Pitt shows respect for struggling Virginia, quarterback Brennan Armstrong
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For the past several days, Pitt coaches and players have been talking about Virginia’s offense as if it isn’t ranked next-to-last in the ACC in average points per game (18.1).
For all the praise heaped upon Cavaliers quarterback Brennan Armstrong, not one person associated with Pitt mentioned that he leads the ACC in interceptions (10).
You wonder if coach Pat Narduzzi or anyone else even knows Virginia has a 3-6 record tainted by losses to ACC opponents in five of its past six games.
Of course, there’s good reason to ignore such minutiae. With Pitt preparing to visit the Cavaliers for a noon kickoff Saturday, it has no call to talk about other teams’ shortcomings. After all, the Panthers have reached the final three games of the season with a pedestrian and highly disappointing 5-4 record (2-3 in the ACC).
The loser Saturday won’t sink into last place in the ACC Coastal — Virginia Tech is down there, too — but either Virginia or Pitt will be close enough that touching bottom could be the next step.
Which is why Pitt safeties coach Cory Sanders hasn’t forgotten what Armstrong did to Pitt’s championship defense last year, and the coach has been working to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Yes, Pitt won 48-38 at the venue formerly known as Heinz Field to clinch the ’21 Coastal title, but Armstrong completed 36 of 49 passes for 487 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. His favorite receivers that day — Keytaon Thompson and Dontayvion Wicks — are back after combining to catch 21 balls from Armstrong for 270 yards. It’s almost as if Pitt had no answer for Virginia’s passing attack.
Pitt safety Brandon Hill, on the state of the secondary. pic.twitter.com/VnDjzzl07d
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) November 9, 2022
Pitt safety Brandon Hill remembers. “I had an encounter with him last year, and I missed him,” he said. “He still has great pocket presence. He’s still a great quarterback.”
Sanders and his safeties have been watching video of Thompson and Wicks for the past several days.
“Wicks, he is one of the most talented route runners in the ACC,” he said. “Thompson is like their Waldo (of ‘Where’s Waldo’ fame). He lines up in the backfield, in the slot, all over, on the outside, as well.
“Those first guys (on defense) have a tough time taking him down. He creates a lot of missed tackles.”
Added Narduzzi: “When we walked off that field last season, we were (saying), ‘That’s the best receiving corps in the country.’ ”
The issue this season has been a complete coaching and, perhaps, culture change at Virginia after former coach Bronco Mendenhall abruptly resigned after last season.
The Cavaliers’ first-year coach is Tony Elliott, who had been an offensive coordinator at Clemson since 2014, helping oversee a team that won two national championships (2016 and ’18).
“He brings his Clemson swag into Virginia,” Narduzzi said.
It’s a swag Pitt has seen before — four times in the previous six seasons (two victories, two blowout losses).
“I think they’re getting better every week they step out on the field,” Narduzzi said. “It’s a whole new offense for them. It’s a new quarterback coach. It’s a new defensive coordinator.
“They took, as we know, a really, really good North Carolina football team to the wire last weekend. That’s kind of what we’re dealing with.”
Like Pitt, Virginia was leading ACC Coastal leader North Carolina into the third quarter before losing, 31-28.
What caught Sanders’ eye about that game was Armstrong’s 8-yard touchdown run in the final 3½ minutes after the outcome had been all but decided.
“He’s still the same kid, good gamer,” he said. “You see him against North Carolina at the end on the goal line, having the will to finish and get in the end zone. As well against Miami.”
Armstrong was Virginia’s leading rusher (67 yards) in a 14-12 four-overtime loss to Miami, a game that is one of only four in the FBS this season without a touchdown.
“He’s a tough, gritty kid,” Sanders said.
How tough?
Armstrong was not Virginia’s quarterback when the Cavaliers defeated Pitt in the 2019 opener, but he did cover punts.
You might think that Sanders is tired of trying to solve Armstrong in back-to-back seasons, but he’s eager for the challenge.
“You should always be excited to face and go against the best,” he said.
Armstrong might have been saying the same about Pitt the past two seasons when the Panthers led the ACC in interceptions (16 and 14).
Pitt has only six in nine games this season (ninth in the ACC). “We have to pick it up,” he said.
“We’ve been in position for those interceptions. We just haven’t taken it every single time. We’re continuously working on it. We’re focusing on it. We’re not overdoing it with the kids, but, obviously, it’s in the back of their head that we need to make those plays when they come.”