PITTSBURGH — A much-anticipated renewal of one of college football’s most storied rivalries is how West Virginia and Pitt start their 2022 season when the nearby schools clash in a 7 p.m. matchup airing on ESPN. It marks the 105th edition of a series that started in 1895, but hasn’t been played since 2011. Pitt has a 61-40-3 all-time advantage in the series, though West Virginia is 18-9-2 since 1983.
11:14 p.m. — FINAL: PITT 38, West Virginia 31: The Mountaineers got as far as the Panthers’ 22 on their final drive. Faced with a fourth-and-16 from the Pitt 28, wideout Reese Smith initially appeared to make a 27-yard reception, but the catch was overturned to an incompletion after a review with 22 seconds left. The Panthers score 14 unanswered points to end the contest and pull out a victory.
10:52 p.m. — SCORE: Ford-Wheaton has a ball go in and out of his hands that’s intercepted by M.J. Devonshire, who returns the pick 56 yards for a go-ahead score. PITT 38, West Virginia 31, 2:58 4th qtr
PITT PICK-SIX TO TAKE THE LEAD LATE IN THE 4TH 😱 pic.twitter.com/dMImh2Rznm
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 2, 2022
10:50 p.m. — SCORE: Slovis’ 24-yard touchdown pass to Israel Abanikanda allows Pitt to tie it at 31. Minus Woods and McCormick, West Virginia’s pass defense struggled during that drive. PITT 31, West Virginia 31, 3:41 4th qtr
10:42 p.m. — Cornerback Wesley McCormick is flagged for targeting, which disqualifies him from this contest and means he’ll sit the first half of next week’s home opener against Kansas.
10:37 p.m. — The Mountaineers elect to punt instead of trying to gain 1 yard from the Pitt 48. WVU intentionally took a delay of game, and Straw continues his strong night with a 48-yard boot. The Panthers start at their 8 trailing by seven with 6:10 left.
10:30 p.m. — Dante Stills and Sean Martin both sack Slovis, leading to a three-and-out for the Panthers. WVU will start at its 28 after Davis Mallenger is flagged for a personal foul blindside block on the return. Mountaineers lead 31-24 with 8:37 to play.
10:20 p.m. — SCORE: After the Mountaineers force a punt, Daniels scores from 1 yard out on a quarterback sneak and West Virginia is back on top by a touchdown. Donaldson’s 39-yard run and Tony Mathis’ 23-yard run set up the score. WEST VIRGINIA 31, Pitt 24, 10:37
10:03 p.m. — SCORE: West Virginia ties it on Daniels’ 16-yard touchdown pass to Ford-Wheaton on a back shoulder throw. WEST VIRGINIA 24, Pitt 24, 14:52 4th qtr
JT DART🎯🎯🎯#WVUvsPitt pic.twitter.com/EqcUKKORjq
— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) September 2, 2022
9:58 p.m. — The third quarter ends with Pitt leading 24-17, but West Virginia is in the red zone following yet another productive play from Donaldson — this one a 20-yard run that culminated with a facemask penalty on the Panthers. West Virginia faces second-and-9 from the Pitt 16 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
9:49 p.m. — SCORE: Pitt takes its first lead of the second half on Hammond’s 11-yard touchdown run that concluded with him dragging players into the end zone. A three-and-out from the WVU offense allowed Pitt to start at its 38, and Slovis’ 49-yard pass to Hammond came without much resistance from the defense one play before the score. PITT 24, West Virginia 17, 3:42 3rd qtr
Rodney Hammond Jr. refuses to go down and Pitt takes the lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/LKIS6InJCN
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 2, 2022
9:37 p.m. — SCORE: Pitt pulls even on Daniel Carter’s 1-yard touchdown run, which was preceded by Slovis’ 64-yard pass to Jared Wayne. Woods has not returned for the Mountaineers since leaving the game early with an injury. PITT 17, West Virginia 17, 5:54 3rd qtr
Kedon Slovis and Jared Wayne were cooking for @Pitt_FB 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZuJ4glsGi6
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 2, 2022
9:28 p.m. — After the Mountaineers take the lead early in the second half, the teams exchange punts. Pitt is set to start on its 35-yard line just past the midway point of the third quarter.
9:12 p.m. — Donaldson’s punt block marks West Virginia’s first blocked punt since a 44-27 victory over North Carolina State in 2019 — the third game in Neal Brown’s tenure as head coach.
BLOCKED PUNT 🚫@WVUFootball scored on the next play! pic.twitter.com/hclotgWZMj
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 2, 2022
9:08 p.m. — West Virginia forces a three-and-out, and CJ Donaldson blocks the ensuing punt attempt, positioning the Mountaineers’ at the Pitt 4. Donaldson scores on the next play, a 4-yard run that marks the first touchdown of his college career in what has been an extremely impressive debut. WEST VIRGINIA 17, Pitt 10, 13:08 3rd qtr
9:05 p.m. — Tonight’s attendance is 70,622, a new record for a Pittsburgh sporting event. The previous high was 69,983 for Pitt’s game against Penn State in 2016.
8:45 p.m. — SCORE: Casey Legg makes a 24-yard field goal on the final play of the opening half to tie the game. A 15-yard reception by Ford-Wheaton on third-and-13 early in the drive prevented the Mountaineers from going three-and-out. WEST VIRGINIA 10, PITT 10, HALFTIME
8:30 p.m. — SCORE: Rodney Hammond reaches the end zone on a third-and-goal run from the WVU 4. The Panthers’ first touchdown was directly set up by a Kaden Prather fumble that was recovered by Erick Hallett. It came just two plays after Bub Means fumbled untouched on a reception, which WVU linebacker Lee Kpogba recovered. PITT 10, West Virginia 7, 3:23 2nd qtr
First TD of Pitt’s season!
📺 @ESPN #H2P » #BeatWVU pic.twitter.com/DG5chtfQoq
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 2, 2022
8:10 p.m. — The teams exchange punts, although the field position is significantly tilted in Pitt’s favor. The Panthers start at their 46 with 8:11 left in the first half. WVU got a big break on its most recent series when an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty got the Mountaineers off their goal line and produced a first down, but three straight incompletions followed, the first of which looked like it should’ve gone for a long gain to Ford-Wheaton, who couldn’t haul the pass in.
7:50 p.m. — SCORE: Daniels and Bryce Ford-Wheaton hook up on a 10-yard pass for the Mountaineers’ first touchdown this season. It came one play after true freshman CJ Donaldson’s 44-yard run — the longest for either team to this point. WEST VIRGINIA 7, Pitt 3, 12:45 2nd qtr
ANSWER. MOUNTAINEERS. 😤#WVUvsPitt pic.twitter.com/3aSWA7252Q
— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) September 1, 2022
7:40 p.m. — SCORE: Ben Sauls connects on a 42-yard field goal and Pitt produces the game’s first points on an 11 play, 73-yard drive. WVU cornerback Charles Woods was shaken up late in the drive. PITT 3, West Virginia 0, :37 1st qtr
7:28 p.m. — West Virginia fails to capitalize on excellent field position. The Mountaineers lined up to go for a fourth-and-4 from the Pitt 39, but a procedure penalty on left tackle Wyatt Milum, his second tonight, ultimately led to a punt. Straw gets off another good one that the Mountaineers down on Pitt’s 3.
7:20 p.m. — The Mountaineers force a three-and-out that features a Jared Bartlett sack of Kedon Slovis on third down. Pitt matches the Mountaineers with a 37-yard punt and WVU takes over at the Panthers’ 45 with 9:39 left in the first quarter.
7:14 p.m. — West Virginia picks up a pair of first downs on the opening sequence, both via passing plays, before the drive stalls. Following a 37-yard punt from true freshman Oliver Straw, the Panthers start their first series from their own 11-yard line. The Mountaineers’ offensive line did not feature Brandon Yates or Ja’Quay Hubbard at right tackle, but rather Doug Nester at right tackle and Jordan White at right guard.
7:05 p.m. — West Virginia’s captains for the opener: Linebacker Exree Loe, cornerback Charles Woods, offensive lineman Zach Frazier and defensive lineman Dante Stills. Pitt won the toss, deferred to the second half and the Mountaineers will start with the ball.
6:40 p.m. — No signs of a pregame skirmish or midfield dust-up between the two teams to this point. We are within a half hour of kickoff.
6:10 p.m. — West Virginia linebacker Tirek Austin-Cave and defensive linemen Jalen Thornton, Hammond Russell and Zeiqui Lawton are not dressed for tonight’s game. WVU head coach Neal Brown said Monday of his team’s injury situation, “We have a couple of guys that are questionable heading into it that I’m not going to talk about.”
Austin-Cave is a Miami transfer and Lawton, a Charleston native, is a Cincinnati transfer. Both are in their first season with the Mountaineers.
5:50 p.m. — Pregame warmups are ongoing as the 1-hour mark until kickoff approaches. Behind the end zone between both locker rooms, the Pitt student section has filled in and is nearly full.
The Mountaineers have arrived at Acrisure Stadium.
The Backyard Brawl kicks off at 7:06. pic.twitter.com/j5aPJendAA
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) September 1, 2022
5:30 p.m. — Pregame notes: A classy gesture inside the press box at Acrisure Stadium with seats 26 and 27 reserved in honor of the late Beano Cook and Mickey Furfari. Both Cook and Furfari were alive when the Mountaineers and Panthers last met. Today would’ve been Cook’s 91st birthday … Per the press box seating chart, representatives from 22 NFL teams are on hand: Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texas, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets.
Seats 26 and 27 in the press box at Acrisure Stadium are in honor of the late Beano Cook and Mickey Furfari for tonight’s Backyard Brawl. pic.twitter.com/O97TahkfJ3
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) September 1, 2022
Your essential pregame links:
Setting the scene from Acrisure Stadium
Brown prepared for different challenges during game with Harrell in charge of offense
Slowing Pitt’s ground game vital for Mountaineers, who also must be wary of surprises and wrinkles
Quarterback JT Daniels set to lead WVU offense in first season with Mountaineers