The second-straight edition of the Backyard Brawl came down to the wire on Saturday, but West Virginia took a hard-fought 17-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers to grab its second win of the season, banking on sophomore tailback C.J. Donaldson and its running game to get the job done.
West Virginia (2-1) came out slow and was held to only three plays on its first drive after a batted ball and a miscommunication put them behind the chains. Pittsburgh (1-2) then answered with the ground and pound attack on its first possession, gashing WVU for 67 rushing yards until the Mountaineers forced a stop inside the 10-yard line and a 21-yard field goal for Ben Sauls.
Trailing 3-0, the Mountaineers lost starting quarterback Garrett Greene to an injury and thrusted sophomore signal caller Nicco Marchiol into the game, but his first drive ended on a turnover on downs in Pittsburgh territory.
After the Panthers had a near fumble at midfield that went to review, a false start derailed a fourth and inches quarterback sneak attempt and forced them to punt. The Mountaineers sustained a decent drive in their next possession on the ground, but three-straight runs with little gain forced them to punt and pin the Panthers on their own goal line.
With eight minutes left in the half, West Virginia completed the defensive stand in the Panthers’ territory, taking the ball on a punt near midfield. Two big gains from Marchiol and the first two completions of the game put the WVU offense in prime redzone territory, but a fumbled snap gave the Panthers new life.
However, on the second play of that drive, Pittsburgh’s quarterback Phil Jurkovec threw a dangerous pass that was intercepted by WVU safety Aubrey Burks and returned inside the 10-yard line. On the very next snap, Marchiol punched in the go-ahead touchdown with a seven-yard pass to tight end Kole Taylor, putting the Mountaineers ahead 7-3 late into the first half. This was Marchiol’s first touchdown against an FBS opponent in his career.
Pittsburgh took the final four minutes of the first half and ended it with a 36-yard field goal for Sauls, but the Panthers still trailed 7-6 going into the halftime break.
West Virginia’s defense put together an emphatic stop on Pittsburgh’s opening drive of the second half, including a powerful tackle for loss by WVU’s nose tackle Mike Lockhart on a third and short running play to force a punt.
The Mountaineers took control of the clock and strung together a methodical possession on their next drive, where they relied on tailback C.J. Donaldson for 47 yards on the ground in the drive. Halfway through the third quarter, Donaldson finished off the drive with a touchdown, putting West Virginia ahead 14-6.
The West Virginia defense stepped up once again to force Jurkovec's second interception of the game late into the third quarter and WVU cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. made a long 40-yard return deep into Panthers’ territory. The Mountaineers were only able to tack on a 42-yard field goal though and kicker Michael Hayes extended the lead to 17-6.
West Virginia used up some clock in the next drive and put together a modest drive into the middle of the fourth quarter, but Pittsburgh used a strong defensive effort to block the kick and take over near midfield, down by 11.
With five minutes left in the game, the Panthers executed a solid drive, with some mistakes from WVU, all the way up a fourth and inches run play, where they were stuffed short to award West Virginia the ball. The drive was short lived though, only burning a minute off the clock and leading to a punt.
Once the Panthers got the ball back, two penalties forced them deep into their own territory, pinned to the five-yard line. Once they got behind the chains on a fourth and 20, Jurkovec was sacked by defensive lineman Tyrin Bradley to give the ball back to the Mountaineers.
West Virginia was able to run down the clock on its next possession and after a turnover on downs, Pittsburgh took back over with around a minute left in the game and no timeouts and a challenging deficit to overcome. After only three plays, the third and most painful interception ended the Panthers’ chances and completed the 17-6 victory for West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl.
After the huge win, the Mountaineers are set to finish up a three-game home stretch in their next game on Saturday Sept. 23, as they will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
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