Xavier Brown accounted for two touchdowns and visiting Virginia held on for a 24-19 upset of No. 18 Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
It was the second straight loss for the Panthers (7-2, 3-2 ACC), likely eliminating their chances to reach the College Football Playoff or ACC Championship Game.
The Cavaliers (5-4, 3-3) ended a three-game skid and moved closer to gaining bowl eligibility for the first time under third-year coach Tony Elliott.
Anthony Colandrea passed for 143 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for Virginia.
Nate Yarnell had a touchdown pass and two interceptions for Pitt after taking over for starter Eli Holstein, who left with an apparent head injury in the third quarter. Desmond Reid paced the Panthers with 123 yards from scrimmage.
Pitt had a final chance to take the lead before Yarnell’s pass was intercepted by Corey Thomas Jr. with 1:40 left.
Virginia opened the scoring in the second quarter with some trickery. Cavaliers receiver Suderian Harrison got the ball on a reverse and threw a 27-yard pass to Colandrea to the 1-yard line. Brown ran it in on the next snap for a 7-0 lead.
Later in the quarter, the Panthers put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive, capped by Daniel Carter’s 1-yard run to tie the score with 4:48 remaining in the half.
An interception by Kyle Louis set up a 44-yard field goal by Ben Sauls to give Pitt its first lead at 10-7 with 1:59 left.
Sauls hit a 48-yarder with eight seconds left to give the Panthers a 13-7 lead at halftime.
Momentum shifted to Virginia in the third quarter. Holstein left the game after getting hit in the helmet by Virginia linebacker Trey McDonald, who was thrown out for targeting.
After Jonas Sanker blocked a 45-yard field goal attempt by Sauls, Colandrea put the Cavaliers in front 14-13 with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Brown.
Virginia got the ball back after Sanker intercepted Yarnell’s pass. Four plays later, Kobe Pace’s 3-yard touchdown run made it 21-13 with 3:34 left in the third.
Yarnell’s 4-yard TD pass to Gavin Bartholomew cut the deficit to 21-19 with 10:32 to play. That’s where the score remained after a holding penalty wiped out Bartholomew’s two-point conversion catch.
The Cavaliers extended the lead to 24-19 on a 32-yard field goal by Will Bettridge to cap a 16-play, 60-yard drive that chewed up 8:26.
