(Neal Brown postgame press conference)
PITTSBURGH — West Virginia let a golden opportunity go to waste Thursday night in the 105th edition of the Backyard Brawl.
A pass from Mountaineers’ quarterback JT Daniels went in and out of the hands of wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton, before being intercepted by M.J. Devonshire, who returned the pick 56 yards for the game-winning score to lift the 17th-ranked Panthers to a 38-31 victory before a record crowd of 70,622 at Acrisure Stadium.
“If I throw Bryce a thousand stop routes, that might happen once,” Daniels said.
Forty-three seconds before Devonshire’s pick six, the Panthers pulled even at 31 courtesy of Kedon Slovis’ 24-yard touchdown pass to Israel Abanikanda with 3:41 remaining.
The Mountaineers looked to have the response they were seeking when true freshman CJ Donaldson, a standout in defeat, broke off a 12-yard run. Daniels then threw to Ford-Wheaton for what would’ve been a first down catch over midfield, but the veteran wideout was unable to bring it in for what became a relatively easy interception for Devonshire.
“It was an inopportune drop,” Brown said. “The kid also played his ass off and fought all night.”
Even with the massive swing in momentum, the Mountaineers still had a chance.
A 32-yard pass from Daniels to tight end Mike O’Laughlin put WVU just outside the red zone, though Daniels was sacked for losses of 10 and 5 yards in between a 9-yard pass to Reese Smith.
That set up fourth-and-16 from the Panthers’ 28, and out of a timeout, Daniels found Smith for what was initially ruled a 27-yard reception. However, upon review, the catch was overturned to an incompletion, giving Pitt the ball back with 22 seconds and sealing the verdict.
“Don’t ask me about targeting or a catch, because I don’t know what either is,” Brown said. “I probably know less about both of those than I did before the game.”
West Virginia overcame a 24-17 deficit to start the fourth quarter, getting a 16-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Ford-Wheaton on the first play of the frame to tie it at 24.
After forcing a punt, the Mountaineers marched 72 yards in six plays, getting a 39-yard run from Donaldson as well as 23-yard scamper from Mathis that led to Daniels’ 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak.
The first rushing score of Daniels’ career allowed WVU to lead 31-24 with 10:37 to play.
“This was his first time playing in a long time and he handled himself well,” Brown said of Daniels. “He showed some resiliency.”
Dante Stills and Sean Martin each sacked Slovis on Pitt’s ensuing sequence, leading to a three-and-out that gave the Mountaineers possession at their 28 with 8:37 left.
Faced with a fourth-and-1 from the Pitt 48, West Virginia could’ve potentially put the game away, but instead took an intentional delay of game and punted, giving Pitt possession at its 8 with 6:10 to play.
The move backfired, though Brown had no regrets.
“You can pin them and we did,” Brown said. “They had to go 92 yards when we’re up seven. If I had to do it again, I would make that same decision.”
“The drive before that, we had two sacks and got them into third and forever,” Brown added. “We played well defensively back to back drives. It would be different if there was 3 minutes to go.”
Two plays following the punt, Wesley McCormick was disqualified for targeting and a secondary already missing its top cornerback in Charles Woods, who left in the first quarter with an injury, was down a pair of starters.
Later on that drive, Komata Mumpfield hauled in consecutive passes from Slovis for 34 yards, which preceded Abanikanda’s tying TD grab.
“It affected the game without question,” Brown said of the secondary being without Woods and McCormick.
A contest that went to halftime tied at 10 took a major turn early in the second half as the Mountaineers forced an immediate punt, which Donaldson blocked to position WVU at the Pitt 5.
Donaldson handled matters from there, plunging into the end zone from 5 yards to give WVU a seven-point edge 1:52 into the third quarter.
“My performance was very solid,” Donaldson said. “Big shoutout to Tony Mathis and Justin Johnson throughout this journey. They took me in as a little brother. I started as a tight end, made the adjustment to running back and I was very open to it.”
After an exchange of punts, Pitt pulled even when Slovis’ 64-yard pass to Jared Wayne set up Daniel Carter’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:54 left in the third.
The Panthers took their first lead of the second half on their next series when Rodney Hammond found pay dirt on an 11-yard run one play after he took a short pass and turned it into a 49-yard reception.
The only scoring play of the first quarter was a 42-yard field goal from Ben Sauls that left Pitt with a 3-0 lead.
It was answered by the Mountaineers’ first touchdown of the season, which came on Daniels’ 10-yard pass to Ford-Wheaton 12:45 before halftime.
Each team lost a fumble in a span of three plays during the second quarter, with WVU linebacker Lee Kpogba first pouncing on a ball Bub Means let loose, before the Panthers’ Erick Hallett recovered Kaden Prather’s miscue.
The latter allowed Pitt to start at the Mountaineers’ 35 and led to Hammond’s 4-yard touchdown run that gave Pitt a 10-7 lead.
The Panthers never got the ball back again in the first half as WVU used a 13-play drive to move into the red zone, before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Casey Legg on the final play of the half.
In his West Virginia debut, Daniels completed 23-of-40 passes for 214 yards.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Daniels said. “Of all the things you can fix on a week-to-week basis, execution is one of them. The culture and fighting parts, you can’t fix and this team fights. I’m very excited about this team.”
Ford-Wheaton was Daniels’ top target with nine catches for 97 yards.
Donaldson led all ball carriers in his first collegiate game, rushing for 125 yards on seven carries.
“You heard me talk about him all camp,” Brown said. “Not surprised. He’s a football player.”
Mathis added 71 yards on 16 carries.
Slovis, like Daniels, a former USC player, completed 16-of-24 passes for 308 yards. Wayne had a team-high 89 receiving yards, while Mumpfield finished with five grabs for 71 yards.
Hammond’s 74 yards on 16 carries led Pitt’s ground game.
Kpogba, also making his WVU debut, led all players with 10 tackles.
“We didn’t make the plays at the time when we needed to win the game,” Kpogba said. “This is going to be a great group. We’re going to get back to work tomorrow, put this loss behind us and we’ll be ready for our next opponent.”