Pitt is coming off its first loss of the season against No. 13 SMU, a particularly uninspiring effort against the Mustangs, but the betting odds favor the Panthers.
Pitt is a 7.5-point home favorite against Virginia, according to Circa Sports. The total point spread has been set at 59 points.
DraftKings has set Pitt as a 7-point favorite, with a bet to cover the spread holding -110 odds. The total point spread has been set at 57.5 points and the money line odds at -270 for Pitt and +220 for Virginia.
FanDuel has set Pitt as a 7.5-point favorite, with a bet for Pitt to cover holding -105 odds. The total point spread has been set at 58.5 points and the money line odds at -275 for Pitt and +220 for Virginia.
It’s a bounce-back opportunity for the Panthers, following the first loss of the season — in devastating fashion. A loss is one thing, and the season certainly isn’t over, but SMU beat the brakes off the Panthers. It wasn’t close.
If Pitt is truly rebound this season, with four games remaining on the schedule, it will start against Virginia.
Virginia is 4-4 (2-3 ACC), and the Cavaliers have lost three straight games — 24-20 against Louisville, 48-31 against Clemson and 41-14 against North Carolina. UVA is one of the weaker teams in the conference, but it’s still a game that Pitt needs to win. It’s just the next game for Pat Narduzzi.
“The message is it’s one game,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “And like I kind of started off at the beginning, it’s hard to win every week. It’s hard to be on every week. And maybe as a team and a staff, we didn’t handle success. I always say the hardest thing is to handle success. Our guys will handle adversity, and this is adversity, and our guys will bounce back.
“You could see it in the locker room, they’re not discouraged. I told them I loved them, and I love them as much or more as game 1 or game 7, and we win as a team and we lose as a team.”
Kickoff against Virginia is set for 8 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium, and there are two ranked matchups left this season against Clemson and Louisville.
Hey Pat, your OC is struggling… maybe you need to be a CEO.. or keep your head buried in the sand. 3 years in a row your best QB has been relegated to the bench but this year our 2 best RBs keep him company on the pine!!!!
Broyles candidate. 7-1 ain’t bad, Top 25.
You drop a tough one on the Road and your seat is Hot again? Fair-weather treatment.
Yarnell is starting against UVA?
Cal did us no favors a month ago. They showed everyone how to defend a Cade Bell offense and since then he has not been able to adapt. I think Reid is a great option out of the backfield but Carter and Hammond are needed to pound the ball and make the defenses play honest.