Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a big game in Blacksburg on Friday night. Two undefeated conference rivals meet under the lights at Lane Stadium as the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-0) host the Pittsburgh Panthers (4-0).
It’s almost rare to see two undefeated teams play on the first weekend of October, yet neither team is ranked. In fact, it’s never happened.
Calling this a huge game for these two longtime rivals would be an understatement. Both are 1-0 in ACC play, with Tech’s conference win coming on the road against Boston College last week. Meanwhile, the Panthers’ lone ACC win came two weeks ago at home against Syracuse. Speaking of home, Friday’s game in Blacksburg will be the first time Pitt has played on the road in 2026.
To learn more about the Panthers, here’s Pitt by the numbers.
13
That’s the number of touchdown passes from Pitt sophomore quarterback Mason Heintschel through four weeks. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore from Oregon, Ohio, won the starting quarterback job as a true freshman in 2025, starting nine games and completing 64% of his passes for 2,354 yards, with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. This season, Heintschel has one game with seven touchdown passes (vs. Miami, Ohio) and six in last week’s win over Bucknell.
3-1
That’s James Franklin’s record against Pat Narduzzi from the four meetings they had when Franklin was at Penn State. Here are the results of those games:
- 2016: Pitt 42, Penn State 39
- 2017: Penn State 33, Pitt 14
- 2018: Penn State 51, Pitt 6
- 2019: Penn State 17, Pitt 10
21
In a couple of games this season, we’ve seen the Hokies allow an opposing wide receiver to get behind their defense for a big play. Pitt senior wide receiver Cataurus Hicks is averaging 21 yards per reception this season. He had 12 catches for 252 yards and one touchdown. Heintschel has some weapons, but Hicks may be the most dangerous.
11
Pitt is ranked No. 11 in total defense. The Panthers will be the best defensive team Virginia Tech has faced this season. It’s worth noting that the Panthers haven’t necessarily played a difficult schedule, but Narduzzi’s teams always play strong defense. Through four games, Pitt is allowing only 244.5 total yards per game. Pittsburgh is especially tough against the run, ranking No. 4 nationally, with opponents managing only 53 rushing yards per game.
20
In this week’s SP+ rankings from ESPN’s Bill Connolly, the Panthers are ranked 20th. That’s the highest for a Virginia Tech opponent so far this season. The Panthers moved up a remarkable 17 spots this week and rank 36th in offensive SP+ and 15th in defensive SP+. The Hokies remained at No. 28 in this week’s SP+ rankings.
