The “Backyard Brawl” will miss a lot of its expected punch when Virginia-Western welcomes Pitt on Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, W.VA.
Virginia-Western will play the rest of the season without two key offensive performers after the starry carrier Jahim White and the Large Jaden Bray receiver were lost for injuries during a 17-10 defeat at Ohio last Saturday.
White is planned for knee surgery this week following a hobbying set in the second quarter of a match in which he had won 40 yards and marked a touch. The selection of all-BIG 12 pre-season out of a season with 844 yards on the ground and seven affected.
Bray had a recurrence of a foot injury that limited him to five games last season.
The Mountaineers (1-1) will be released to avenge a defeat of 38-34 on the road against the panthers last season.
“This is obviously the biggest match of your schedule when you are in West Virginia,” said Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez, who will come back to rivalry for the first time since a overwhelming loss of Virginie-Western in 2007. “I don’t know if Pitt will tell you, but I know from the point of view of our fans game.”
Pitt (2-0) has a chance to defeat Virginia-Western for the third time in four seasons, which would be the best race for the program in the series since a sequence of seven consecutive victories from 1976 to 1982.
Panthers were an offensive machine this season, with an average of 53 points per game which is equal to the eighth best in the country. Their average of 321 yards per game per game is 16th best.
The passing attack continued to flourish in a 45-17 victory on the center of Michigan last Saturday, Eli Holstein launching for 304 yards and four affected. The eight Holstein TD passes this season are tied in fifth row in the country, while its 10.2 yards per pass are the 15th best.
After the match on Saturday, the football version of the “Backyard Brawl” will take a three-year interruption and return in 2029. Pitt has an advance of 63-41-3 between the teams of all time.
“For us as a football team, all things in the crowd and stands, what is happening when you drive on the bus, doesn’t really matter,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi. “… The team that will remain focused on the task to be completed is to win the football match. This is what we are going there to do is trying to win a football match.”
– field level media
