PITTSBURGH, Pa. —The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to the Pitt Panthers, 38-34, on Saturday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
The third year of the four-year contract to resurrect the famed “Backyard Brawl” was a terrific showcase of rivalry football. Saturday’s game was the 107th time the two rivals have faced each other.
Like the last two games, the Mountaineers (1-2) and the Panthers (3-0) played a close one.
WVU dominated time of possession (36:17), had five sacks, 11 tackles for loss and outgained Pitt, 401-379. The Mountaineers had a 75-59 advantage in total plays and were up by 10 points with roughly five minutes left. But, with this being a rivalry game, well, stuff happened.
The “Backyard Brawl” will return next year in Morgantown before it goes on a three-year hiatus until they meet again in 2029.
Here are three thoughts on the game.
IT COULD HAVE ENDED HERE
In about five minutes in the third quarter we saw how special teams can impact a game.
West Virginia punter Oliver Straw used his unique running punting style of his advantage and was able to fool the Pitt punt coverage team and turn it into a first down near midfield. It was one of those plays you know could change the course of the game. And it nearly did.
A couple of plays later, WVU quarterback Garrett Greene (210 yards passing) hit Hudson Clement on a long bomb downfield. Greene was hit as he released it and had to push through the release. But he hit Clement in stride and he turned it into a touchdown. The lead was West Virginia’s.
Or, not. At the other end of the field, WVU’s Wyatt Milum was called for holding. That erased the touchdown. Two plays later, the Mountaineers had to punt again.
No, Straw didn’t fake it this time, though he might have been better served doing it. Pitt’s Maverick Gracio came in from the left side completely untouched and cleanly blocked Straw’s punt. Brandon George picked it up and returned it 24 yards for a Panthers touchdown.
You could feel the air come out of the stadium. At least part of it.
THE GUT CHECK
After falling behind seven points — and how West Virginia fell behind with the blocked punt — the response was important.
It came fast. The Mountaineers tied the game on the next drive on C.J. Donaldson’s touchdown run. Donaldson had a team-high 79 yards rushing. A 44-yard pass from Garrett Greene to wide receiver Jaden Bray set things up.
Then, the WVU defense held Pitt to one first down and sacked Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein twice before forcing a punt. That allowed WVU to put together a 14-play drive — complete with a fourth-down conversion to start the fourth quarter — to set up a 23-yard field goal by Michael Hayes.
A touchdown would have been a better outcome. But the Mountaineers responded to adversity in a big way thanks, and continued it with the next set of possessions, as they forced another Pitt punt and turned that into a Greene-to-Justin Robinson touchdown pass that gave them a 10-point lead but effectively put the game away.
Or, so the Mountaineers thought.
ELI AT THE END
To stop Pitt you must stop Holstein. He had back-to-back 300-yard passing games and because of that the Panthers were No. 11 in pass offense with 335.5 yards per game.
The Mountaineers were No. 114 in FBS after two games allowing 270.5 yards per game.
So, yeah, that was a problem, even more so after Holstein had 201 yards passing in the first half.
But, for most of the second half, the Mountaineers held him down. On Pitt’s first three drives the Panthers had six total yards. Holstein didn’t have a passing yard.
West Virginia was almost there. Almost.
But, on Pitt’s final two drives Holstein became their nightmare. Yes, he completed several passes en route to 301 passing yards. But, after nearly an entire second half keeping Holstein bottled up, WVU lost contain on the edge and he just took over.
Scrambles of 10, 4 and 24 yards helped set up his 40-yard touchdown pass to Daejon Reynolds with 3:08 left. Then, after the Pitt defense forced a three-and-out, he was at it again. Scrambles of 7, 17 and 5 yards set up Derrick Davis Jr.’s touchdown run with 33 seconds left to win the game.
Holstein had his 300-yard passing game. But his 59 rushing yards loomed far larger late in the game.
