WVU preparing for confident Panthers squad, new-look Pitt offense in Backyard Brawl

By most metrics, West Virginia took care of business last weekend in Morgantown, pounding FCS opponent Albany, 49-14, to pick up win No. 1 of the season.

The Mountaineers ran the ball with impunity, getting back to their ground-game roots following a disappointing effort in Week 1 vs. No. 8 Penn State, and quarterback Garrett Greene threw for three touchdowns.

That said, West Virginia let up back-to-back Albany touchdowns in the second quarter, one of which came after the Great Danes recovered a Jahiem White fumble following a rush of nearly 40 yards.

But ultimately, West Virginia seemed to get back to the blueprint, particularly on offense, that it hopes will successfully follow up a 9-4 2023 campaign.

“I think those games are hard sometimes because you’re not only supposed to win, you’re supposed to win by a lot,” Mountaineers coach Neal Brown said Monday. “Albany is a good team. They’re going to have a successful FCS season, and they’re really well coached. Sometimes, there’s some undue pressure and it’s hard to go out and perform, but I thought our guys did that.”

Up next for the Mountaineers (1-1) is the 106th installment of the Backyard Brawl on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium vs. Pitt (2-0).

West Virginia beat the Panthers last year at Milan Puskar Stadium, 17-6, with Pitt suffering an early-season stubbed toe en route to its worst season in 25 years.

That said, Pitt’s dramatic 38-31 win at Acrisure Stadium in 2022, restarting the Backyard Brawl after a 10-year absence, has not faded from memory in Morgantown.

“First time back at Acrisure Stadium since the disappointment in ’22,” Brown said. “That’s still very fresh on our minds — on mine. I can’t speak for our players, but on mine it is.”

Pitt started the season on a strong note, highlighted by an impressive come-from-behind win last weekend at Cincinnati.

“They’re playing very well,” Brown said of Pat Narduzzi’s Panthers. “They’re 2-0 coming off a huge win at Cincinnati. They’re 2-0 and probably haven’t played their best, so they’re going to have a lot of confidence going into the game on Saturday.”

Through two games, opposing quarterbacks have hurt West Virginia through the air and on the ground.

Though Penn State’s Drew Allar threw for a modest 216 yards Aug. 31, he completed 65% of his passes, tossing three touchdowns.

He also used his legs to good effect, averaging 7.3 yards on six rushes.

The Mountaineers all but shut down Albany’s run game Saturday and did not allow a very efficient day of passing by Great Danes quarterback Myles Burkett, who completed 18 of 39 attempts (46%).

Yet Burkett threw for 306 yards, and the Mountaineers allowed six receptions of 20-plus yards, two of which were completions for more than 40 yards.

Potential challenges of Pitt’s offense, called by first-year coordinator Kade Bell, have Brown’s attention, as do quarterback Eli Holstein and tailback Desmond Reid.

“Offensively, complete 180 — they changed coordinators, and credit to coach Narduzzi, he’s gone all-in,” Brown said. “They’re high-tempo, they’re playing as fast as anybody and reminding me of Texas Tech a few years ago.”

Like Allar and Burkett, Holstein, only a redshirt freshman, has shown he can use both his arm and legs.

Reid, who took over the starting tailback role as a transfer this season, is averaging 146.5 yards on the ground.

Both defenses thus seem to have some work cut out for them as kickoff Saturday approaches.

West Virginia will prepare to battle new faces in Holstein and Reid, but familiar foes such as tight end Gavin Bartholomew and receiver Konata Mumpfield also need to be accounted for.

The same applies for Pitt, which goes up against Greene plus tailback duo CJ Donaldson and White again.

“There’s a lot of familiarity — we know a lot of guys on their roster, they know a lot of guys on our roster,” Brown said.

Pitt rounds out West Virginia’s nonconference schedule for the season, with Big 12 play beginning against Kansas at home Sept. 21.

But up first are the Panthers, with the Mountaineers hoping to come out on top of a heated rivalry game.

“Our group’s excited about the opportunity and to take part in a rivalry game” Brown said. “Another opportunity for us. The last rivalry game we were in, we did not show up. We did not participate at a very high level. So we’re thankful for the opportunity to get back in the arena on Saturday, go up to Pitt and play in the Backyard Brawl.”