So now the Backyard Brawl is a complete family affair. Both head coaches are alum of their respective schools who have played in the game, rooted as fans, coached in it, and know the history.
Coach Wannstedt talks about his Backyard Brawl memories as a player, coach and fan.
A West Virginia columnist fears chaos should Pitt win the Backyard Brawl and WVU then loses to USF (who he presumably has losing another game to someone else).
That revamped Big East head-to-head tiebreaker for a two-team deadlock could be WVU’s undoing. Don’t forget Pitt (5-5), which visits Mountaineer Field on Thanksgiving night.
If WVU, USF and the Panthers all finish with two Big East losses, a 6-5 Pitt team gets the BCS berth – and the Big East is drowned in criticism then — because the Panthers would have swept the other two involved the tie.
With Notre Dame needing to beat Syracuse and Stanford to lock up a BCS at-large slot, the Big East runner-up Gator Bowl will gladly settle for Louisville, which figures to go 9-2. Understandably, the Gator doesn’t want West Virginia for a third straight year.
It’s madness! Utter madness, I say!
Not really. I realize that the system can be confusing, but under his scenario, Louisville also finishes with 2 losses and also tied for the conference. At that point, the other factors including rankings and BCS stuff come into play.
Sadly, the cluelessness also happens in Pittsburgh. An article purporting to explain how Pitt could win the Big East again. For some reason, there is this misconception that Louisville is already out of the potential scenarios for winning the Big East, but Pitt isn’t. Don’t these people have any fact-checkers or editors?
Louisville has 2 games remaining against Syracuse and UConn. They look to have a rather simple path to finishing 5-2 in the BE, as Pitt would be with a win over WVU. If all 4 teams tied, the head-to-head match-ups would be useless. Then they go to other factors. Let’s just say, that Pitt wouldn’t have much of a shot.
No. The only way Pitt can get the BCS bid is to beat WVU, USF beats WVU and Louisville loses to either Syracuse or UConn. Not a likely scenario.
This article suggests that Pitt winning the Backyard Brawl and becoming bowl eligible would “salvage” the season.
“Beating West Virginia, that would change a lot about our season, no doubt,” said linebacker H.B. Blades. “It is going to be just like every other West Virginia-Pitt game — a dirty, physical game. There is no finesse about it. You better come ready to play in this one.
“I experienced that atmosphere my freshman year. It is totally different. I can talk all I want to about the rivalry with West Virginia and what it is like, but until some of the guys get down there and experience it for themselves, they won’t know what it is all about.”
Cornerback Josh Lay added: “A win over West Virginia would make a big difference for us. That’s the Backyard Brawl, that’s our rival game. A win over them is all about bragging rights. It doesn’t matter how our season went, if we beat them it is always going to be big for us.”
If West Virginia (8-1, 5-0) wins, the Mountaineers would clinch at least a first-place tie in the Big East and set up a showdown for the BCS berth with South Florida the following week.
Blades said next to clinching a bowl bid for the Panthers (5-5, 4-2), ruining the Mountaineers’ chances at a BCS berth is his No. 1 goal and doing so would make the win a little extra sweet.
No. It might assuage the disappointments of the season, but it wouldn’t salvage it. The only way I conceivably see a salvaging the season is not just winning the Brawl, but then rolling in a bowl game. To actually see Pitt beat a non-con Div. 1A opponent this season would come closest to salvage the season based on expectations and what has happened. Consider that Pitt has only beaten one (Div. 1A) opponent with a winning record this season — USF.
Still, it starts with the “one game at a time” approach, and beating WVU is goal one. Even if some have trouble realistically believing it.
Quarterback Tyler Palko echoed his words, saying, “We’ve got a lot of stuff to play for. It’s a big game for us — we can get a bowl bid if we win.”
The Panthers’ enthusiasm is commendable, considering how poorly they played on offense in a 24-0 victory Saturday over Connecticut, but any parallels between last November and this one are difficult to find.
A year ago, before surprising West Virginia 16-13 on Thanksgiving night in Pittsburgh and being rewarded with an unexpected trip to the Fiesta Bowl for doing so, Pitt (8-4) was in the midst of winning six of its last seven games. Palko led a series of comeback victories, one at Notre Dame and another against the Mountaineers, throwing 17 touchdown passes and two interceptions in his final six games.
Against UConn, Palko looked like he was running a revamped Pitt offense for the first time _ a season-long problem for a player who doesn’t seem to know if he’s running a passing- or a rushing-based offense. He threw for 116 yards, about half his average down the stretch a year ago, in a game decided mostly by a blocked field goal attempt and a deflected punt that both led to touchdowns.
Also, Pitt (5-5, 4-2 Big East) hasn’t won on the road since beating South Florida in December, going 0-4 this season. Pitt lost two weeks ago at No. 18 Louisville 42-20.
It doesn’t sound like a team primed to surprise the No. 13 Mountaineers (8-1, 5-0) for the second year in a row; last year’s last-minute loss at Heinz Field cost West Virginia the BCS bowl trip that instead went to Pitt. This time, West Virginia can lock up an unbeaten conference season by beating Pitt and South Florida (5-3, 3-1) on Dec. 3.
A loss sends the Panthers to their first losing season since 1999 and breaks the string of five consecutive bowl appearances they had under former coach Walt Harris.
The players and coaches are trying not to look back at the missed opportunities of the season.
“To get to 5-5 after the way the season began is good,” Revis said. “But to be 5-5 … a lot of us thought we’d be better.”
It appears that the Panthers are moving in that direction, particularly on defense. After shutting out Connecticut 24-0 Saturday, the defense is allowing less than 20 points per game – and that number shrinks to 16 if the 42-20 loss to Louisville is omitted. While the run defense hasn’t been stellar, the secondary has saved this bend-don’t-break unit.
The offense is still struggling – Saturday’s 2.2 yards per carry won’t win many games – though quarterback Tyler Palko said he’s more comfortable than ever in Dave Wannstedt’s new run-first system.
The progress satisfies Wannstedt, even if he remains disappointed in the overall record.
“I wish we could start over,” he said. “I wish I could turn the calendar and start training camp tomorrow.”
The ever-logical Palko, though, had a point in this post-game quote:
“You’d like to start the season over, but you can’t. It’s unrealistic.”
To echo, Coach Wannstedt from earlier in the season, “It is what it is.” Goddammit.
