Pittsburgh Survives Virginia Tech 35-33 After Trailing 14-0
Pittsburgh is 5-0, and it was down 14-0 on the way there. Virginia Tech scored on a 38-yard Ethan Grunkemeyer pass to Que'Sean Brown and a one-yard Grunkemeyer run in the first quarter's first five minutes. Pittsburgh won anyway, 35-33.
Ja'Kyrian Turner answered with a 20-yard run with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Virginia Tech pushed it back to 24-14 on a Grunkemeyer pass to Ayden Greene, but Cataurus Hicks caught a 22-yard touchdown from Mason Heintschel with 31 seconds left in the half to make it 24-21. Damon Ferguson Jr. ran in from 15 yards early in the third for the first lead of the day for Pittsburgh, 28-24. Hicks scored again from 29 yards, this time from Holden Geriner, to make it 35-24 early in the fourth.
Virginia Tech took a safety to make it 35-26, then Grunkemeyer found Davion Brown from 28 yards with 10:07 left to cut it to 35-33. Nobody scored after that.
Luke Reynolds caught seven passes for 93 yards for Virginia Tech, Ayden Greene had four for 88 and a touchdown, and Jeffrey Overton Jr. ran 17 times for 46 yards and lost a fumble. The passing game was healthy. The ball security was not.
The box score is lopsided in Virginia Tech's favor and the scoreboard is not. Virginia Tech had 499 yards (434 passing) to Pittsburgh's 298, but turned the ball over four times, two interceptions and two lost fumbles. Pittsburgh had none. Pittsburgh is 5-0 and Virginia Tech is 4-1.