Pittsburgh, PA - Despite four touchdowns and a school-record 241 yards rushing from Kevin Jones, the Hokies fell to Pittsburgh 31-28, giving up a 70-yard drive that ended in a game-winning 2-yard run by Lousaka Polite with 47 seconds to go.

VT had the ball one more time, but Marcus Vick threw an interception to backup defensive back Corey Humphries on the first play of Tech's ensuing possession to end the game.

Vick's late interception was the last of four turnovers for the Hokies. Virginia Tech played a strong first half but killed themselves with three turnovers, including a Kevin Jones fumble inside the Pittsburgh ten-yard line, and a Cedric Humes fumble that gave Pitt the ball on the Hokie 34-yard line, leading to a Pitt touchdown. Still, the Hokies were lucky to go into half time down just 17-14.

Vick played most of this seesaw battle with the Panthers, coming in early in the second quarter, but was unable to orchestrate an improbable come-from-behind victory. The Hokies had taken a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on the strength of two quick touchdowns, rapidly erasing a 24-14 deficit. After taking a 17-14 half time lead on the strength of the three Virginia Tech turnovers, Pittsburgh went up 24-14 late in the third quarter on an 11-yard reception by tight end Kris Wilson.

Jones responded to that touchdown with an 80-yard TD, the longest run of his career. He burst through the left side of the line, cut back into the Pittsburgh defense, and motored untouched for the touchdown. Pitt went three-and-out on their next possession, and the Hokies scored in two plays from their own 41, a 46-yard Ernest Wilford reception followed by a 13-yard TD run by KJ.

That score put VT up 28-24 with almost 14 minutes to go, but the Hokies couldn't make it stand up. After the two teams traded possessions, the Hokies took over with 7:20 to go and drove from their 35 to the Pitt 30, where they faced a fourth and 4. VT Coach Frank Beamer decided to go for it instead of trying a 47-yard field goal, and Marcus Vick threw a fade route to Justin Hamilton. The pass fell incomplete, and though Hamilton was interfered with on the play, it wasn't called, and Pitt took over on their 30-yard line.

From there, Pitt marched easily to the touchdown. Going against a four-man rush and soft coverage, the Panthers didn't face a third down until it was third and goal on the Hokie two-yard line. The Panthers handed off to Lousaka Polite, who was met at the line of scrimmage by Hokie linebacker Vegas Robinson. Polite shook off Robinson's tackle, and with no Hokie help arriving, fell into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

Game Recap

Pitt took a 3-0 lead early in the game. The Panthers completed a 41-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald on their first offensive play, after Eric Green fell down in coverage. The Hokies held, and David Abdul kicked a 35-yard field goal for the lead.

VT responded quickly, with Mike Imoh returning the kickoff to the Pitt 49-yard line. The Hokies scored in four plays, with Jones capping the short drive with an 11-yard TD run to put Tech up 7-3.

Pitt turned it over on a fumble on their next possession, and VT took over on their 49-yard line. The Hokies marched down the field easily behind the running of Jones, but Jones killed the drive when he fumbled on the Pitt 7-yard line.

The 7-3 score stood into the second quarter, but the Hokies gave Pittsburgh an opening when punter Vinnie Burns shanked a kick from the VT 8-yard line. Burns' punt only went 22 yards, giving the Panthers possession on the VT 30-yard line. Pitt scored in three plays, the last a 5-yard slant pass from Rod Rutherford to Larry Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald's NCAA-record 15th straight game with a TD reception. Pitt was up 10-7.

The Hokies responded with an 8-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard Jones TD run. Jones had 40 yards rushing on the drive, and it put him over 100 yards for the game, with 8:33 to go in the first half. Hokies 14, Pitt 10.

After stopping Pitt, the Hokies coughed it up on their own 34-yard line, when backup tailback Cedric Humes was popped after a four-yard run and fumbled the ball. Three plays later, Pitt faced a fourth and 8 from the VT 32-yard line, and they fooled VT with an option play. Pitt tailback Jawan Walker peeled off a 30-yard run to the Hokie 3-yard line, and Rutherford scored on a keeper on the next play. Panthers 17, Hokies 14.

Vick, who replaced Bryan Randall for good early in the second quarter, then threw an interception under pressure, and Pittsburgh took over on the Hokie 41-yard line. Pitt marched deep into Tech territory from there, but the Hokies were saved when Mikal Baaqee intercepted a pass in the end zone, stealing it from Pitt Kris Wilson as time wound down in the half. VT was fortunate to go into half time down just 17-14.

After the two teams traded possessions to open the third quarter, Pitt struck again. With a drive stalling, the Panthers suddenly covered 58 yards in three plays, the last two plays being a 33-yard pass to Wilson and an 11-yard TD pass to Wilson. On the drive, the Hokies allowed Pitt to convert a third and 7 and a third and 13. Pitt went up 24-14 with 1:24 to go in the third quarter.

The Hokies shot back into the lead quickly. First, Jones peeled off an 80-yard TD on Tech's next play, and after a Pitt three-and-out, the Hokies went 59 yards in two plays, a 46-yard Vick-to-Wilford completion, and a 13-yard Jones TD run. VT led 28-24 with 13:51 to go in the game.

Pitt's offense spent most of the fourth quarter flailing away, first with a turnover and then with a short possession that netted only one first down.

With 7:20 to go, Tech took possession on their own 32 and drove to Pitt's 30-yard line. Along the way, Ernest Wilford made a catch that was ruled an incompletion, and Justin Hamilton had a catch hit the ground, but it was ruled a reception. The Hokies wound up with fourth and 4 on Pitt's 30, and Vick lobbed an out pattern to Justin Hamilton. Hamilton's left arm was pulled down right before the ball arrived, and he failed to make the catch, and the refs failed to make the interference call.

Pitt took over with 4:10 to go and marched 70 yards in nine plays. The Panthers completed three passes to Larry Fitzgerald in the drive, one of which hit the ground but was ruled a reception, and the Panthers took the ball to the Hokies four-yard line, where they had first and goal. Tech stopped two runs, and on third and goal from the two, fullback Lousaka Polite took the handoff, was met by Vegas Robinson in the hole, and shook him off for the touchdown.

Vick then threw the interception to Humphries on the first play of Tech's last possession. Vick appeared to be aiming for Ernest Wilford, but the ball was woefully underthrown, and Humphries caught it cleanly to seal the win.

The Hokies drop to 7-2 overall, 3-2 in the Big East. Pittsburgh is now 7-2, 4-0 in the Big East. VT's next game is on the road against Temple, on November 15th.

Game Notes

• With 241 yards rushing, Jones now has 1,104 for the season and 2,932 for his career. He stands fourth on the career rushing list at VT, passing #5 Lee Suggs (2,767 yards), and he is now just 49 yards behind #3 Maurice Williams (2,981 yards). Next on the list: #2 Roscoe Coles (3,459 yards) and #1 Cyrus Lawrence (3,767 yards).

• With 5 catches, Ernest Wilford now has 105 receptions for his career, putting him third on VT's career receptions list. He now trails just Ricky Scales (113 catches) and Antonio Freeman (121 catches).

• VT quarterbacks now have 7 interceptions and just 1 touchdown pass in the last four games (Syracuse, West Virginia, Miami, and Pitt). For the season, Hokie QBs have 9 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

• In the last three seasons, since the departure of Michael Vick, VT is 3-9 against the quartet of WVU (1-2), Syracuse (1-2), Miami (1-2), and Pittsburgh (0-3).

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