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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-3, 3-2) host the Colorado Buffaloes (12-4, 3-2) for game two of the season series and the second ever meeting between the two schools.
West Virginia vs. Colorado Series History
Colorado leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Colorado 65, West Virginia 60 (Dec. 21, 2024, Boulder, CO)
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Last Meeting: OSU 68, No. 24 WVU 61 (Feb. 27, 2024, Stillwater, OK)
When: Wednesday, January 15
Location: Morgantown, West Virginia, WVU Coliseum (14,000)
– Frida Forman paces Colorado’s scoring production, averaging 13.9 points per game, while two more Buffs average double figures in Lior Garzon (11.5) and Jade Masogayo (12.6). Sara Smith leads with 6.3 rebounds per game and Kindyll Wetta leads the team with 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals.
– Colorado’s two losses in league play come on the road to then No. 11 TCU and RV Baylor and both came by double digits. CU adds two more league wins, defeating UCF and Kansas at home in their last two contests.
– Senior guard JJ Quinerly (18.3), junior guard Jordan Harrison (14.2) and junior guard Sydney Shaw (12.5) pace the Mountaineers scoring production this season. Harrison’s 5.1 assists per game leads WVU and ranks 8th in the Big 12. Senior guard Kyah Watson has grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game which ranks sixth in the Big 12 while her 3.1 steals per game ranks second and Quinerly’s 3.2 steals per game is first.
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– The Big 12’s leaders in steals last season, Watson (50), Quinerly (38) and Harrison (31), are at it again this season averaging over two steals per contest. Junior guard Sydney Shaw and Senior guard Sydney Woodley have also gotten in on the action with 32 and 29 steals this season, giving WVU five players with 29+ steals through 16 games.
– The Mountaineers have forced 15+ turnovers in every game this season, including 20+ in 13 games to average 25.7 per game. The mark ranks fifth in the nation. The Mountaineers have forced 30-plus turnovers in five games, including a season-high 44. WVU ranks second in the nation with 14.8 steals per game and holds a +9.5 turnover margin.
– West Virginia is averaging 80.3 points per game while outscoring their opponents by an average of 28.4 points.
– Quinerly currently sits 11th in points at 1,638, and behind WVU Hall of Famer Liz Repella (2008-11) with 1,641. She also ranks 4th in steals with 279 and is just another Hall of Famer in Rosemary Kosiorek (1989-92) with 293.
West Virginia still has some work to do in terms of replenishing the offensive line room, and over the weekend, they hosted former Princeton offensive tackle Will Reed for an official visit.
“Coach Bicknell and Coach Dressler were awesome,”Reed told West Virginia On SI. “Coach Bicknell’s experience in the NFL is really impressive, not to mention his college experience. The facilities were some of the best I have seen on any visit. Probably the best. It seems like they are bringing in a lot of talent and want to turn things around quickly. It has given me a lot to think about over the next week or two.”
Reed is also considering Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Virginia but has also received interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Memphis, Pitt, Stanford, UNLV, and Wake Forest.
Coming out of Eastside Catholic High School as a highly-rated three-star prospect in Sammamish, Washington, Reed originally committed to Cal. He decided to flip his commitment to Princeton, choosing the Ivy League route over offers from Air Force, Army, Colorado, Duke, Hawai’i, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, San Diego State, Tennessee, UNLV, Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, and a few others.
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He will have one year of eligibility remaining. A decision is expected to be made within the next two weeks.
MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI
WVU Battling Bitter Rival for Reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year
Another Transfer QB for WVU? Evaluating Where Each QB Stands Entering the Offseason
ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Not Heavily Penalized for Arizona Loss
The Recipe for West Virginia to Cook Up an Upset of No. 10 Houston
Amy Hessl, professor of geography at WVU, said California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable. (WVU Photo)
As the destruction continues with southern California’s wildfires that could be the costliest in U.S. history, one West Virginia University researcher said ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.
Amy Hessl, a geography professor and paleoclimatologist in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has studied the relationship between fire and climate throughout the world, particularly North America, Central Asia and Australia. She attributes the widespread devastation of California’s fires to an unusual weather pattern, known as the Santa Ana or “devil winds,” that are unique to that area.
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Hessl is known for her expertise as a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns.
Quotes:
“California’s wildfires are expected to continue to be more extreme, more frequent, more widespread and more devastating as air temperatures continue to warm and precipitation becomes more variable. This creates alternating wet periods when fuels can build up, with extreme dry and hot conditions conducive to fire activity.
“Santa Ana winds, or ‘devil winds,’ are unique to southern California. They are an unusual weather pattern that gets set up when there is a high pressure in the desert of the Southwest and a low pressure over the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles.
“Air will move from high to low pressure and, in the case of the Santa Anas, this means that really hot, dry air moves from the desert up over a series of mountains. Every time that air descends towards the coast, it gets hotter due to an increase in pressure. Many fire scientists and firefighters believe that the Santa Anas produce the most extreme fire conditions anywhere in the world.
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“Long records of past fires — that you can get from old trees that survived past fires, but recorded scars — can tell us a lot about how often fires occurred in the past, prior to European colonization, and what these records often tell us is that fires of pre-colonial periods were, in many cases, less extreme but more frequent than they are today.
“This change that we have seen in many places in the world is caused by the interaction between human-caused climate change, the history of land management leading to more abundant and more connected fuels, and people moving to the wildland urban interface — in other words —putting themselves in the way of fire.” —Amy Hessl, professor of geology, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, area of expertise or college/school/department in the Experts Database at WVUToday.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Jake Stump Director WVU Research Communications 304-293-5507; Jake.Stump@mail.wvu.edu
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