PITTSBURGH — Brian Delaney banged home three field goals to keep UVa in it before the defense stepped up and pitched a shutout in the second half while the offense flexed its muscle on the ground to seal it. All told, the Wahoos terrorized Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett and picked up a convincing 30-14 season-opening win at Heinz Field on Saturday night.
With the win UVa (1-0, 1-0 ACC) snapped a four-game losing streak to the Panthers and did it in impressive fashion, battering Pitt’s quarterback and dominating on the trenches in the second half after trailing 14-13 at the break.
Bryce Perkins started the game 5-for-5 passing before going on to finish 20-for-34 for 181 yards and two touchdowns as well as running it 18 times for a net gain of 44 yards. His first-quarter strike to Chris Sharp from two yards out put UVa up 10-0 with 6:11 left in the opening stanza, capping a three-play, 19-yard drive that came about following a Noah Taylor blocked punt.
UVa was up two scores thanks to the first Delaney field goal, a 39 yarder to finish off an 11-play, 53-yard drive on the team’s first possession of the game.
Pitt responded, going 85 yards in seven plays ending with a 2-yard run by AJ Davis to make it 10-7 with 13:29 left in the half. Delaney’s second FG, this time from 36 yards out, capped an eight-play, 63-yard drive for the Hoos that made it 13-7.
But the Panthers would get back on the board prior to the half, gouging UVa’s defense to the tune of 80 yards on 14 plays including Pickett’s 3-yard TD pass to Tre Tipton.
Trailing slightly at the break, though, UVa turned things around after going 2-for-6 on 3rd down and scoring just 13 points on three trips into the red zone. The Cavaliers took the lead for good on Delaney’s 45-yard FG with 11:54 left in the third and, after Matt Gahm snagged his first career interception, they added to it on a Perkins-to-Hasise Dubois TD strike from 13 yards out with 8:23 left in the quarter.
By the time Wayne Taulapapa, who ran for 66 yards on 10 carries in the win, scored his first career TD with 32 seconds left to play, there was little doubt that UVa was heading back to Charlottesville with a victory.
The Hoos were led by stout performances from Joey Blount, who had two sacks and an INT to go with seven tackles, and Zane Zandier, who had a game-high nine tackles playing in front of family and friends in his hometown, .
“Really, really proud of my team to overcome a deficit at halftime and to earn a victory at a very difficult place to play against an opponent we hadn’t beaten yet in conference play,” Bronco Mendenhall said. “There are a lot of things that make this game important and it was an earned victory. There wasn’t anything easy about it.”
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