Panthers Rally to Defeat West Virginia 38-34

PITTSBURGH  – For a second straight week, Pitt’s Eli Holstein engineered a fourth-quarter, comeback victory.
 
Last Saturday at Cincinnati, the redshirt freshman rallied the Panthers from a 27-6 deficit to defeat the Bearcats 28-27. Today, he brought Pitt back from 10 points down with less than five minutes remaining to top West Virginia 38-34 in the 107^th Backyard Brawl played this afternoon at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
 
Holstein marched the Panthers 77 yards in just 1:27, and Pitt scored the winning touchdown with 32 seconds left while Holstein was watching from the sidelines as Derrick Davis Jr. plowed in from the 1.
 
That’s because his helmet came off on the prior play after he bulled 5 yards to the goal line. Holstein scrambles of 7 and 23 yards, a 23-yard pass to Konata Mumpfield and another 17-yard Holstein run put the ball at the WVU 30.
 
A pass interference penalty in the end zone on Garnett Hollis Jr. put the ball at WVU’s 6, setting up the deciding score.
 
West Virginia (1-2) had a chance to put Pitt away one possession prior, but as it did two years ago in crunch time, couldn’t move the sticks and was forced to punt the football away.
 
Holstein passed for 301 yards, 79 of those going to Kenny Johnson, and ran 14 times for 59 yards. It was the third consecutive game the Alabama transfer has passed for more than 300 yards this season, and the second straight game the WVU secondary has allowed a 300-yard passer.
 
The Panthers (3-0) were penalized 12 times for 112 yards to West Virginia’s seven penalties for 67 yards, but the Mountaineers’ miscues were more costly by either taking points off the scoreboard or leading to Pitt scores.
 
WVU also had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown that contributed to today’s outcome.
 
In the opening half, Pitt scored on three straight offensive possessions to take a 17-14 lead and had the ball at its own 26 with 1:26 remaining in the second quarter looking for more points.
 
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi opted to go for it on fourth and 1 at Pitt’s 49, but Holstein’s short pass to Johnson went backwards a yard, giving the Mountaineers the football at the 48.
 
Garrett Greene runs of 8 and 23 yards put West Virginia into position for Michael Hayes II to kick a 44-yard field goal to tie the score with 21 seconds left.
 
The Mountaineers scored the game’s first touchdown after an exchange of possessions, marching 53 yards in 2:50. The key play was Greene’s 33-yard pass to Rodney Gallagher III, setting up Greene’s third-down pass to CJ Donaldson Jr. coming out of the backfield for a 10-yard touchdown.
 
It took the Panthers just 1:41 to get on the scoreboard, thanks to Holstein’s 42-yard pass down the near sideline to Johnson. The drive eventually stalled at WVU’s 13, requiring Ben Sauls to kick a 31-yard field goal.

Pitt regained possession at its own 28 and marched 72 yards, mostly on Holstein’s passing. The redshirt freshman completed throws of 21, 13 and 21 yards, scrambled for 12 more, and then completed the drive with a 9-yard scoring strike to Desmond Reid. Sauls’ conversion kick made it 10-7, Panthers.
 
It took West Virginia 3:06 into the second quarter to re-take the lead at 14-10, when Jahiem White ran around right end for a 5-yard touchdown. Tight end Kole Taylor shouldered most of the load on the drive, catching three passes for 37 yards.
 
Pitt answered four minutes later when Tyrin Bradley Jr. could not get home on a blitz. Holstein brushed off his tackle attempt and hit Desmond Reid in stride for a 19-yard touchdown. That Panther march ate up 4:53 of clock and consumed 65 yards.
 
The third quarter began with West Virginia’s defense quickly getting off the field, but the Mountaineers couldn’t get out of their own way.
 
A Greene 51-yard touchdown pass to Hudson Clement was wiped off the board when tackle Wyatt Milum was called for holding, this coming after Oliver Staw’s 12-yard fake punt scramble for a first down. Two plays later, the Panthers turned the tables on the Mountaineers.
 
Maverick Gracio slipped through West Virginia’s wall of protection to block Straw’s punt. Brandon George scooped the ball up at the 24 and returned it for a touchdown. Sauls’ conversion kick gave the Panthers a 24-17 lead that lasted less than four minutes.
 
On third and 8, a Greene 44-yard pass to Jalen Bray down the far sideline gave the Mountaineers a critical first down at the Panther 35. Greene scrambled 15 yards to the Pitt 20 and passed to Preston Fox for 12 more to the 8. Two plays later, Donaldson walked into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown to knot the score with 4:54 left in the third quarter.
 
Sacks by Hammond Russell IV and TJ Jackson II forces Pitt to punt, and WVU got to Pitt’s 36 at the end of the third quarter and facing a fourth and 6. When play resumed, Greene completed a 7-yard pass to Traylon Ray to the nearside of the field, and then two plays later, scrambled for 6 to the Pitt 22. A late hit on George tacked 12 yards to the end of the run and gave the Mountaineers a first down at the Pitt 12.
 
But two Donaldson runs netted only 7 yards, and on third and 3 at the Pitt 5, Greene’s pass in the corner of the end zone could not be handled by Clement, requiring Hayes to kick a 23-yard field goal.
 
West Virginia made it a two-possession game on its next offensive possession when Justin Robinson hauled in a pretty, one-handed, 28-yard touchdown reception in the far corner of the end zone, making the score 34-24, but Pitt’s offense came alive.
 
The Panthers, netting -4, -2, 0 and 6 yards on their first four second-half offensive possessions, got the ball at their 25 with 4:55 remaining. Holstein scrambles of 10 and 24 yards, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on linebacker Trey Lathan during Mumpfield’s 11-yard reception, put the ball at the WVU 20.
 
Two Pitt holding penalties moved the ball back to the 40, and following an incomplete pass, Holstein lobbed a high-arching pass down the far sideline that Daejon Reynolds outfought two WVU defenders for the football and a touchdown.
 
Pitt was looking at a second and 30 when Holstein completed the long pass.
 
West Virginia’s offense took possession of the ball with 3:06 left but was unable to get a first down, punting the ball back to the Panthers just before the two-minute warning.
 
Greene completed 16 of his 30 pass attempts for 210 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran 11 times for 49 yards.
 
Donaldson was WVU’s leading rusher with 79 yards on 19 attempts. West Virginia outrushed Pitt 191 to 78 and had a 401 to 379 edge in total yards.
 
It doesn’t get any easier for West Virginia with Kansas looming next Saturday in its Big 12 opener. The Jayhawks were upset last night by UNLV and will be motivated to avoid a 1-3 start to the season, as is West Virginia.
 
Pitt returns to Acrisure Stadium to play Youngstown State next Saturday.