PITTSBURGH (AP) Kenny Pickett, Jordan Addison and No. 18 Pitt took the chaos out of the ACC's Coastal Division.
Pickett threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns - all of them to Addison - in his final game at Heinz Field and the Panthers claimed their second Coastal title in four years with a 48-38 victory over Virginia on Saturday night.
The Panthers (9-2, 6-1 ACC) earned a trip to Charlotte on Dec. 4 by relying heavily on the best quarterback-wide receiver combination in the country. Addison's four scores tied a school record and boosted his season total to 15, tops in FBS.
Pitt needed every single one of them.
The Cavaliers (6-5, 4-3) kept hanging around until Addison outjumped a defender for a ball and raced the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown with 2:10 remaining that let the Panthers finally exhale. Addison, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award given to the best wide receiver in the country, finished with 14 receptions for 202 yards.
Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong returned from a one-game absence due to injury to throw for 487 yards with three touchdowns and an interception but was also sacked five times. When Armstrong's fourth-down pass to Jelani Woods fell incomplete with 1:19 to play, Pickett came on for a couple of kneel downs, his performance bookending his breakout as a true freshman in an upset of then-No. 2 Miami four years ago.
Keytaon Thompson provided 143 yards of total offense for the Cavaliers, who saw their chance for a second Coastal crown in three seasons evaporate thanks to a defense that continues to have problems getting stops when it matters.
Pickett added to his ever-growing stash of school records when he broke Rod Rutherford's mark for yards passing in a single season (3,679) and smashed Rutherford and Hall of Famer Dan Marino's standard for touchdowns responsible for in one year (40) on his last heave to Addison.
UP NEXT
Virginia: Welcomes Virginia Tech to Scott Stadium next Saturday. The Hokies have won 16 of 17 against the Cavaliers.
Pitt: Will try to extend its mastery over Syracuse when the Panthers wrap up the regular season on the road next Saturday. Pitt is 7-1 against the Orange since both schools joined the ACC in 2013.