UVA Opens ACC Play on Saturday at Pitt

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Oct. 5, 2015

Virginia Returns to Action and Opens Up ACC Play Saturday at Pitt
• Virginia returns to action when the Cavaliers open up ACC play against the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

Noting Virginia in ACC Openers
• UVA begins its 62nd season competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday at Pitt.
• Virginia holds a 23-38 all-time record in conference openers.
• The Cavaliers 23-21 win over then-No. 21 Louisville in 2014 snapped a four-year losing streak in ACC
openers.
• This is the seventh season over the last 10 years season that Virginia will open ACC play on the road. During that span only the 2007 (Duke), 2010 (Florida State) and 2014 (Louisville) seasons did UVA start ACC play at Scott Stadium. UVA also opened 2013 ACC play against Pitt at Heinz Field.

Virginia Coming off a Bye Week
• Virginia is is 27-29 all-time when playing a game after a bye week.
• UVA is 5-2 all-time under head coach Mike London when playing a game following a bye week.
• UVA won the first four games following a bye week under London before dropping two straight.
• The Cavaliers were back to winning ways with a 30-13 win over Miami in their last game following a bye week.

The Series vs. The Panthers
• Pittsburgh leads the all-time series by a 4-3 margin.
• Saturday’s game is only the fifth regular-season meeting with Pittsburgh in the last 60 years.
• Until UVA’s 44-14 win in the last Scott Stadium meeting in 2007, Pittsburgh had won all three regular-season meetings. 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.

More on the Pitt series during the lean 1950’s
• 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 1955, UVA ended more than 80 scoreless minutes against Pitt when halfback Ralph Kneeland scored UVA’s first 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.

Virginia at Heinz Field
• Virginia will be playing its third contest at Heinz Field. UVA is 0-2 all-time in the venue.
• Former UVA All-American Heath Miller is in his 11th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and calls Heinz Field home. He has ammassed 257 career receptions for 2,976 yards and 25 touchdowns at Heinz Field.

Virginia at NFL Stadiums
• Virginia is 10-16 all-time in stadiums that at the time of the contest were active NFL stadiums.
• Eight of the 14 NFL stadiums UVA has played in are still active today.
• Since UVA’s 28-21 win at Miami in 2011, the Cavaliers have lost their last three games in NFL stadiums, including at Pitt (Heinz Field) and at Miami (Sun Life Stadium) in 2013. The streak started in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Georgia Dome).
• Virginia will play Miami at Sun Life Stadium on Nov. 7.
Virginia-Pitt connections
• Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and UVA tight end Charlie Hopkins met on opposite sidelines in the 2014 Rose Bowl. As Michigan State’s defensive coordinator, Narduzzi and the Spartans were victorious over Hopkins and Stanford, 24-20.
• Pitt special teams coordinator and running backs coach Andre Powell coached at Virginia under George Welsh from 1996-2000. While on Grounds Powell coached future NFL players Tiki Barber, Germaine Crowell, Thomas Jones, Charles Kirby, Pat Washington and Terrence Wilkins. Powell coached running backs in 1996 and 2000. From 1997-99 he coached wide receivers.
• In 2001 Powell and UVA’s defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta were on the same North Carolina staff.
• From 1996-2000 Tenuta and Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem were on the same staff at Ohio State. Salem coached quarterbacks and tight ends during that span, while Tenuta was the defensive coordinator (2000) and worked with defensive backs.
• UVA’s freshman OLB Eric Gallon’s father, Eric Gallon Sr., spent the 2013-14 seasons coaching at Youngstown State with current Pitt defensive line coach Tom Sims. The elder Gallon is now the running backs coach at Tennessee State.

Archer Returns to Steelers Country
• Virginia’s associate head coach and linebackers coach Mike Archer spent seven years from 1996-2002 coaching linebackers under former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher. Archer spent just one season working with legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau (1996).
• Archer was with the Steelers as they moved from Three Rivers Stadium to Heinz Field for the 2001 season.
• During Archer’s time in Pittsburgh the Steelers won four divisional championships.
• While with the Steelers, Archer coached a pair of two-time Pro Bowl selections (Jason Gildon, Levon Kirkland) and two other Pro Bowl selections (Joey Porter and Kendrell Bell). Kendrell Bell was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2001. Archer assisted a Steeler defense that led the NFL in rushing defense in 2002.

UVA Starts ACC Play in October
• Virginia is starting ACC play for the first time in the month of October since traveling to North Carolina in 2009.
• Saturday’s ACC opener is the latest league opener for the Cavaliers since
starting conference play at Duke on Oct. 12, 1968.
• Below is a list of Virginia’s ACC openers from October on:

Date Opponent Result
1. Nov. 13, 1954 at South Carolina* L, 0-27
2. Oct. 20, 1962 Wake Forest W, 14-12
3. Oct. 12, 1968 at Duke W, 50-20
4. Oct. 10, 2015 at Pitt TBD
5. Oct. 7, 1967 at Wake Forest W, 14-12
6. Oct. 9, 2009 at North Carolina W, 16-3
7. Oct. 1, 1960 at NC State L, 7-26
*- only played two ACC games in 1954

Cavaliers from Pennsylvania
• Ten Cavaliers hail from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Connor Atkins (Haverford), Ryan Bischoff (Plymouth), Evan Butts (Newton Square), Darrious Carter (Indiana), Kareem Gibson (Johnstown), Matt Johns (Chalfont), Michael Mooney (Malvern), Gladimir Paul (Philadelphia), James Trucilla (Erie) and Olamide Zaccheaus (Philadelphia).
• While most of UVA’s Pennsylvania student-athletes hail from the eastern part of the state, QB Matt Johns finds himself a Steelers fan. Johns always talks about being “Philly Strong,” but has been a lifelong Steelers fan because his father is from Central Pennsylvania.