Behind Enemy Lines: What Pitt Needs to Know About West Virginia
PITTSBURGH -- The Backyard Brawl is finally back. For 11 long years, tension between the Pitt Panthers and West Virginia has built and will come to a boil when they kickoff the 105th game of the series at Acrisure Stadium.
The No. 17 Panthers are touchdown favorites over their rivals from just south of the state border and enter 2022 with lofty expectations after winning 11 games and an ACC Championship last season. They did lose three important pillars of their record-setting 2021 offense, but they are not the only ones in a state of flux.
West Virginia is in a much different place than it was three months ago, according to Schuyler Callihan of Mountaineers Now. Prior to some exciting transfers, head coach Neal Brown seemed destined for the hot seat.
"It was kind of a weird feeling," Callihan said in an interview with Inside the Panthers. "It felt like the fan base was falling away from Neal Brown. They didn't trust the climb anymore, there were questions about his future ... There was a weird feeling like this team was going to bottom out."
The Mountaineers have since found their answer at quarterback in immensely talented transfer from Georgia J.T. Daniels. Morgantown is the third stop of Daniels' career but his two transfers are not a sign of wavering ability for the former five-star recruit, according to Callihan.
The hope stems largely from Daniels, who is tasked with leading a retooled offense that expects to stretch the field with first-year offensive coordinator Graham Harrell entering after leaving the same post at USC. Reports are that Daniels has been as good as advertised at Mountaineer practices. There are injury concerns and Daniel's won't be enough to single handily carry West Virginia to championships, but he was a much needed shot in the arm.
"Then J.T. Daniels comes in and it’s an injection of excitement and energy around this program again. They’ve went out and got some junior college guys, some Power 5 transfers as well," he said. "So I think the feeling three months ago is completely different from what it is now. I think you ask a lot of fans now, they believe this team can compete in the Big 12 and is maybe a dark horse to sneak into that Big 12 title game.”
There are moving pieces around him at the skill positions, but still talent and experience at receiver with Sam James, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Reese Smith and Kayden Prather surrounding Daniels.
Where there is cause for concern is at the offensive line, which returns the same starters from 2021, but has been shuffled.
"This is only Zach Fraiser’s second year playing center," Callihan said. "James Kemmiter had a suspension and battled some injuries two years ago. Wyatt Milum, this is his first year playing left tackle - he’d always played right tackle. Brandon Gates - they moved him from left to right. Doug Nester - this is only his second year in the program after transferring from Virginia Tech. So even though it’s an older group, there’s still a lot of question marks.”
Callihan also warned that Pitt should not underrate corners Charles Woods, Rasheed Ajayi and Wesley McCormick - three players drawing rave reviews from coaches in a defense led by linebacker Lee Korpga, an athletic backer who transferred in from East Mississippi Community College. Alongside stud defensive lineman Dante Stills, the Mountaineers will pose a serious challenge to Frank Cignetti, Kedon Slovis and company.
"I think the biggest thing, not just with him but with this defense as a whole is that it’s bigger, faster, stronger than it’s ever looked and I think this is kind of what Neal Brown and maybe even Dana kind of envisioned when they translated from the Big East to the Big 12," Callihan said. "They’ve kind of struggled building linebackers that they need. I mean, those guys were like 5’10-5’9, 205 pounds. Now they’ve got some legit bodies there."
But regardless of how the final score shakes out, Callihan said the Mountaineers know what to expect from one of the most bitter rivalries in the sport. While the 11 year layover makes it a somewhat foreign concept to these young players, but some Mountaineers from the area and Brown have helped bring them up to speed.
"I think Neal Brown’s really put that in their heads since the end of last season - ‘this is what Pitt means to the fans and to the state of West Virginia’," Callihan said. "Everyone's understood it and I don't think there will be any lack of motivation.”
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