The Backyard Brawl returns to the gridiron this weekend, and it should be a close one between teams looking to play into the upper echelons of their respective conferences, as Pittsburgh welcomes West Virginia in college football’s Week 3 action on Saturday.
Sitting at 1-1 after losing to Penn State in the opener before routing Albany last week, the Mountaineers won 9 games a year ago to pull head coach Neal Brown off the proverbial hot seat and winning games like this is important when looking at the schedule in the weeks ahead.
Pittsburgh has the look of an improved team coming off last season’s 3-9 disaster, marching out to a 2-0 start, and comes into this weekend with a 62-41-3 lead over West Virginia in this series that dates back to 1895.
West Virginia has won four of the last five meetings with Pittsburgh, but the rivalry was split the last two seasons, with the Mountaineers winning last season and the Panthers the year before.
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What can we expect from the matchup? Here’s what you should watch for as West Virginia and Pittsburgh renew their rivalry in this Week 3 college football game, with our updated prediction.
1. Going deep. West Virginia has the capacity to run the ball successfully, but Pittsburgh could be vulnerable on the back end. The secondary has allowed 5 passes of over 30 yards and is surrendering more than 7 yards per attempt. Garrett Greene leads a cadre of receivers who can get separation on these defenders and set the tone early.
2. On the ground. Pittsburgh looks strong when defending against the rush and has allowed opponents to average just 2.4 yards per rushing attempt so far. But the Mountaineers have a strong offensive line that can create opportunities for talented backs like CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White, not to mention Greene himself, an agile runner with the football.
3. Pitt’s new QB. Alabama transfer Eli Holstein has been a revelation for the Panthers through two games, helping lead an offensive renaissance that resulted in this attack more than doubling its scoring output from a year ago, averaging more than 41 points per game. He can find throwing lanes with a battery of skilled targets against a West Virginia secondary allowing almost 10 yards per attempt in the air.
Lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
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West Virginia: -2.5 (-110) Pittsburgh: +2.5 (-110)
WVU to win: -128 Pitt to win: +106
Over 61.5 points: -115 Under 61.5 points: -105
This close line correctly suggests the game to be very evenly matched. Pittsburgh has the run-stop and the passing attack to pull it out, but West Virginia has the ground game to eat clock and move the chains.
Home field advantage plays a role — Pitt won at home two years ago — but the difference maker could be Pitt tailback Desmond Reid.
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The 5-foot-8, 175-pounder leads college football with 244 all-purpose yards per game this season, is coming off a 254-yard effort against Cincinnati, and could be a matchup problem for the Mountaineers.
His consistent gains against a vulnerable West Virginia run-stop combined with Holstein and his receivers exploiting some center field gaps could prove to be the difference.
College Football HQ picks …
More … West Virginia vs. Pitt score prediction by expert football model
Four people died in a fire at this mobile home in Junior PHOTO: Alan Coberly
JUNIOR, W.Va. — A late night fire in Barbour County has claimed the lives of four people.
The State Fire Marshal confirms the four adults died in the blaze at a home in the town of Junior. The fire department was alerted just before 11 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find a mobile home fully engulfed in flames along River Avenue in the town.
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The fire was out in 15 minutes and the bodies discovered.
The Fire Marshal has investigators on scene. All four victims were adults, but further information is not known.
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — The Moundsville Police Department is investigating a pharmacy break-in that led to the theft of a large amount of narcotics.
Police said the burglary happened in the early morning hours of June 30. Investigators said the suspects broke a window, went behind the pharmacy counter and stole the narcotics.
Authorities believe the suspects are from outside the area.
Police said the suspects used a stolen Infiniti Q50. The vehicle was later recovered by Ohio authorities near Cambridge.
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The investigation is ongoing and involves law enforcement agencies in multiple states.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Moundsville Police Department at 304-845-1611.
The United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox on Tuesday, ruling that states may exclude transgender athletes from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
The justices were unanimous in their analysis that the laws do not violate civil rights laws. However, the court was split on whether West Virginia’s law stood up to constitutional muster.
The ruling concludes this chapter in the ongoing cultural debate. The Save Women’s Sports Act was overwhelmingly approved by the legislature and signed by then-Gov. Jim Justice in 2021, and was almost immediately challenged in court. The legal battle trudged on for the next five years on its way to becoming a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Tuesday’s ruling settled the legal debate, but the court of public opinion weighed in on the issues long before the justice issued their legal opinions. According to Pew Research, 66 percent of U.S. adults support laws requiring athletes to compete on teams that match their biological sex. A Gallup poll found similar results, with 69 percent of adults supporting such laws.
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West Virginia is not alone in passing a law to protect women’s and girls’ sports. Twenty-six other states have recognized the basic fact that there are differences between males and females and have chosen to pass legislation acknowledging those distinctions in athletic competition.
Lawmakers, who campaigned on protecting women’s and girls’ sports, can now tell constituents that they have fulfilled their campaign promise. The Save Women’s Sports Act is now the law of the land in West Virginia.
“I would say that for the foreseeable future, we have a very certain future for women’s sports. And here in West Virginia, we know what the rules are, we know what the law is, we know that it’s constitutional,” said West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey on Talkline.
Tuesday’s ruling also presents an opportunity for legislators to move on from the issue. Discussions surrounding the topic during the legislative session have been known to grind momentum to a halt, and Republicans running for office over the last five years have made it a centerpiece of their campaigns.
The issue is now settled, at least for now.
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As J.B McCuskey cautioned,
“In the world of constitutional litigation, Dave, there’s never an end to any chapter.”
