No. 5: Pitt, 2007
June 23, 2010 12:39 AM | General
July 26, 2010
The conspiracy theories were running wild in West Virginia as they often do when a 28 ½ point favorite loses to its biggest rival in a game that would have put it into the national championship picture.
Who could have ever imagined West Virginia losing to lowly Pitt in the Backyard Brawl after the way the Mountaineers took apart nationally ranked UConn the week before to lock up the Big East title?
One of the more popular and off-the-wall theories going around had WVU coach Rich Rodriguez sandbagging the Pitt game because he already had the Michigan job locked up (Rodriguez was hired by Michigan two weeks after the Pitt loss). Well, anyone who saw Rodriguez after the game or watched his post-game press conference knows how ridiculous that theory is.
There were no grassy knolls in this one - West Virginia got hit right smack in the mouth by the Panthers and the Zapruder film … ehem, the game film, clearly showed that. In fact, Panther defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads was so happy with the way his players performed that he agreed to sit down the following Monday with Tribune-Review columnist Joe Starkey to review the game tape. After all, Pitt had nothing else to do after finishing the season with a 5-7 record.
According to Starkey and Rhoads, instead of WVU "playing its worst offensive game in years" (words Rodriguez used after the game) it was more a matter of the Pitt defense dominating the line of scrimmage and playing near flawless football.
They said Pitt's defensive players missed two tackles the entire game. Two.
Rhoads decided to blitz West Virginia more than usual and disguise his defenses until the last possible moment to keep the Mountaineers from changing their plays from the coaches' box.
Still, West Virginia had plenty of chances to win the game, but two early missed field goals and three fumbles put the Mountaineers in a bind. Plus, quarterback Pat White missed most of the second and third quarters with a thumb injury and a much bulkier Steve Slaton just didn't have the same burst he had as a sophomore in 2006. Tacklers Slaton easily ran past in 2005 and 2006 were getting him to the ground in 2007.
Momentum turned in Pitt's favor at the beginning of the third quarter when Vaughn Rivers coughed up the football during his kickoff return, giving it to the Panthers at the WVU 48.
A third down Pat Bostick-to-Oderick Turner pass netted 18 yards to the Mountaineer 17, and four plays later, Bostick sneaked into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown to give Pitt a 10-7 lead. Although the Panthers failed to score on their second drive of the third quarter when Connor Lee missed a 35-yard field goal, Pitt's running game behind freshman LeSean McCoy chewed up the clock and kept West Virginia's offense off the field.
With 6:17 left in the game, Pitt extended its lead to 13-7 after Lee's 18-yard field goal was set up by Jarrett Brown's fumble at the WVU 17.
Pat White returned to the game and had great field position to work with when Noel Devine returned David Brytrus' kickoff 48 yards to the Pitt 33. But the Mountaineers couldn't convert a fourth and two at the Pitt 26 when Slaton was pulled down by linebacker Scott McKillop a yard short of the sticks.
Had Slaton been able to break free it was a certain touchdown.
With less than three minutes remaining, the Mountaineers once again got deep into Pitt territory, White hooking up with Darius Reynaud for 20 yards to the Pitt 33. Then the QB scrambled for 12 more to put the ball at the Pitt 21. But once again Pitt's defense held by forcing a pair of incomplete passes, a White sack for minus 7 yards, and another White incomplete pass that turned the ball over on downs.
With West Virginia out of timeouts and Pitt facing a fourth and nine from its own 15, Panther coach Dave Wannstedt opted to take the safety and run out the clock, making the final score 13-9.
"I remember walking off the field two years ago at halftime saying that we needed to run faster," said Wannstedt, a reference to his embarrassing halftime interview on national television trying to explain his team's poor performance. "Today, we ran faster."
Meanwhile, Rodriguez looked like a broken man when he walked to the podium to address the media after the game, his words barely audible above the shouting and the celebrating going on in the Pitt locker room behind him.
The coach exhaled deeply, wiped his face, and tried to remain composed. "Certainly, it was just off all day offensively …
"Just off. Just off," he repeated.
