The West Virginia football team avenged last season's defeat by knocking off rival Pittsburgh 17-6 in the 106th edition of the Backyard Brawl.
The Mountaineers moved to 2-1 on the season and and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
CJ Donaldson. The sophomore was the best player on the field Saturday rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown, an average of 5.7 per carry. The only mistake that Donaldson made was getting a little too emotional and taking his helmet off after that score. Donaldson has made an impact in each of his games in the Brawl.
Nicco Marchiol. Considering Marchiol was only thrust into the starting role when Garrett Greene went down with an injury, the redshirt freshman played admirably. He completed just 6-9 passes but did connect on his final 6 of the game for 60 yards and a score. He took some bad sacks and has to continue to improve but considering he only saw a limited number of reps on the week it was an impressive effort.
The atmosphere. This is what college football is supposed to be about. This was a massive game for both teams and the regional rivalry certainly delivered. Never was that more apparent than when the Mountaineers offered their version of Sweet Caroline. The West Virginia rendition of song was in full force during the third quarter break and it was a sight to behold. The crowd of 61,106 made that three letter phrase very apparent when the sound was cutoff during the song. Stuff like this is what makes rivalries fun and it definitely was a good natured ribbing.
The defense. West Virginia held Pitt to just 211 total yards and 6 points while recording three interceptions and flustering the Panthers all night long. The defensive line was dominant in this game at times and was able to win one-on-one often.
NOT:
The wide receivers. Some of this was game plan with Marchiol in the game, but West Virginia needs to get more production out of that group moving forward.
The start. West Virginia went three and out on offense and then allowed Pittsburgh to drive them 67-yards down the field without attempting a single pass. That gave the Panthers early momentum and that even built further with the injury to Greene. But credit the Mountaineers for finding a way to battle back.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
3rd and 3 from the WVU 3. After Pittsburgh drove the ball down the doorstep of the goal line, the West Virginia defense rose up and made a critical stop to force the Panthers into a field goal.
2nd and 4 from the WVU 30. Starting quarterback Garrett Greene took a carry on a keeper to the right side for a yard. It was a routine play, but resulted in Greene injuring his ankle and being forced from the game after the next snap which was a handoff.
4th and 1 from the Pitt 49. Pitt was already leading 3-0 and had the ball at midfield before one of several false starts pushed back a fourth down attempt and forced the Panthers to punt the football.
4th and 4 from the Pitt 39. West Virginia elected to punt the football and it was a perfect boot by Oliver Straw as it was downed at the one-yard line. The Panthers would then go three and out to set the Mountaineers up near midfield.
2nd and 8 from the Pitt 14. West Virginia turned that drive into a successful march over seven plays but after a timeout Nicco Marchiol would fumble the football on the exchange and keep the score at 3-0.
2nd and 10 from the Pitt 18. After that fumble, Pittsburgh returned the favor with an interception by Aubrey Burks that he would return 26-yards to set up the Mountaineers at the 7-yard line of the Panthers. West Virginia would score one play later on a touchdown toss to Kole Taylor to seize the lead.
3rd and 1 at the Pitt 30. On the opening drive of the the second half the Panthers had an opportunity to extend it, but Mike Lockhart blew up the play and forced Pittsburgh to punt the football back.
2nd and 19 at the Pitt 46. After taking a sack, West Virginia was able to keep the drive alive when Hudson Clement drew a holding penalty. The drive would end with CJ Donaldson plunging in from one-yard out to take a 14-6 lead.
1st and 10 from the Pitt 45. Jurkovec had his second interception here as he simply misfired and the ball landed into the hands of Beanie Bishop. He took the ball back 40-yards and the Mountaineers would tack on a field goal to lead 17-6.
4th and 1 at the WVU 27. After a blocked punt gave the Panthers the ball at the West Virginia 48 trailing just 17-6, Pittsburgh drove the ball deep into the Mountaineers territory and elected to roll the dice. On fourth down, Jurkovec was stone walled giving the football and the momentum back to the Mountaineers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
1 – Passes completed by West Virginia for over 15 yards.
3 - Interceptions by the defense. West Virginia had only two all season. Also the number of consecutive wins by the Mountaineers in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown.
6 – The fewest points Pittsburgh has scored against West Virginia since being shutout by the Mountaineers in 1996.
8 – The fewest completions permitted by the West Virginia defense since allowing only 8 to Minnesota in 2021.
65 - Penalty yardage by Pittsburgh.
10-0 - West Virginia outscored Pittsburgh in the second half.
60 - The fewest passing yards by West Virginia since beating Syracuse 17-6 in 2008.
107 - Receiving yards from tight end Kole Taylor in three games. The Mountaineers had only 153 total yards at the position last season.
144 - Yards by Pittsburgh in their final ten drives of the game. The Panthers opened the game with 67 yards on their opening drive.
211 - The lowest yardage total that West Virginia has held a power five opponent to since holding Kansas to 157 yards in 2020.
4,313 - Days since West Virginia last beat Pittsburgh in 2011.
61,106 - The largest home attendance since hosting Texas in 2019. That total was 62,069.
GAME BALL:
The defense. West Virginia did exactly what it needed to do against Pittsburgh and kept the Panthers in check after their first drive totaled 67-yards and led to a field goal. After that, Pittsburgh mustered just 144 yards over the next 10 and three points. The Mountaineers recorded three interceptions, a sack and five tackles for loss. The defense held the Panthers to just 3.6 yards rushing and 4-15 on third and fourth down. This was a physical football game and the Mountaineers bullied their way to a big win in the biggest rivalry game on the schedule.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
How does this team respond? Winning this game was important for obvious reasons given the significance of the rivalry and the fact that West Virginia players and fans alike had this one circled on the schedule after what unfolded last year against the Panthers.
But while this game was critical to get for all those involved, it's just one in a 12-game regular season schedule. The Mountaineers will now dive head first into the Big 12 Conference schedule starting with a Texas Tech team that has won four straight in the series. The Red Raiders have struggled out the gate this season and the opportunity is there for West Virginia to do something it has yet to do under Neal Brown -- win three games in a row. This was a highly emotional and physical game, as most intense rivalries are, but the Mountaineers are going to have to put that behind them.
This team has to find a way to respond and move onto the next one and could have to do it with a backup quarterback under center. Finding a way to beat Pittsburgh was critical, but now the Mountaineers have to focus on what lies ahead.
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