Pitt Beats West Virginia in Wild Brawl Revival
PITTSBURGH -- It took more than four hours, more lead changes than can be counted and one last review from the officials to get it done, but the Pitt Panthers knocked off their rivals from West Virginia, 38-31 in the first Backyard Brawl in 11 years.
In a game that delivered on it's promised hype, Pitt started slow.
The Panthers came up with a stop on the Mountaineers' first possession despite giving up a pair of long pass plays. On third down inside of Pitt territory, their drive stalled thanks to a false start penalty and fumbled handoff.
West Virginia backed Pitt up to their own 11-yard line but the Panthers couldn't make anything of their first drive. After a pair of short gains on the ground, the Mountaineer pass rush pinned their ears back and Jared Bartlett sacked Kedon Slovis. The Panthers had to punt but Sam Vander Harr's punt pushed West Virginia back only to the 45-yard line.
AJ Woods helped the Panthers come up with yet another stop with an excellent tackle along the sideline. Another false start along the Mountaineer offensive line pushed them back even further and forced a punt.
The Panthers were in a familiar spot - backed up in their own endzone on third down - before Frank Cignett started asking Slovis to let it fly. Pitt moved in chunks of 15 and 20 yards into Mountaineer territory. The drive ultimately stalled inside the West Virginia 30, but the Panthers still came away with three points by virtue of a 42-yard field goal from Ben Sauls. Slovis was 4-4 for 55 yards passing during the possession.
A delay of game penalty committed by Devin Danielson gave WVU a fresh set of downs in Pitt territory and they made the Panthers pay. After a 44-yard run from C.J. Donaldson, West Virginia went hurry-up and Daniels lofted a quick fade to Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who ripped the ball away from Woods for a touchdown. With 12:45 left in the half, 7-3, Mountaineers.
Pitt made a switch at running back on the ensuing drive, subbing starter Israel Abanikanda for sophomore Rodney Hammond, who proceeded to give the home team a spark with the ball. Hammond had gained 39 yards on his first four carries, but the Panthers couldn't make anything of it.
Slovis dodges a bullet -- McCormick can't get his feet in bounds after intercepting a long out route from Slovis. A fumble from Flemister only added to the queasy feeling. They pinned WVU inside their own 1.
The Panthers had the Mountaineers backed up in their own end zone and were threatening to push them back further, but Habakkuk Baldonado bailed West Virginia out with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave them a free 15 yards. But it proved harmless as the Panthers forced a WVU punt three plays later.
On the ensuing drive, Pitt made a switch at running back, giving sophomore Rodney Hammond the nod and he delivered. Hammond was a spark off the bench for the Panthers when their running offense had hit a wall. On seven carries, he gained 47 yards, the last of which was a four-yard score that gave the Panthers a 10-7 lead. After a shaky drive that ended in a fumble, Pitt needed that score badly.
Mountaineers convert on third down twice to move inside the redzone. But the Panthers bowed up with their back against the wall and forced a field goal as the first half clock expired.
Panthers opened the second half with the football on their own 24. An incompletion, a two-yard rush by Abanikanda and a sack led to a fourth down. Punting from their own 19-yard line, CJ Donaldson blocked the punt.
The Mountaineers took one play for Donaldson to rush five yards for a West Virginia touchdown. With 13:13 left in the third quarter, Pitt trailed 17-10.
Pitt's second drive of the half stalled but Vander Haar dropped his second punt inside the 10-yard line. The Mountaineers gained some ground but had to punt as well after burning two and a half minutes.
The Panthers recovered from consecutive sloppy drives with a quick-strike score midway through the second. It took them three plays to drive 65 yards and into the endzone for a game-tying score. Jared Wayne did most of the work, bouncing off tackles and taking a short dig 64 yards before Daniel Carter punched it in from a yard out. Ben Sauls' extra point made it 17 all with 5:54 left in the third.
West Virginia stumbled to another three and out on their next drive. They punted to give Pitt the ball back after possessing it for just 43 seconds. The Panthers created another quick score on the back of Hammond, who accounted for all 62 yards on three plays. He capped the drive with a bruising 11-yard run to give Pitt the lead, 24-17.
The Mountaineers took their next drive inside the red zone methodically. A pair of third-down conversions and an untimely illegal substitution penalty from Pitt led to a 16-yard strike from Daniels to Ford-Wheaton. The extra point knotted things at 24 seconds into the fourth quarter.
West Virginia held Pitt to a punt despite 12 more yards on the ground and a first down from the legs of Hammond. The Mountaineers took over on their own 38-yard line and Donaldson flipped the field with a 39-yard scamper through the heart of the Pitt defense. Tony Mathis ripped off another 11 yards to put his unit on the doorstep and Daniels snuck a touchdown in overtop of the defense to put WVU up 31-24 with 10:37 left.
Pitt's response was futile. They picked up one first down before Slovis was sacked twice to set up a 4th and 30 and punt. But Slovis had no one to blame but himself as he held onto the ball for ages.
The Panthers survived more slick running from the Mountaineers and took over at their own eight-yard line with 6:10 left to play after a punt.
On Pitt's next drive, a targeting penalty gave and took away. A helmet-to-helmet hit from Wesley McCormick on Hammond gifted the Panthers 15 yards but the hit sent Pitt's top back to the medical tent favoring his left leg. But instead of letting the loss of their hottest player deflate them. Slovis, who had struggled all second half caught a second wind and completed all four passes for the remainder of the drive. Abanikanda took a short dump-off 24 yards for another game-tying score, inciting the Acrisure Stadium crowd.
The Panthers then caught another massive break on the ensuing On West Virginia's next possession, Ford-Wheaton - who had won battles for 50-50 balls all night long - let his easiest reception slip through his hands. MJ Devonshire caught it on the carrom and knifed 56 yards the other way for a go-ahead touchdown.
West Virginia took advantage of some costly penalties and Daniels connected with Mike O'Laughlin on a scramble drill for 32 yards. But two massive sacks - one from SirVocea Dennis and another from David Green and Baldonado pushed the Mountaineers back to 4th and 16 with 27 seconds left.
On the last play of the game, Daniels lofted a pass over the middle to O'Laughlin again. The ball fell towards the one-yard line and - after a review - officials ruled the pass incomplete. The Panthers took over and kneeled the remainder of the clock out on a 38-31 win.
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