The 108th meeting between the Pitt Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers will be played Saturday, September 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Pitt is 2-0 on the season while the Mountaineers are 1-1. Pitt holds the edge in the series, with a 63-41-3 record.
Pitt has been dominant against lesser competition, beating Duquesne and Central Michigan by a combined 106-26. Head coach Pat Narduzzi is 2-1 against West Virginia.
Pitt is led by QB Eli Holstein, who has completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 519 yards with 8 TDs and 2 INTS. Holstein is second on the team in rushing with 77 yards.
All-American RB Desmond Reid leads in rushing with 112 yards with 1 TD. Reid is third on the team in receptions with 6 and receiving yards with 71. Ralphael “Poppi” Williams, Jr. has been the star in the passing game. Williams has 7 catches for 166 yards and 2 TDs. Williams is averaging 23.7 yards per catch.
On defense the Panthers are led by their dynamic LB duo of Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles. Biles leads Pitt with 15 tackles and 2 passes broken up. Louis is tied for second with 11 tackles and leads with 2 sacks.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez, in his second stint as WVU’s head coach, is 4-3 overall against Pitt. Last week, West Virginia suffered a road loss at Ohio University of the Mid-American Conference, 17-10. Ohio outgained the Mountaineers 429-250 in the loss.
QB Nicco Marchiol has completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 402 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Marchiol is the second leading rusher for the Mountaineers with 65 yards and 1 TD. However, Rodriguez has not named a starting QB for the Backyard Brawl. On the depth chart released by WVU, there are five players listed as possible starting QBs. Marchiol is most likely to be the starter come Saturday, though.
West Virginia’s run game took a major hit when it was announced that RB Jaheim White is out for the year with a knee injury. White is the Mountaineers’ leading rusher with 133 yards and 3 TDs. According to Rodriguez multiple players will get playing time at RB.
“We don’t look at it like it’s a committee of guys,” Rodriguez said this week when meeting with the media. “I think it’s going to look like we’ll give some guys opportunities and see who does the best.”
Unfortunately for WVU, they also have lost second leading receiver, WR Jaden Bray, for the season as well. Bray reinjured the same foot that caused him to miss half of the 2024 season.
Cam Vaughn has picked up the slack, leading the Mountaineers in receptions with 9, receiving yards with 170 and has the lone receiving TD. WVU will need some players to step up to fill the voids left by these offensive injuries.
WVU’s defense is 45th in the nation, giving up 276.0 yards per game. However, the Mountaineers are 11th in the nation with 7 sacks. LB Chase Wilson is tied for second with 13 tackles but is the leader with 3 sacks. Wilson also has 1 pass broken up and 1 INT.
Prediction
As we found out in 2007, anything can happen in this game. The Panthers are currently 6.5 point favorites on the road. With WVU still trying to figure out their QB situation, and with the injuries at RB and WR, I find it hard to believe this game will result in anything but a Pitt win. The only question is will they cover? I feel they will, Pitt wins 33-20.