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Storylines to Keep an Eye On for WVU-Pitt in Backyard Brawl

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WVU Football against Pitt battle of trenches
Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

A rivalry as historic as the Backyard Brawl never has to worry about having a shortage of storylines going into the game. And as expected, the 2024 Brawl between WVU and Pitt offers plenty of intrigue.

Here are the key storylines for the 107th edition all-time edition of the rivalry.

WVU must have effective pass rush

There are many storylines heading into the 2024 Backyard Brawl, but the actual outcome will come down to one aspect of the game. If the Mountaineers, who enter game as a slight road favorite, are going to win, they will have to be much better at generating a pass rush. It’s really that simple.

WVU, who now sits at 1-1 through two weeks, has struggled to make opposing quarterbacks sweat. Drew Allar had all day in Penn State’s 34-12 blowout win in the much-hyped season opener and Albany quarterback Myles Burkett made history through the air despite West Virginia winning the game comfortably 49-14.

WVU Football DL Hammond Russell IV and Penn State QB Drew Allar

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

Allar threw for 216 yards on just 17 pass attempts, including one big one to end the first half. Burkett accumulated the most passing yards ever produced by any FCS opponent against a WVU team. In fact, Albany becomes the first FCS program to ever reach and surpass 300 yards through the air against the Mountaineers.

At first glance, the first two weeks point to issues within the WVU secondary. And while the secondary has certainly been a problem and must be better, the pass rush connects all of the dots, too.

The pass rush has only been able to mustard two sacks and 11 tackles for a loss through two games so far. And now with Eddie Vesterinen injured and expected to miss a few weeks, the defensive line will have even less depth to work with against Pitt.

A lack of an effective pass rush makes life even easier on a quarterback facing a struggling secondary. If West Virginia fails to make Pitt’s redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein sweat, especially after since he’s coming into the game riding high off a comeback win on the road over Cincinnati, the WVU secondary will be tested and the Panthers’ new up tempo offense could make it a long night for the Mountaineers.

2023’s hero Beanie Bishop talks smack entering Brawl

Just two days before kickoff of the 107th Backyard Brawl from a stadium Bishop now calls his home field, the former West Virginia All-American shared what he expects from this year’s matchup between WVU and Pitt.

Steelers DB Beanie Bishop Enters Chat Ahead of 2024 Backyard Brawl

“They have kinda a similar quarterback that they had last year. Obvious, you know, you want to take the game over, get interceptions and force fumbles and things like that. Hopefully he’ll throw a couple,” said Bishop when asked about the Brawl on Thursday.

WVU OL initially committed to Pitt….

Pittsburgh area athletes have been taking their talents down south to WVU for years, but the reverse isn’t nearly as common. Morgantown, W.Va. native Nick Malone almost did the unthinkable – go from being born a Mountaineer to becoming a Pitt Panther.

The 6-foot-5, 298-pound redshirt senior offensive lineman talked about his unique story as his West Virginia team prepares for another brawl with their rival up north.

After admitting he verbally committed to Pitt out of Morgantown High School, Malone was asked if he felt any trepidation about deciding to become a Panther at that time. Malone shrugged, but then went into how everything happens for a reason and his plan B of attending WVU has worked out pretty well.

Both Neal Brown and Pat Narduzzi want to play the Backyard Brawl every year!

WVU head coach Brown reiterated what he’s said in the past about the rivalry. Brown referred to the Backyard Brawl as one of the best rivalries in all of sports, and then detailed how the proximity of the schools being separated by only 70 miles and recruiting the same players adds something extra to the matchup.

“We know a lot of guys on their roster. They know a lot of guys on our roster. This is one that’s really important to our fans,” said Brown, who also noted that WVU’s 2022 loss in Pittsburgh is still fresh on his mind.

Pitt head coach Narduzzi, who is in the midst of his 10th season at Pitt, also talked about the significance of the Backyard Brawl and rivalry games.

“There’s maybe not many more important rivalry games in the country,” Narduzzi said about the Backyard Brawl. “You guys can talk about the River City Rivalry. We all know that’s not really a rivalry.”

He then touched on how his team will prepare for a big rivalry game.

“We’re going to prepare them [the team] for the noise we’re going to get this weekend. Preparation is everything. 73 players were on that trip last year. But we’re educating the team on the rivalry for those who don’t know. I told them a story about rivalries back when I was at Michigan State. Every year there’s a different flavor to a rivalry. This game this weekend, this is why you play football. This is why you coach football. This is it.”

National analysts split on predicting Brawl

West Virginia might be considered a slight favorite over Pitt, but everyone knows a rivalry game can be difficult to predict. The struggle to predict the 2024 Backyard Brawl is even evident when looking at who national analysts think will win the game.

As a microcosm of the view of the country, four members of CBS Sports’ Inside College Football crew are split on who they will win on Saturday.

Aaron Taylor and Randy Cross say the Mountaineers will secure back-to-back wins over the Panthers while Brian Jones and former college football coach Rick Neuheisel went with Pitt.

A change on the WVU DL

While West Virginia has remained mostly healthy this season, the Mountaineers will be without a key defensive player this week.

During his weekly press conference on Monday, WVU head coach Neal Brown confirmed defensive lineman Eddie Vesterinen will miss the Backyard Brawl against Pitt. T.J. Jackson will start in his place.