Pitt
Virginia Tech
Pittsburgh Stuns No. 12 Virginia Tech, 38-7
11/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov 3, 2001
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By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) - On two lost weekends, Virginia Tech has gone from the top 5 and a possible big bowl to wondering where it is going - and if there will be anything left of the season when the Hokies get there.
All-American receiver Antonio Bryant came out of a nearly season-long slump to catch two of David Priestley's three touchdown passes in the first half and Pittsburgh, taking out a season's worth of frustration, rolled to a 38-7 victory over the No. 12 Hokies on Saturday.
The Hokies (6-2, 3-2 Big East) had lost only twice in 30 games before being upset by Syracuse 22-14 last week, and now have lost successive games for the first time since Pitt and Virginia beat them to end the 1997 season. Until Saturday, that was the Hokies' only loss in eight games to Pittsburgh.
"That was the Pitt team I dreaded all summer," said coach Frank Beamer, whose Hokies needed a last-minute field goal to beat Pitt 37-34 a year ago in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech was never in the game, committing four turnovers while being outgained 393-151 as the Panthers (3-5, 2-3) loaded up the line of scrimmage and dared the Hokies to throw, which they couldn't do. Grant Noel was 15-of-29 for 118 yards and threw an interception for a touchdown in the Hokies' worst loss since Syracuse beat them 52-21 in 1996.
"We had better get it back, or it's going to be a snowball effect," defensive lineman David Pugh said. "I think we're a good team, but we're not playing anything like it. We haven't shown anybody anything the last two weeks."
Pitt started the day by renaming a street near Heinz Field in honor of Heisman Trophy-winning running back Tony Dorsett, but it was Priestley's passing that keyed the Panthers' first upset of a ranked team since that '97 victory over Virginia Tech.
Priestley came out throwing in Pitt's reinstalled pro-style offense and hit Bryant on touchdown passes of 24 and 36 yards and R.J. English for 33 yards as the Panthers opened a 24-7 halftime lead helped by Tech mistakes and misplays.
Priestley was 16-for-26 for 245 yards against what was Division I-A's top-ranked defense. He is 34-for-54 for 449 yards, five TDs and no interceptions in two games, including a 33-7 victory at Temple, since coach Walt Harris stopped rotating him and backup Rod Rutherford. The Panthers also junked the spread offense they used while starting the season 1-5.
| VIDEO FROM  |
| Pittsburgh's David Priestley connects with Antonio Bryant for a 24-yard TD. The Hokies' Ronyell Whitaker takes the blocked punt 71 yards into the endzone The Panthers' R.J. English out jumps his defender for the touchdown. Pittsburgh's Shawntae Spencer makes the interception and goes 68 yards for the TD.
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"I don't know why things fell into place, or I would have changed it earlier," Harris said. "I think this is the best game David has ever played."
Bryant, the Biletnikoff award winner last season as college football's top receiver, had only 20 catches all season - he missed most of two games with an ankle injury - before making five for 93 yards. He has five TD catches against Tech the last two seasons and six in three seasons. English made eight catches for 134 yards.
Even when the Hokies did what they do best - block kicks - as Ronyell Whitaker returned a blocked field goal 71 yards for a touchdown that made it 7-7, it didn't overcome one of their worst efforts in years.
"This is the worst I've ever felt," Whitaker said. "Losing two in a row is not us."
Three pass interference penalties kept Pitt drives going, and Noel's fumble late in the second quarter resulted in Priestley's 36-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Bryant on the next play.
Later, Noel threw a pass directly into the arms of cornerback Shawntae Spencer for a 68-yard interception return TD that made it 31-7. That big deficit led Beamer to call a fake punt to try to spark an offense that was held to eight first downs, but it resulted in a 12-yard loss and Rutherford later ran 2 yards for a touchdown.
