Pat White’s breathtaking 46-yard third-quarter touchdown run gave West Virginia a 12-7 lead over Pitt in the 101st Backyard Brawl today at Heinz Field.
On a third-and-4, White rolled left but reversed field and eluded several Panthers to sprint along the West Virginia sidelines untouched with 6:05 remaining in the third. The Mountaineers missed the extra-point when holder Carmen Connolly handled a bad snap and tried to run the ball.
West Virginia opened the second half with a 14-play, 59-yard drive but the Mountaineers had to settle for a Pat McAfee 26-yard field goal that cut it to 7-6 with 9:42 remaining in the third quarter.
White rolled right to complete a 16-yard pass across his body to Alric Arnett and followed with a 19-yard completion to fullback Ricky Kovatch on the next play. White later converted a fourth-and-1 at the Pitt 10 with a 1-yard sneak, but the Mountaineers couldn’t score a touchdown.
Devine threw the ball away on first down, had passes dropped by Noel Devine on second down and by Dorrell Jalloh in the back of the end zone on third down. McAfee then made his second field goal of the game.
Quinton Andrews intercepted a Bill Stull pass in the end zone with 19 seconds remaining in the first half, the second turnover forced by the Mountaineers’ defense in the second quarter.
The first led to McAfee’s 20-yard field goal.
Backup strong-side linebacker John Holmes stripped the ball from Stull while in throwing motion, causing a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Scooter Berry at the Pitt 39.
On the ensuing play, Jock Sanders broke a 29-yard run. Sanders followed with a 9-yard reception to the 1-yard line. But safety Eric Thatcher dropped White for a 2-yard loss on second down.
On third down, the Mountaineers used a trick play that saw backup Jarrett Brown take the snap with White lined up in the slot. White then motioned left, took the handoff and threw a fade to 6-foot-7 Wes Lyons in the back corner of the end zone. The pass was ruled incomplete, as replays showed Lyons controlled the ball, but his left foot hit the pylon and his right foot landed out of bounds.
McAfee’s field goal with 4:27 left cut it to 7-3.
The Panthers scored on their opening drive of the game, a five-play, 64-yard drive highlighted by a 28-yard pass to tight end Nate Byham and capped by Stull’s 30-yard scoring pass to Derek Kinder for a 7-0 lead at 12:50.
On Pitt’s second possession, the Panthers drove to the WVU 9 before losing 8 yards on two plays and drawing a 10-yard holding penalty on another. Conor Lee then missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt wide left.