PITTSBURGH — One of the nation’s worst secondaries kept daring Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans to throw. So he did. Over. And over. And over.

The junior shook off a right ankle injury to throw for a career-high 406 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 25th-ranked Hokies to a 39-36 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Joey Slye tied the school and Atlantic Coach Conference records by making six field goals to help the Hokies (6-2, 4-1) beat the Panthers (5-3, 2-2) on the road for the first time in 17 years.

Pitt came in with the nation’s 120th-ranked pass defense yet played bump-and-run for most of the game, hoping its defensive backs could win more than they lost.

Didn’t happen. Instead, three Tech wide receivers topped 100 yards in the same game for the first time in school history. Isaiah Ford’s 10 receptions included his school-record 23rd receiving touchdown. Bucky Hodges caught six passes for 145 yards and a score and Cam Phillips added 109 yards on a night the Hokies piled up 556 total yards.

“It’s a great feeling when you can do what you love doing and that’s throw the ball up and down the field against a pretty good defense,” Evans said. “One-on-one coverage. You can’t ask for anything better than one-on-one coverage.”

James Conner ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers but offensive coordinator Matt Canada continued to tinker with the Pitt playbook.