Karma is Real, and Pitt's Downward Spiral All Started After a Tweet Trolling WVU

Bragging rights are always nice to have in a rivalry, but for West Virginia, last week's win has to taste much sweeter than normal, given that they'll hold those bragging rights over the next few years until the two meet again at Acrisure Stadium in 2029.

Over the last handful of years, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has taken some jabs at West Virginia, spreading misinformation about the behavior of fans, giving backhanded compliments about the early 2000s, how WVU's Milan Puskar Stadium is smaller than the NFL stadium the Panthers rent out, and last year, he trolled former head coach Neal Brown for his comment about the weather and tailgating fun following a crushing loss.

Great work during our bye week practices!

Did we enjoy it?✅

Nice weather? ✅#ProveIt #H2P pic.twitter.com/pTEyd4vmCw
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) October 17, 2024

The Panthers are now 3-7 since the tweet, including a loss to Toledo and a blown double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter of the Brawl. Two of those wins came at the start of this season against Duquesne (FCS) and Central Michigan (MAC/Group of Six), which means the Panthers are 1-6 against Power Four opponents since the troll job.

Narduzzi had a similar moment with his opening remarks in the postgame press conference last week in Morgantown, saying, "Heck of a ball game for the fans to watch," before then getting into the team's shortcomings. The irony writes itself.

To make matters worse for Narduzzi, it's only going to get tougher against West Virginia, that is, if he's not fired by the time they square off again. Things don't look great for Pitt right now, and if they fail to reach a bowl game, it could cost him his job, at least one can assume.

If he is still in place as the Pitt header, losing more Backyard Brawls could be what does him in. He just blew a 10-point lead to a team that has over 80 newcomers and was in the third game under a brand new coaching staff. The Mountaineers are going to be in a much better place by 2029.

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