2016 Pitt Football Game Notes

2016 Pitt Football Game Notes Heinz Field • Saturday, September 3, 2016 Game No. 1: Pitt 28, Villanova 7 Team  The University of Pittsburgh began its 127th season of intercollegiate football with a 28-7 victory over Villanova on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.  Pitt improved to 82-43-2 (.654) all-time in season openers and 14-1 (.933) all-time against Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponents. The Panthers are now 3-0 all-time against Villanova.  The Pitt defense didn’t allow any points to the Wildcats, who scored their only points on a defensive touchdown via fumble return. Villanova finished with just 172 yards of total offense, the lowest total allowed by the Panthers since they held Virginia Tech to 100 yards on Oct. 3, 2015.  The Pitt defense forced a pair of Villanova turnovers and held the Wildcats to 4-of-16 conversions on third down.  Four Pitt players made their first career starts in the game. Defensively, senior cornerback Ryan Lewis, sophomore defensive end Dewayne Hendrix and sophomore linebacker Elijah Zeise all started for the first time. Sophomore Connor Dintino also received a first career start at fullback. James Conner  Junior running back James Conner’s return was highlighted by two touchdowns, including his first career receiving score. Conner barreled three yards for the game’s opening TD in the second quarter before catching a nine-yard touchdown from quarterback Nathan Peterman just before halftime.  Conner, coming back from a torn MCL and now cancer-free, finished with 53 yards on 17 carries in the game. He moved into ninth place on Pitt’s all-time rushing yardage list early in the game, passing Curtis Martin (2,643 yards).  Conner’s 12th multi-TD game as a Panther also resulted in him seizing sole possession of sixth place in Pitt history in scoring and he now has 228 career points. He was previously tied with fellow running backs LeSean McCoy and Ray Graham, both of whom totaled 216 points during their Pitt careers. Quadree Henderson  Sophomore Quadree Henderson returned the opening kickoff of the second half 96 yards for a touchdown, giving him kickoff return TDs in consecutive games after his 100-yard kickoff return in the Military Bowl versus Navy last December. Henderson is the only Pitt football player with two career kickoff return TDs since 2000.  Henderson finished with a game-high 211 all-purpose yards for Pitt. He had 118 kickoff return yards on two returns, 58 punt return yards on four attempts and 35 yards receiving on four catches. Chris Blewitt  Senior placekicker Chris Blewitt kicked four PATs to surpass Carson Long for first on Pitt’s all-time kick scoring list. In overall scoring, Blewitt now ranks second at Pitt with 271 points. Only Tony Dorsett (380) has scored more points in Pitt football history. Scott Orndoff  Senior tight end Scott Orndoff finished with career highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (68). Jester Weah  Junior Jester Weah had the first four catches of his collegiate career, including a 16-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, and finished with 38 yards receiving. Terrish Webb  Senior safety Terrish Webb recorded his fifth career interception with a pick of Villanova quarterback Zach Bednarczyk early in the second quarter. Webb also shared the team lead with six tackles in the game.