BACKYARD BRAWL PREVIEW: West Virginia and Pittsburgh set to renew one of college football’s greatest rivalries
The Brawl is back. It's hard to put into words what it means. Jordan Addison won the Biletnikoff almost a decade ago. Stedman Bailey was snubbed. Pat White mocked the panther. Chad Johnston to Zach Abraham, 69 yards from Amos Zereoue, and Rasheed Marshall to John Pennington.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh are renewing one of college football's greatest rivalries.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh are renewing one of college football's greatest rivalries. Online streaming is available on ESPN app with a valid ESPN+ subscription. Radio is Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh are playing in a college football game. Over/Under is 51.5.
It's sunny and warm. The temperature should be around 75 at kickoff.
Pittsburgh and West Virginia are college football rivals.
Pitt has won 15 of 22 games since 1990 against West Virginia. The all-time series is 40-61-3.
The last time West Virginia played Pitt, they won 21-20. The 2011 Brawl was a poorly played game, but it was one of their more satisfying wins this century.
Pat Narduzzi is in his 8th season as head coach at Pitt. Pitt has won 16 games above .500, 14 of them in conference play.
Pittsburgh hasn't played this season yet, but last year's 11-3 ACC Championship-winning campaign was their best in 40 years.
Pitt's offensive line generated 280 pressures last year. The Panthers allowed 99 passing plays of 20+ yards per game. Jordan Addison made 43 20-yard receptions for Pitt last season. Jared Wayne, Bub Means and Konata Mumpfield will start the 2022 season with the team. Kedon Slovis' passing grade and completion percentage were down when pressured last time.
Pitt has been very good at generating pressure. West Virginia's offensive line is the most important match up in the game. Pitt gave up a lot of vertical passes last year. The 150 10+ yard passes they allowed ranked second worst in FBS. Pitt is trying to replicate what Oklahoma State did to them last season. It will be a good indicator how much the offensive linemen have grown.
The Panthers were happy to run the ball to kill games last year, but they threw it almost 59% of the time in the first half. With Pickett and Addison gone, a new offensive coordinator coming in, and all of their running backs and offensive linemen back, they're going to lean more heavily on the ground attack in 2022. Israel Abanikanda, Rodney Hammond, Vincent Davis, combined for 1,756 yards on 366 attempts last season with 16 touchdowns, 95 forced missed tackles, and 51 explosives.
Pitt's offensive line ranked 23rd out of 64 P5 teams in pass block efficiency last year. Their 118 pressures allowed ranked 58th. Kenny Pickett ranked 8th nationally last season with 400 yards on 50 scrambles. Kedon Slovis scrambled just 8 times for 54 yards. Slov is not as good as Picket. Pitt's offense is going to take a step backwards this year due to the downgrade at quarterback.
Pitt's OL ranked 23rd out of 64 P5 teams in pass block efficiency last year. Their 118 pressures allowed ranked 58th. Kenny Pickett ranked 8th nationally last season with 400 yards on 50 scrambles. Kedon Slovis scrambled just 8 times for 54 yards.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh are renewing one of college football's greatest rivalries. Pittsburgh is the defending P5 conference champion.
Pitt is the reigning ACC Champion. They won 11 games last season, but they lost to 3 teams with winning records. Pitt's offensive game plan has been overhauled. West Virginia is going to dominate the parking lot. The defense will be good, especially the defensive line. Pittsburgh is a feast or famine team. Their offense is not going be able to reach the 42 points per game that it averaged last year. WVU is equipped to get Pitt. Pittsburgh and WVA are renewing one of college football’s greatest rivalries.
