PITTSBURGH — Fifteen minutes or so after suffering one of his more gut-wrenching losses at West Virginia, head coach Neal Brown came to the podium inside the visitors’ media center at Acrisure Stadium to discuss what had transpired.
On a night where there were plenty of positives, from the precision of JT Daniels’ downfield passes and his ability to read the Panthers’ defense, to the unforgettable debut of true freshman CJ Donaldson that enabled the Mountaineers to outrush the nation’s 17th-ranked team, one decision stood out above the rest.
With West Virginia leading 31-24 and facing fourth-and-1 just across midfield beyond the halfway point of the fourth quarter, Brown opted for the Mountaineers to take a delay of game and punt, giving the ball back to Pitt, which had to drive the length of the field to tie the Backyard Brawl.
The Panthers did just that, needing only seven plays to cover 92 yards and never facing a third down. The only potential for one was erased on a targeting penalty by cornerback Wesley McCormick.
Brown admitted his team ran the ball well, which was evidenced by Donaldson’s game-high 125 yards, while Tony Mathis added 71. Yet he stuck by his decision and went as far as to say he would punt again in the same situation.
“If you look at what they’ve done traditionally, they’ve been really, really good in short-yardage situations,” Brown said. “It was fourth and three-quarters of a yard probably. The drive before that, we had two sacks and got them into third and forever. We played really well defensively on back-to-back drives, so I felt good about it. It’s easy to second guess now, but I think the decision was sound and if I had to do it again, I’d do it again. It Would be different if there was 3 minutes to go, but there was 6.”
The Panthers’ defensive front is disruptive and features several NFL-caliber players, but it didn’t seem to bother Donaldson on his seven carries, and Mathis was more productive as the game went on, carrying 10 times for 49 yards in the second half after six rushes for 22 yards over the first two quarters.
As for the Panthers’ defense in short-yardage situations, West Virginia was 3-for-3 on third downs when needing 1 or 2 yards to convert. Two of those plays equaled Donaldson’s longest rush (44) and Mathis’ longest rush (23) of the game.
That’s not to say the Mountaineers certainly would’ve converted on fourth down, but the advantage of keeping possession and having a chance to put the game out of reach in that spot would seem to outweigh 40 yards of field position.
It seemed like the ideal time for Brown to make a statement that his offensive line, heavily ridiculed during his tenure in Morgantown, could deliver an early knockout blow and deliver the needed push that would generate 1 yard.
Had West Virginia elected to go for it and not gotten a first down, the Mountaineers’ defense would have been in a perilous position with the Panthers needing to cover only half the field for a touchdown.
That certainly factored into Brown’s decision to punt.
“You can pin them and we did. There’s [6:10] to go, they had to go 92 yards and we’re up by seven. If you go for it there and you don’t get it, they have a short field and three timeouts. If I had to do it again, I would do that same decision.”
The flip side to that though process is what if you do convert the fourth down?
Pitt had all three of its timeouts and West Virginia would’ve likely needed to at least reach the Panthers’ 33-yard line to consider a field goal that could’ve led to a two-possession lead and all but sealed the outcome.
Panthers’ head coach Pat Narduzzi seemed surprised the Mountaineers didn’t keep their offense on the field.
“Maybe they had some confidence that they were going to be able to stop our offense,” Narduzzi said. “I’d have gone for it but I’m not going to answer for them. That would be something you have to ask coach Neal about, what they were thinking or whatever.”
After Pitt tied it at 31 and the Mountaineers regained possession, Daniels’ pass hit off Bryce Ford-Wheaton and found the arms of Pitt’s M.J. Devonshire, who raced 56 yards to the end zone for what proved to be the winning score.
Even after falling behind 38-31 and with all the momentum on the Panthers’ side, West Virginia still had a chance. The Mountaineers nearly converted a fourth-and-16 that would’ve put them 1 yard away from a touchdown late in regulation, but what was originally ruled a 27-yard reception by Reese Smith was overturned upon review.
“It was a great college football game. I don’t think we played our best,” Brown said. “They didn’t play as good as they can, but it was a hell of a game for a first one. We represented ourselves pretty well on national TV. This rivalry represented itself pretty well on national TV. I hate that it came down to that, but that’s what it was.”
The back-and-forth affair was highly entertaining and a reminder of why 11 years between Backyard Brawls is far too long.
For the Mountaineers, it could’ve been so much more.