{"id":912687,"date":"2026-10-01T21:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T21:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/912687\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T21:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T21:34:14","slug":"week-5-friday-preview-unbeaten-pitt-virginia-tech-kick-off-acc-football-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/912687\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 5 Friday Preview: Unbeaten Pitt, Virginia Tech Kick Off ACC Football Action"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                        &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Jeffrey_Overton_Jr_VT_breaks_a_run_vs_Maryland_2026_.png\" alt=\"\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                &#13;<br \/>\n            &#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Football&#13;<br \/>\n                     October 01, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                              &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<br \/>\n                                &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<\/p>\n<p>                &#13;<br \/>\n                    Story Links&#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;<br \/>\n    &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) \u2013 Week 5 of Atlantic Coast Conference football kicks off under the Friday night lights, as undefeated Pitt travels to undefeated Virginia Tech for a 7 p.m. ET showdown on ESPN. Both teams enter the matchup at 4-0, making the ACC clash one of only two games nationally in Week 5 featuring a pair of undefeated FBS teams and the only such matchup on Friday night.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Friday night showdown opens a nine-game ACC weekend that continues Saturday with No. 3 Notre Dame visiting North Carolina at noon ET on ESPN before the weekend culminates with No. 4 Miami traveling to Clemson for a 7:30 p.m. ET primetime matchup on ABC.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n<br \/>\nFriday, October 2<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nPitt at Virginia Tech | 7 p.m.\u00a0 ET<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nSeries: Virginia Tech leads series, 12-11<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nLast meeting: Virginia Tech, 38-21 (2023)<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nTV: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/watch\/player\/_\/id\/ac43d045-57eb-4f00-a387-25378341b7ae\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN<\/a><br \/>\nSiriusXM Radio: <a href=\"https:\/\/sxm.app.link\/SXM169\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM 169<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/sxm.app.link\/SXM173\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM 173<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/sxm.app.link\/SXM234\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM 234<\/a><br \/>\nSiriusXM App: <a href=\"https:\/\/sxm.app.link\/SXM169\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM 169<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/sxm.app.link\/SXM958\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM 958<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tPitt and Virginia Tech both enter 4-0 overall and 1-0 in ACC play, making Friday night&#8217;s ESPN matchup one of just four games nationally in Week 5 featuring two undefeated FBS teams. Pitt and Virginia Tech are two of the ACC&#8217;s four remaining unbeaten teams.&#13;<br \/>\n\tFriday marks the 24th all-time meeting between the programs. Pitt holds a 6-5 edge in ACC meetings and has won three of the last four matchups, including a 28-7 victory in its most recent trip to Blacksburg in 2021.&#13;<br \/>\n\tBoth teams have been disruptive defensively. Pitt ranks No. 3 nationally in scoring defense at 8.5 points per game, while Virginia Tech leads the nation with 11.3 tackles-for-loss per game and ranks third with 4.25 sacks per contest.&#13;<br \/>\n\tPitt has outscored its first four opponents 157-34 (+123), holding every opponent to 14 points or fewer this season. The Panthers have yet to surrender a point in either the first or third quarter this season.&#13;<br \/>\n\tPitt ranks second in the ACC in total defense (244.5 ypg) and allows just 53.3 rushing yards per game. The Panthers are coming off a 59-0 shutout of Bucknell in which they surrendered only 136 total yards.&#13;<br \/>\n\tQB Mason Heintschel threw for 403 yards and six touchdowns last week, becoming the first quarterback in ACC history with multiple six-TD passing games in the same season. He has 1,191 passing yards and 13 touchdowns through four games.&#13;<br \/>\n\tVirginia Tech has opened 4-0 for the first time in nine years, highlighted by Power Four road victories at Maryland and Boston College. The Hokies are one of only five teams nationally with multiple Power Four road wins.&#13;<br \/>\n\tVirginia Tech enters Friday averaging 43.3 points and 463 yards per game, ranking second in the ACC in scoring offense.&#13;<br \/>\n\tQB Ethan Grunkemeyer has thrown for 1,012 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 74.3 percent of his passes.&#13;<br \/>\n\tRB Jeffrey Overton Jr. rushed for 209 yards at Boston College, including a 76-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. He has 409 rushing yards at 6.8 yards per carry this season and was named ACC Running Back of the Week following the performance.&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; &#13; Football&#13; October 01, 2026&#13; &#13; &#13; &#13;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":912688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-912687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}