The West Virginia football team crumbled down the stretch against Pittsburgh blowing a 10-point lead with only 4:55 remaining in a 38-34 loss.
The Mountaineers fell to 1-2 on the season and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
The offense. Outside the obvious final two possessions and a couple of hiccups at times, the West Virginia offense rolled up 34 points, 401 yards, and controlled the time of possession. It wasn't even close to a perfect effort, but you saw the abilities there.
The run defense and pass rush. Outside what Holstein was able to do with his legs, West Virginia held Reid in check and at the same time finished with 11 tackles for loss and 5 sacks. Those were both season highs.
Justin Robinson's catch. The Mississippi State transfer made a fantastic one-handed grab down the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown. It's the type of play that would go down into lore if it wasn't for how things turned out after that.
NOT:
The secondary. West Virginia again simply didn't have any answers when Pittsburgh challenged them deep down the field and never was that more apparent than when the Panthers were able to make multiple catches down the field after the defense had backed them up. The most glaring of these was a 40-yard touchdown pass on 2nd and 30 from the 40 yard-line. That simply can't happen.
The last four possessions. After building a 34-24 lead, the Mountaineers proceeded to fall apart on both sides of the ball allowing a quick touchdown drive then going three and out and then allowing another. It was the perfect recipe on how to lose a game down the stretch and that's exactly what occurred.
Special teams. West Virginia had a kickoff out of bounds, two offsides penalties on kickoffs and a blocked punt. It wasn't all bad, but that can't happen.
Holstein using his legs. West Virginia kept Pittsburgh running back Desmond Reid in check, but allowed the quarterback to scramble around to not only buy time but pick up chunks of yards with his feet. That was backbreaking at times.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
3rd and 3 from WVU 45. After taking the ball first, West Virginia faced a third and short situation but White was tackled short of the sticks and the Mountaineers were forced to punt the ball.
3rd and 11 from Pitt 13. The Mountaineers defense would step up on third down and force a three and out as Pitt would net just three yards and give the offense the football back near midfield.
2nd and 6 from Pitt 49. After a CJ Donaldson run for four yards, Rodney Gallagher was wide open down the sideline and set the Mountaineers up with a 33-yard gain. From there, the Mountaineers would score a touchdown on a pass to a wide-open Donaldson to take an early 7-0 lead.
1st and 10 from Pitt 38. After a quick first down, the Panthers threw it deep into man coverage and Kenny Johnson was able to win for a 42-yard gain down the field. However, the defense would hold in the red zone and the Panthers would have to settle for a field goal to make it 7-3.
2nd and 17 from Pitt 21. After forcing a seven-yard loss on first down, the Panthers dropped back to pass and a ball throw to Kenny Johnson was tipped up into the air and landed into his hands for a 21-yard gain. That would spark the drive that resulted in a Pitt touchdown to take a 10-7 lead.
1st and goal from Pitt 5. West Virginia capped off an 8-play 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run by Jahiem White to give the Mountaineers a 14-10 lead.
3rd and 15 from Pitt 30. The defense was looking to get off the field but a defensive holding penalty moved the ball for a first down extending the drive. From there, Pittsburgh would capitalize and get another defensive holding penalty on a 3rd and 20 and a missed sack which allowed the Panthers to score and retake the lead at 17-14.
3rd and 10 from 50. Greene dropped back to pass and the ball bounced off his wide receivers’ hands into the arms of Cruce Brookins for an interception and the first turnover of the game.
4th and 1 from the Pitt 49. Pittsburgh moved the ball to midfield and the Panthers elected to roll the dice and go for it but were unable to convert and the turnover didn’t hurt West Virginia. The Mountaineers would then take that field position and turn it into a field goal before half.
4th and 3 from WVU 33. Pittsburgh held on third down, but Straw elected to take off on the punt and picked up 12 yards to give the offense a first down at their own 45.
4th and 11 on WVU 44. After a holding penalty took a West Virginia touchdown off the board, the Mountaineers elected to go conservative and run the football. On the punt, Straw had it blocked and the Panthers would return it for a touchdown to give them a 24-17 lead.
3rd and 8 from WVU 21. The Mountaineers were able to get to the line of scrimmage and snap the football catching Pitt in a substitution error before completing a 44-yard pass down the sideline to Jaden Bray. The offense would put the ball into the end zone four plays later to tie the game at 24.
4th and 5 from Pitt 36. After a defensive stop, West Virginia moved the ball into Pitt territory and on fourth down was able to convert on a pass to Traylon Ray to move the sticks and keep the drive alive. The Mountaineers would then end up kicking a field goal on the drive.
4th and 1 from Pitt 34. The West Virginia defense rose to the challenge yet again when Trey Lathan was able to get into the backfield and stonewall Reid for a loss of three yards forcing a punt.
4th and 4 from Pitt 35. The Mountaineers again went back to the well on fourth down and hit Ray for a first down on another seven-yard catch to keep the chains moving. That would result in a highlight-reel touchdown catch by Justin Robinson three plays later, which would put the Mountaineers ahead 34-24.
2nd and 30 from WVU 40. West Virginia allowed Pitt to get behind them and connect on a deep touchdown despite pass interference on the play to cut the score to 34-31. The drive only took a total of 1:49 and traveled 75 yards.
The final two possessions. After a three and out on offense, West Virginia allowed Pittsburgh to drive 77 yards in 1:27 to win the football game as the Mountaineers couldn’t make a play down the stretch.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
0 - Turnovers forced by the West Virginia defense.
2.7 - Yards per rush for Pittsburgh.
3-14 - West Virginia on third down.
4 - Second-half yards surrendered by the West Virginia defense until the Panthers rolled up 152 yards and two touchdowns on the final two drives of the game.
4:55 - Time left when West Virginia took a 34-24 lead.
5 - Sacks by the West Virginia defense, they came into the game with only two.
9 - Completions allowed by the West Virginia defense 17 yards or over.
12 - The longest rush for Desmond Reid.
10.2 - Average gain on first downs for West Virginia.
28 - Yards on the sensational touchdown grab by Justin Robinson.
53 - Completion percentage for quarterback Garrett Greene.
5,042 - Days since West Virginia last beat Pitt at home Nov. 26, 2010.
GAME BALL:
TJ Jackson. West Virginia got a strong effort out of Jackson, the transfer from Troy, as he finished with 6 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He was active throughout and disruptive which is what the Mountaineers are going to need with Edward Vesterinen out and Jackson expected to take on a larger role.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
How does this team rebound? Any way you slice it losing a game to your most hated rival in the final 4:55 of a game that you led by 10-points is going to sting. The question becomes how much and can the Mountaineers put this behind them to regroup moving forward with a lot of season still remaining on the schedule?
That might seem like a tall task at this stage, but head coach Neal Brown is going to need his team to turn the page on this one and not let it snowball into more losses moving ahead. Nobody in the Puskar Center could have expected to be 1-2 right now but that's where the team is at and the only way to change it is to win games. This team isn't good enough to let Pitt beat them twice and how they bounce back is key.
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