Cavaliers Face Pittsburgh in Out-of-Conference Clash
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Game 5: Saturday, Sept. 29, 7 p.m.
Virginia Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (2-2, 0-1 Big East)
Carl Smith Center, Home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium (61,500), Charlottesville, Va.
Game Day Information
TV Coverage
This game is being televised nationally on ESPNU. Dave Armstrong (play-by-play), Mike Gottfried (analyst) and Graham Bensinger (sidelines) call the action.
Radio Coverage
All Virginia games are broadcast on the Virginia Sports Network, originating at WINA/WWWV in Charlottesville. Mac McDonald calls the play-by-play. He is joined in the broadcast booth by former Cavalier great Frank Quayle, the 1968 ACC Player of the Year. Former UVa quarterback Tim Sherman reports from the sidelines.
Series vs. Pittsburgh: Pitt leads 3-1
Last Meeting: Pitt 38, UVa 13, 2006
Five Things You Need To Know About Virginia Football This Week
Cedric Peerman has rushed for 461 yards in the last three games an average of 153.7 ypg
DE Chris Long is second in the country in sacks with an average of 1.5/g
Jameel Sewell has completed 64 percent of his passes during the three-game winning streak
Virginia has won nine of its last 10 non-conference home games
Virginia is 31-9 at home under head coach Al Groh
Cavaliers Step Out of Conference
Virginia steps out of conference for the first of three straight weeks Saturday against Pittsburgh.
The Cavaliers have won their last three games, all in conference, and are in first place in the Coastal Division of the ACC. Standing at 3-1 overall, UVa is off to its best start in two years.
After winning its first two games, Pittsburgh has lost its last two and stands at 2-2 this season.
This is the third meeting between the two schools in the last five seasons.
The Series vs. the Panthers
PIttsburgh leads the all-time series by a 3-1 margin
Pittsburgh has won all three regular-season match-ups in convincing fashion26-0 in Charlottesville in 1953, 18-7 in Pittsburgh in 1955 and 38-13 last season
Last year’s match-up was the first regular-season meeting between the two schools in more than half a century
UVa’s only win was a 23-16 victory in the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.
Two current Cavaliers played in the bowl match-up four years agoG Ian-Yates Cunningham (started) and G Gordie Sammis
Virginia vs. The Big East
Virginia is 19-18-1 all-time vs. the current membership of the Big East
The Cavaliers had won six straight vs. the Big East until last season’s loss to Pittsburgh
Against schools who were Big East members at game time, Virginia is 11-10 overall
Most of the games came against in-state rival Virginia Tech (6-7) when the Hokies were Big East members. UVa is 2-0 vs. Syracuse, 1-1 vs. Pittsburgh, 1-0 vs. Temple and West Virginia, and 0-1 vs. Boston College and Miami.
Virginia plays Big East school Connecticut for the first time next month
Non-Conference Home Games
This is one of two home games against non-conference opponents this season
In two weeks the Cavaliers host Connecticut
Virginia has won nine of its last 10 non-conference home games going back to 2002
Overall, the Cavaliers have won 34 of their last 43 non-conference games at home going back to 1987.
Under Al Groh Virginia is 11-3 at home in non-conference games and 31-9 in all home games
Under the Lights
This game is the Cavaliers’ first home night game in nearly a year
The first night game played at Scott Stadium occurred on Oct. 9, 1982. Portable lights were trucked in from Iowa for the Clemson game that season. The Tigers won 48-0.
Virginia is 21-13-1 in home night games, including 6-3 under Al Groh
Virginia has won its last four home night games dating back to 2003
Long Time No See
Pittsburgh is playing in Charlottesville for the first time since 1953, a span of 54 years
This is the fourth-longest period of time between games in Charlottesville in the history of the UVa program
Longest Time Between Games at UVa
Yrs Opp 1st Next
95 Penn State 1893 1988
86 Rutgers 1894 1980
67 Navy 1904 1971
54 Pittsburgh 1953 2007
Former NFL Head Coaches Meet
This is the third week in a row Virginia head coach Al Groh, a former NFL head coach, goes up against another erstwhile NFL head coach
Groh was the New York Jets head coach in 2000, while Pittsburgh is coached by Dave Wannstedt, one-time Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins head coach
Two weeks ago Groh coached against North Carolina’s Butch Davis, former coach of the Cleveland Browns
Last week Groh was matched up with one-time Dallas Cowboy head coach Chan Gailey, now at Georgia Tech
Overall, this is one of 10 college games this season pitting former NFL coaches against each other; currently there are 12 former NFL head coaches who are Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches.
Winning the Close Ones
One characteristic of this year’s Cavalier squad is its ability to win the close games
Virginia has won the last two games by a combined seven points
All three wins have been by a combined 18 points
UVa’s average margin of victory is currently 6.0 points
Of the 15 teams that have an average win margin of seven points or less, only UVa and Bowling Green have winning records