Pitt was allowing 53.3 rushing yards per game, and Tech had been averaging 177.8. Nobody had taken the run away from this offense until Friday. Clemson is on the schedule Oct. 24.

Ball security is a real question now

Grunkemeyer threw 136 passes over the first four games without an interception. He threw two on Friday and lost the ball on a strip sack, and a botched exchange with Overton gave Pitt the ball at the 29.

The math is simple. Pitt's touchdown drives after the first interception and the exchange fumble started at the Tech 23 and 29. That's 14 points on 52 yards of offense in a game decided by two. The second interception came on second-and-6 from the Pitt 18, already in range for a kicker who was 42-for-44 inside 40 yards for his career before the final snap.

The defense did enough to win

Pitt finished with 295 yards and 4.8 per play. Two of its five touchdown drives started inside the Tech 30. Senior defensive end Aycen Stevens has a solo sack in five straight games, and sophomore linebacker Noah Chambers' fourth-quarter safety, Tech's first since the Louisville game last season, started the comeback from 35-24 down.

Some context cuts the other way. Pitt played most of the second half with backup quarterback Holden Geriner after Mason Heintschel left hurt. Tech was flagged eight times for 82 yards. Forty-two of those yards came on one Pitt touchdown drive, including two flags for 26 on junior nickel Kenny Woseley Jr. on third-and-16.

What's still in front of them

Tech entered the week fifth among teams outside the AP Top 25 and hasn't been ranked since 2021. A win probably would have ended that. Now Pitt holds the tiebreaker, and the Hokies still have road trips to Clemson, Miami, and SMU.

It was also a shot at the program's first 5-0 start since 2005. Four wins are already one more than Tech managed in a 3-9 season a year ago.

"I promise you we're going to get better from this," Franklin said.

The Hokies play at Cal on Oct. 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET. The offense that put up 499 yards on Pitt makes the trip. The four turnovers can't.

Add us as a preferred source on Google