Hokies thwart Pitt a yard short of win
Goal-line stand follows game-saving tackle on long pass.
Cam Phillips had 117 yards receiving and scored the winning touchdown, and Virginia Tech’s defense kept Pittsburgh out of the end zone on the final play to lift the host Hokies to a 20-14 victory Saturday.
Phillips broke the school record for career receiving yardage when he hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Jackson with 6:23 left. That gave the Hokies (8-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 20-14 lead, and they snapped a two-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh (4-7, 2-5) used a 74-yard pass play from Kenny Pickett to Jester Weah on its final drive to get to the 1 with less than 30 seconds to go. Reggie Floyd made a touchdown-saving tackle.
But Pittsburgh’s four attempts to score failed, with Khalil Ladler tackling tailback Darrin Hall for a 3-yard loss on the final play.
“We have to block,” Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We can sit here and talk about play calls, but you have to block. We had four downs to get one yard.”
“The play of the game was Reggie Floyd not giving up on that play,” Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “We talk to our kids every day about finishing, and today was a big part of it. Every blade of grass is critical, and it was in that play right there.”
Jackson completed 17 of 37 for 218 yards. Phillips caught eight passes and now has 2,981 career receiving yards.
Coming on in place of starter Ben DiNucci, Pickett completed 15 of 23 for 242 yards and one interception.
(At) Louisville 56, Syracuse 10: Quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for 381 yards and four touchdowns and became Louisville’s career yardage leader. A severe thunderstorm delayed the game for 43 minutes in the second quarter.
Jackson passed for 270 yards and two TDs and rushed for 111 with scores from 43 and 19 yards as the Cardinals (7-4, 4-4) rolled up 727 yards in total offense. He passed Chris Redman to become the program’s career yardage leader with 12,474. Syracuse is 4-7, 2-5.
(At) Duke 43, Georgia Tech 20: Shaun Wilson caught two touchdown passes and threw another, and Duke (5-6, 2-5) kept its bowl hopes alive by breaking a six-game losing streak.
Daniel Jones completed 18 of 26 passes for 177 yards and ran for 91 yards and a score for Duke, which outscored Tech 23-0 in the second half. Tech fell to 5-5, 4-4.
(At) No. 2 Clemson 61, The Citadel 3: Fifteen players caught at least one pass and nine carried the ball as the Tigers improved to 10-1 heading into games against South Carolina and then Miami in the ACC championship. “It’s all right there. We wanted to start today by playing our best football,” coach Dabo Swinney said of repeating as national champ.
The Citadel (5-6) of the FCS ran for 155 yards.
(At) North Carolina 65, Western Carolina 10: Nathan Elliott threw four first-half touchdown passes as North Carolina (3-8) took a 42-7 lead. The FCS Catamounts (7-5) fell to 0-54 all-time against FBS teams.
(At) Boston College 39, Connecticut 16: AJ Dillon rushed for 200 yards, including touchdowns of 48 and 53 yards, as the Eagles (6-5) won in heavy rain at Fenway Park and qualified for a bowl game for the fourth time in five seasons. UConn fell to 3-8.