The good feeling that permeated Panthers nation following last Thursday’s hex breaking win over UNC is gone. Washed away in the Blacksburg rain storm that grounded the Panthers offense and put an end to the team’s Coastal Division hopes.
Virginia Tech turned the tables after last year’s bludgeoning, shutting out the Panthers for the first time since 2008’s infamous 3-0 Sun Bowl loss. It was the Panthers’ first regular season shutout since 1996, when they were blanked 45-0 by Miami, which was a week after a 72-0 annihilation by Ohio State. Johnny Majors was the coach.
On offense it was as ugly as ugly gets: the Panthers had 177 total yards and eight first downs despite only turning the ball over one time. The defense held VT to 263 total yards, and had 10 tackles for loss and three sacks, but had zero help from the offense.
The good news is there’s still a very real chance to go 9-4, which would be a pretty good season nonetheless. Probably best to have a short memory and move on to Boston College.
Getting shutout is going to drop you and Pitt fell all the way to number 58 in the latest SP+ rankings. Pitt’s offense is 118th. There are only 130 teams in Division I.
In ESPN’s FPI, the Panthers fell to 59th. They’re still favorites over Boston College next weekend with a 64.2% win probability.
Boston College (5-6) comes to Heinz Field next week for the final regular season game for both teams. BC beat Virginia Tech way back in week 1, but also has losses to Kansas, Wake Forest, Louisville, Clemson, Florida State and Notre Dame. The Panthers will have to stop AJ Dillon who’s third in the country in rushing yards with 1507.
Virginia Tech remains the one other ACC team in the Top 25. … FIU beat Miami, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Miami retains the capability to lose to anyone and beat nearly anyone on a weekly basis. Virginia and Virginia Tech will play next weekend for the Coastal crown and a date with the Juggernaut that is Clemson in the ACC Title Game. Prayers for whichever Commonwealth team ends up there.
Georgia Tech 28 – NC State 26
Virginia 55 – Liberty 27
Notre Dame 40 – Boston College 7
North Carolina 56 – Mercer 7
Louisville 56 – Syracuse 34
FIU 30 – Miami 24
Wake Forest 39 – Duke 27
ONE FOR THE ROAD
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Also this. (Scroll down).
VT 28, PITT 0
* ZERO POINT ZERO (yds/att on passing downs) * ZERO POINT ZERO (% PD success rate) * VT after 5 wks: 72nd in SP+, 88th on O, 52nd on D * VT after 13 wks: 42nd in SP+, 70th on O, 33rd on D pic.twitter.com/lldMny41WP
