WVU’s biggest win in years wasn’t pretty, but it was satisfying

Sep. 17—It certainly wasn’t pretty—few things during Neal Brown’s tenure at WVU have been—but the Mountaineers picked up their biggest win in years, 17-6, over rival Pitt Saturday night inside Milan Puskar Stadium.

“They call it the Brawl for a reason, ” Brown said. “That wasn’t a thing of beauty. They’re not going to talk about the beauty of that game for a long time, but regardless of what it was, it was a win for West Virginia.”

It was the first time the Backyard Brawl has been played in Morgantown since 2011, which was also the last time the Mountaineers defeated their bitter rivals after losing 38-31 when the rivalry was renewed in Pittsburgh last season.

“It’s been something that’s stuck with us for 54 weeks, ” Brown said of last year’s loss. “We had a lead in the fourth quarter 54 weeks ago and we did not finish.”

The Mountaineers were validated in many ways with Saturday’s win. The team not only avenged last season’s loss but also picked up the biggest team in Brown’s five years as head.

“I’m so happy for our staff and the families of the staff, ” Brown said. “There’s been negativity and I can tune it out, I live in a bubble. Our staff and their families have to deal with that, so they shouldn’t have to deal with that for a week.”

In a game where neither team trusted their quarterback to throw the ball, Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec was dreadful completing just eight passes for 81 yards with a trio of interceptions in a dreadful performance. In total, the Panthers were intercepted three times, turned the ball over on downs twice and committed nine penalties.

WVU’s quarterback play wasn’t much better with backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol playing in the place of injured starter Garrett Greene. Greene, the “heart-and-soul ” of the Mountaineers according to Brown, went down on the team’s second possession of…

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Author : The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Publish date : 2023-09-17 11:17:00

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