PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He leads the ACC in pass completions, attempts and yards. Not Kenny Pickett, rather the quarterback Pitt expects to face on Saturday.
Virginia's Brennan Armstrong missed last Saturday's game against Notre Dame with an undisclosed injury. His head coach believes he's close to returning, saying his status is hour-to-hour if not second-to-second.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi is preparing as if Armstrong will play. He believes they 'saved' Armstrong last week to play this Saturday.
"He will be primed and ready for an ACC clash, so we do expect to get their best player, which they didn't have Saturday," Narduzzi said. "Who cares about the Notre Dame game? I think that was kind of the attitude they had going into it."
Armstrong has thrown for 24-hundred yards more at this point this season than last. Overall, the redshirt junior is completing 64% of his passes for 3.557 yards, 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He's also rushed for 271 yards and seven touchdowns.
"We faced a lot of mobile quarterbacks in the ACC," said Pitt defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado. "Special thing about the quarterback this week, he throws a lot. He passes a lot. He's really good at throwing. He can make you miss. He will look for gaps and run."
"They've got an element of the RPO in there," Narduzzi said. "They like to throw it 70% of the time, so it's going to be a drop-back, line up at empty with all these different personnel groupings and chuck it deep, chuck it wherever they want to. That's what they've done, and they like to throw the football."
"He's a dynamic player," said Pitt assistant head coach Charlie Partridge. "We all know the rankings of their offense and what he is capable doing with his arm and his feet. His toughness is as good as any you will see in a quarterback in terms of his willingness to take a hit, throw with pressure in his face. Virginia does a lot on offense and you have to have a quarterback that can manage that. Not only does he manage that, he's able to produce."
"He's a guy that can burn you if you are not great with your lanes. That's what we were talking about coming off the practice field. When we get the opportunity to be aggressive in terms of trying to rush the passer we have to be really smart. Thankfully we are kind of two weeks in a row with North Carolina, where we have to be sound with our lanes or we will pay for it."
"They have an unorthodox offense, anyone can run the ball," said linebacker SirVocea Dennis.
Eleven different Cavaliers have at least a rush, with four rushing for at least 200 yards. Five receivers have at least 450 yards.
"Anyone can get the ball, really," Dennis said. "Play football, play fast and play sound football. If we execute the game plan, we will be fine."
"We have a great defense. If we execute well and play fast. We will stop anyone in the country."
