Can the Mountaineer Defense Stop Pitt in the Backyard Brawl?
MORGANTOWN, WV—–So what did we learn in the West Virginia Mountaineer (1-1) victory over Albany(1-1) Saturday night, 49-14? We learned that the Mountaineer passing defense was abysmal. It’s a wonder that Penn State didn’t score 55 points last week.
After WVU went up 21-0, all of a sudden Albany scored two touchdowns to cut the lead to 21-14 in the first half. The Mountaineer pass rush was better than how we played against Penn State but the Great Danes are an FCS team! Plus the Mountaineers did not have any sacks! WVU’s passing defense gave up over 300 yards in the air!
Pitt (2-0) has former Alabama quarterback Eli Holstein and he has been very good in his two games this season. He’s 50 of 75 (66.7 percent) for 635 yards, six touchdowns and only two interceptions. Holstein also has a host of offensive talent that can slice and dice the WVU secondary. The Panthers opened the season with a 55-24 victory over Kent State and an away victory over Big 12 newcomer, Cincinnati, 28-27.
Albany threatened at the start of the second half by driving clear down to the WVU one yard line. The Mountaineer defense did stop the Danes from making the score 28-21 which would have been devastating.
If the Mountaineers plan on winning the Backyard Brawl, the passing defense has to be near perfect. With just six days until the game, it may be impossible to improve enough to stop the Panther offense. IF WVU wins the game it will have to rely on the offense scoring 45 points or more. Coach Neal Brown and staff must work hard this week to pull off a victory in Pittsburgh. As we all know from years past, anything goes when the two teams meet in the Brawl. It doesn’t matter what the two team’s records look like.
Mountaineer fans must show up and make some noise! The game is set for 3:30 pm and will be televised on ESPN2.