UVa Opens ACC Play at Pitt on Saturday

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Sept. 23, 2013

The Series vs. The Panthers
• Pittsburgh leads the all-time series by a 3-2 margin.
• Saturday’s game is only the third regular-season meeting with Pittsburgh in the last 58 years.
• Until UVa’s 44-14 in the last meeting in 2007, Pittsburgh had won all three regular-season meetings (in convincing fashion). The Panthers won 26-0 in Charlottesville in 1953, 18-7 in Pittsburgh in 1955 and 38-13 in Pittsburgh in 2006.
• Virginia’s 23-16 win over Pittsburgh in the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., thus far has been the most closely contested game of the series.
• UVa’s Tony Franklin played a big role on defense in the bowl game to end Larry Fitzgerald’s 18-game streak with a touchdown reception.
• The teams seesawed back and forth in the first half with Virginia holding a 17-13 lead at halftime. The second half featured only field goals in UVa’s seven-point win. Matt Schaub closed his stellar career by capturing MVP honors after passing for 244 yards. Current Pittsburgh Steeler tight end Heath Miller had a big day with four receptions for 84 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown reception from Schaub late in the first quarter for the game’s first score.

Virginia Coaches to Participate in ‘Coach to Cure MD’ Effort
• In its game against Pitt, the Virginia coaching staff will be wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999 (a $5 donation will automatically be added to your next phone bill).
• This is the sixth annual Coach to Cure MD effort from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
• Last season marked the first time all 124 Football Bowl Subdivision schools participated, and the five-year fundraising total is just over $1 million.

Virginia and First Meetings With New ACC Members
• Saturday’s game marks the first time in the series that a meeting bettwen UVa and Pitt will count towards the ACC standings. The Panthers, along with Syracuse, officially joined the league on July 1.
• UVa is 0-5 when facing a new ACC member for the first time in conference play, dating back to when Georgia Tech joined the ACC in 1979.
• UVa has lost to Georgia Tech (1982), Florida State (1992), Miami (2004), Virginia Tech (2004) and Boston College (2005).

Noting Virginia in ACC Openers
• UVa begins its 60th season competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday at Pittsburgh.
• In conference openers, Virginia holds a 22-37 all-time record.
• The Cavaliers last won an ACC opener at North Carolina in 2009, a 16-3 triumph over the Tar Heels.
• This is the second season in a row that UVa’s ACC opener was also the team’s road opener. UVa fell 56-20 at Georgia Tech last season to open league play.
• Before last season, the last time UVa’s ACC opener is also the team’s road opener was 2002 when the Cavaliers played at Florida State, a 40-19 setback to the Seminoles.

Noting Virginia in Road Openers
• UVa is 43-75-3 all-time in road openers.
• After last season’s 56-20 setback at Georgia Tech, UVa has lost six of its last seven road openers.
• The lone victory during the stretch was a 34-31 triumph in Bloomington, Ind., when UVa picked up the road victory over the Indiana Hoosiers.
Virginia in NFL Stadiums
• UVa is 10-14 all-time in stadiums that were active NFL stadiums at the time of the contest. Eight of the 14 NFL stadiums UVa has played in are still active today.
• UVa is 0-1 all-time at Heinz Field.
• UVa’s last win in an NFL stadium was in 2011 at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium (Dolphins), a 28-21 Cavalier triumph over the Miami Hurricanes.
• UVa’s last game in an NFL stadium was against Auburn in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

More on the Pitt Series During the Lean 1950s
• The 26-0 loss in 1953 remains one of the worst offensive performances in the modern era of UVa football. The Cavaliers recorded three first downs, an all-time low and had just 43 yards of total offense, their second-lowest modern-day total.
• Pittsburgh scored on its first possession 5:52 into the contest and scored in every quarter to win.
• In the 1955, UVa ended more than 80 scoreless minutes when halfback Ralph Kneeland scored UVa’s only touchdown in the series on an eight-yard run at the 9:39 mark of the second quarter. That score gave UVa a brief 7-6 lead. But Pitt halfback Lou Cimarolli scored the game-winner on a 32-yard dash midway through the third quarter.

Last Meeting: 2007 (UVa 44, Pitt 14)
• Jameel Sewell threw three first-quarter touchdown passes and Cedric Peerman ran for two more as UVa grabbed a 44-14 victory at Scott Stadium and extended its winning streak at the time to four games.
• Sewell was 7-of-7 in first quarter passing as UVa built a 27-0 lead.
• Pitt’s first-half touchdown came on a 1-yard run by LeSean McCoy after Vic Hall muffed a punt and the Panthers’ Tyler Tkach recovered at the Virginia 22. A 19-yard pass from Pat Bostick to Oderick Turner set up McCoy’s touchdown.
• The Panthers gambled by trying an onside kick to start the game but touched the ball prematurely, giving Virginia possession at the Panthers 39. It took the Cavaliers only four plays to score.
• Peerman ran for 11 yards, then gained 15 on a screen pass, aided by a downfield block by Ian-Yates Cunningham. Sewell scrambled to the 2, then found Jonathan Stupar in the back of the end zone.
• Sewell finished the game with 169 yards passing and Peerman rushed 24 times for 87 yards. Bostick was 18-of-31 for 181 yards and one interception.

UVa in the Keystone State
• Virginia is playing its 12th game in Pennsylvania since the end of WWII and its first since playing at Pittsburgh in 2006.
• UVa is 4-7 in the Keystone State since the end of WWII.
• UVa is 1-2 at Penn State, 0-2 at Pitt, 1-3 at Penn, 1-0 at Temple, 1-0 at Lehigh.