The Backyard Brawl
November 24, 2004 12:32 PM | General
November 24, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Once again the Backyard Brawl means a whole lot more than just local bragging rights when West Virginia and Pitt hook up for a Thanksgiving night game.
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| Quarterback Rasheed marshall makes his final regular season appearance in a West Virginia uniform in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Both teams are at least playing for a Gator Bowl berth and both also have an outside shot of capturing the Big East title and the league’s BCS bowl berth. No. 21-ranked West Virginia can win the league outright with a victory over Pitt and a Boston College loss to Syracuse, while the Panthers could win a share of the conference with a win over the Mountaineers coupled with a Syracuse victory over BC.
Based on a complicated series of tiebreakers, if both Pitt and Syracuse win this weekend the Panthers would represent the Big East in one of the four BCS bowl games, most likely the Fiesta.
“This is a huge game for our football team,” said Pitt coach Walt Harris. “The Backyard Brawl has been a tremendous series between the two universities.
“We’re looking forward to doing our part to make this a great rivalry,” he said.
“Any rivalry game you can throw all of the projections and stuff out the window, particularly when you play this late in the year on the road,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “It should be a very physical, emotional and hopefully exciting ballgame.”
Pitt (6-3, 3-2) and West Virginia (8-2, 4-1) are teams seemingly headed in different directions. The Panthers are riding high after an emotional 41-38, come-from-behind win at Notre Dame on Nov. 13 and have won four of their last five games.
West Virginia, meanwhile, has had 12 days to think about its disappointing 36-17 home loss to Boston College on Nov. 13 when its special teams completely imploded, allowing two BC punt returns for touchdowns and 230 yards in return yardage. The Eagles worked from a short field all afternoon and finished the game with just 243 yards of offense.
Giving Pitt and its talented sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko a short field to work with Thursday night is a good prescription for disaster.
Palko is the league’s hottest quarterback throwing five touchdown passes in Pitt’s last game against Notre Dame and has thrown for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games against Syracuse and Notre Dame.
In his last three games Palko has been magnificent, completing 81 of 127 passes for 994 yards and 11 touchdowns. Palko has only thrown one interception in his last 172 pass attempts. For the season Palko has completed 176 of 304 pass attempts for 2,240 yards and 18 touchdowns.
“In the beginning of the year you could tell he was young and was still learning, now he’s playing his best football,” Rodriguez said. “If Palko has a good day then they have a good day on offense and he’s had all good days recently.”
Palko does a tremendous job of distributing the football to several capable receivers. Sophomore Greg Lee has done a good job of stepping into All-American Larry Fitzgerald’s shoes by catching 45 passes for 927 yards and six touchdowns.
Five-eight Joe DelSardo has caught 35 passes for 402 yards and four scores as Pitt’s sure-handed possession receiver, while athletic tight end Erik Gill has been able to stretch defenses with 22 catches for 297 yards and three scores. Gill was especially effective in the Notre Dame game, catching six passes for 89 yards and a late nine-yard touchdown.
Pitt doesn’t have an exceptional rushing attack, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, but with junior Raymond Kirkley there is enough there to keep defenses honest. Kirkley has rushed 151 times for 544 yards and six touchdowns. He has a long run of 36 yards.
“I think he has run really well,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a downhill guy that runs hard. I’ve been impressed with both Kirkley and (Tim) Murphy. I think they’re breaking tackles and playing better now.”
Palko is the team’s second leading rusher gaining 166 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Pitt’s offensive line is big with four of its five starters weighing more than 300 pounds. The left side is where most of the beef is with 335-pound left tackle Rob Petitti and 330-pound left guard Charles Spencer paving the way.
Petitti made a name for himself earlier in the week when he told reporters that he would avoid traveling through West Virginia at any cost because of his dislike for the state.
Pitt’s defense ranks in the middle of the Big East pack giving up 396.4 yards per game, but is last in pass defense allowing 264.9 yards per game. The Panthers have the conference’s third-ranked rush defense permitting 131.6 yards per game. The run is of course West Virginia’s preferred method of moving the football.
Sophomore H.B. Blades is rapidly developing into one of the conference’s top outside linebackers. Through nine games Blades has made 85 tackles and 10.5 tackles for losses to go with two sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Sophomore middle linebacker Clint Session is just as active, accumulating 68 tackles, 3.5 tackles for losses and a couple of interceptions. Senior Malcolm Postell is the weakside linebacker.
Free safety Tex Morris is also a ball-hawker with 63 tackles.
Josh Lay and Tyrone Gilliard are two veteran players in the secondary, but Pitt has a true freshman at left corner in Darrelle Revis.
However, Revis has played well at times and was responsible for a key play in the BC win when he wrapped up Eagle receiver Grant Adams short of the goal line on a fourth down play. He had a career-high seven tackles in that game.
Up front Pitt has a solid four-year player in senior defensive tackle Vince Crochunis, who has a streak of 35 straight starts heading into the West Virginia game.
Sophomore Charles Sallet or freshman Joe Clermond will get the start at one defensive end spot, while junior Thomas Smith is expected to get the nod at the other defensive end spot. Either Dan Stephens or Jake Hothaus will start at defensive tackle.
West Virginia will be attacking a Pitt defense without one of its main offensive weapons. Junior Chris Henry was suspended for the Pitt game for violating team rules and leaves a void in a Mountaineer wide receiver corps that has been erratic without him.
Henry’s 49 catches for 811 yards is nearly half of West Virginia’s entire receiving output. His 12 TD catches represent more than 60 percent of quarterback Rasheed Marshall’s touchdown passes.
Stepping into Henry’s place Saturday will be redshirt freshman Dwayne Thompson, also the team’s backup quarterback. Thompson has caught just four passes for 26 yards this year.
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| Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko has thrown for 994 yards and 11 touchdowns in his last three games.
AP photo |
Senior Miquelle Henderson is next in line to Henry in receptions with 15, followed by senior Eddie Jackson with 14. Jackson missed the Boston College game with an injured knee but Rodriguez expects him to be ready in time for Thursday night.
“Somebody else in that regard will hopefully have to make a big play for us in the passing game,” said Rodriguez.
Like Palko for Pitt, Marshall has been the team’s offensive catalyst. He has completed 119 of 193 passes for 1,610 yards and 18 touchdowns and has also run 140 times for 686 yards and four scores.
“Their quarterback has really played tremendous and has had a great career,” said Harris.
Marshall will be making his final trip to his hometown of Pittsburgh. The last time he played there in 2002 he ran for a touchdown and threw another to lead West Virginia to a 24-17 win.
“I think it will be an emotional time for him and I think he’s excited about it as he should be,” said Rodriguez. “Having your last regular season game as a college football player in your hometown has got to be pretty exciting for him.”
Marshall is second on the team in rushing to senior Kay-Jay Harris, whose 820 yards puts him 180 shy of extending West Virginia’s streak of 1,000-yard rushers to nine straight years.
Harris has had a tough time staying on the field with various injuries, making room for a couple of underclassmen to get carries in sophomore Jason Colson and true freshman Pernell Williams. Colson has run 123 times for 643 yards and five touchdowns while Williams had carried 52 times for 253 yards and three scores.
“I’m tremendously impressed with their ability to run the ball,” Harris said.
West Virginia’s rush offense ranks fifth nationally averaging 258.3 yards per game and has been extremely effective in its last two games against Pitt, running for 307 yards in a win in Morgantown last year and getting 231 yards in a victory two years ago in Pittsburgh.
The Mountaineer defense has had its moments this season and is led by the one of the country’s top cornerbacks in junior Pac-Man Jones. He is the team’s top tackler with 65 and also shows three tackles for losses, two sacks and three interceptions.
Senior linebacker Adam Lehnortt and junior safety Mike Lorello have used their intelligence to get near the ball, producing 63 and 58 tackles respectively.
Senior defensive tackle Ben Lynch has been a solid force up front with 36 tackles. 7.5 tackles for losses and two sacks. Redshirt freshman defensive end Keilen Dykes is showing signs of becoming a force up front for seasons to come.
“As always I think their defense has been the winning edge,” Harris said. “The play a different kind of defensive scheme and we don’t see it until we play them. They play extremely hard, they defeat blocks and they keep the ball in front of them.”
Of course the X-factor in the game could very well be West Virginia’s special teams, which Rodriguez says they have worked on diligently during the off-week.
“We did live special teams for the first time in a long time in our padded practices so we got a lot of good live work in,” he said. “Hopefully it will be worth it because we did work hard on some live stuff.”
Forecasters are calling for cold temperatures Thursday night with the possibility of snow showers. Kickoff has been moved back to 8 pm and will be televised nationally by ESPN (Mike Tirico, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Jill Arrington).
West Virginia has won the last two games in a series that Pitt still leads substantially, 58-35-3.
