Backyard Brawlers Heading In Different Directions

By Kyle Golik

It seems like ages ago that West Virginia was heading into 2024 feeling boisterous about expectations of a great season . Some had West Virginia as a preseason favorite to win the Big XII. Quarterback Garrett Greene was on preseason award watch lists like the Maxwell Award. They had their favorite son and media juggernaut Pat McAfee bring his show to campus where fans chanted “F*ck Penn State” and “Eat Sh*t Pitt” to McAfee’s national audience. It seems Pitt and Penn State took notice and decided to serve West Virginia a healthy dose of reality.

West Virginia had a 10-point fourth-quarter lead when Greene connected with wide receiver Justin Robinson on a highlight touchdown with 4:55 remaining in the contest. It seemed West Virginia was going to down Pitt, get a much-needed signature win for Neal Brown , and continue the dominance West Virginia has had at Heinz Field, winning eight of the previous 11 Backyard Brawls.

The Mountaineers Achilles heel throughout 2024 has been the inability to stop the pass and in the final five minutes that deficiency reared its ugly head. Greene, who was seen as the superior dual-threat quarterback heading into the game, where he had the most touchdowns responsible for at West Virginia since Pat White was upstaged by Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein .

Holstein was a catalyst for the Panthers on their final two scoring drives completing 4 of 5 passes for 91 yards with a signature 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Daejon Reynolds . Holstein also showed off his legs by rushing for 63 yards on the final two drives that helped Pitt erase a 10-point deficit that dropped West Virginia to 0-2 at Acrisure Stadium since the Backyard Brawl returned in 2022.

The pass defense once again made an opponent’s quarterback look elite. In West Virginia’s first three games, opposing quarterbacks have passed for 823 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions on 50 for 86 passing.

“Obviously disappointing. Should never lose a game when you’re up 10 with under five to go. Credit Pitt. They made plays to win the game and we did not. We did some real positive things in the game but the bottom line is we didn’t win and the game was there for us to win and we didn’t”

Brown said following his latest disappointment .

The disappointments continue to mount on Brown’s climb at West Virginia, whether it was J.T. Daniels pick-six to M.J. Devonshire in the Backyard Brawl in 2022, Houston’s hail mary last season, the Oklahoma State special teams fiasco, blowing the Oklahoma game in 2021, being not even remotely competitive against Penn State, three losing seasons in the first four years, and a 2-14 record against ranked opponents.

Brown’s climb might be ending sooner if the Mountaineers can’t go on a run in the Big XII.

As for Brown’s counterpart in Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi , he is back being the villain and great wrestling heel.

“Some of the calls we got — late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with a hands in the face and I’ve never seen anything like it, you know? Wow,” Narduzzi told ESPN after the game . “We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials, too, in one game.”

“Yeah, I think that’s bullsh*t,” Brown said, who obviously didn’t share similar sentiments as Narduzzi. “I thought the officials — we can say what we want to, but the officials. I’m not real pleased with them either, but I don’t know about that. You’ll never hear me blame the officials or anything, like, I disagree with calls, but it’s a really hard game to officiate. I’m not pleased with the officials either. I feel his pain on that, but I don’t necessarily think they beat them. We’re the one that got a long touchdown called back.”

While Narduzzi enjoys causing fires elsewhere, Narduzzi himself has been under fire since his 2021 ACC Championship season where he led Pitt to their first New Year’s Bowl since 2005 and most wins in a season since Dan Marino was climbing Cardiac Hill.

Since the M.J. Devonshire pick-six in the 2022 Backyard Brawl, Pitt went 11-13 entering the 2024 season. Pitt last season was near the bottom of the nation in most offensive categories notably scoring offense averaged 20.2 points per game which was 116th in the nation. So far through their first three games, Pitt has been averaging nearly double that total at 40.3 points per game and ranked 22nd in the country.

A major contributor has been Holstein, who transferred to Pitt from Alabama. Narduzzi spent 2023 on a journey to find a quarterback. Former Boston College and Notre Dame quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who was a highly touted quarterback locally in Pittsburgh, never materialized for Narduzzi last season.

This season Holstein has lived up and has exceeded expectations completing 67.6% of his passes for 936 yards and nine touchdowns.

Holstein postgame took in the energy of the Backyard Brawl after a 301-yard and three-touchdown performance, "It absolutely lived up to the hype, it was a lot of fun. I was surprised by how many West Virginia fans were there. But our fans brought a lot of energy and momentum."

While West Virginia lacks momentum and continues to hang hope to Big XII trip to Dallas, Pitt might have a shot at Charlotte with their ACC schedule. Clemson has to visit Acrisure Stadium and back-to-back visits to end the season to Louisville and the rejuvenated Boston College with Bill O’Brien could decide things for the Panthers, as they control their own destiny for bigger things.

To an extent so does West Virginia but they lack any ability to stop the pass, and in a passing league the Big XII has become known for, it is hard to trust West Virginia.

Neal Brown needs another run, his seat is not comfortable, the calls for Clarksburg, West Virginia native Jimbo Fisher are already spreading like wildfire. When Fisher said before the season on ESPN Radio , "There is only so much you can hunt and fish before you want to get back in.” Would West Virginia be aggressive enough to lure Fisher back to the Mountain State? Stay tuned.

For Narduzzi, he has a new lease on life and momentum. Pitt should be undefeated going into ACC play, getting a Tier 1 bowl on New Year’s Day should be a realistic goal. How Pitt does in certain games of consequence will be telling but Narduzzi has his quarterback.