College Football Game of the Week: Backyard Brawl

This weekend, the Backyard Brawl returns to Morgantown as the West Virginia Mountaineers host the Pittsburgh Panthers in a marquee non-conference matchup.

While both of the teams have underperformed this season, the rivalry carries this game into a higher status.

Saturday marks Pitt’s first trip to Milan Puskar Stadium since 2011.

While the stakes have changed since the Backyard Brawl was a conference rivalry, last year proved these two teams will always put up a tough matchup. Seven lead changes preceded a game-winning pick-six that gave Pittsburgh the win.

The teams on paper are more evenly matched for this go around, even if the talent isn’t top-tier.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi seems to be sticking with quarterback Phil Jurkovec even after he completed just 10 passes last weekend against Cincinnati.

Jurkovec’s performance led to a clash with the Pittsburgh fan base where he called older fans “pathetic” and garnered calls for Jurkovec to be benched in favor of Penn State transfer Christian Veilleux.

Jurkovec has a chance to recover against a West Virginia secondary that is allowing 282 passing yards per game early in the season.

He will look to use his running ability to catch the Mountaineers off guard while Pitt looks to develop their deep passing scheme.

On defense, the key for Pitt will be improving in the run game, as West Virginia will have a three-headed monster attempting to run through the interior line.

Quarterback Garrett Greene and running backs CJ Donaldson Jr. and Jaheim White combined for over 300 yards against Duquesne last week and now face a Panther defense that gave up over 200 rushing yards at home to a weaker Cincinnati ground game.

Donaldson Jr. burned the Pittsburgh defense last season for 125 yards on just seven carries at Acrisure Stadium. He looks to expand upon that number in an expanded role and playing at home.

Freshman Jaheim White broke off for over 100 yards in the second half of WVU’s matchup with Duquesne last Saturday and could be in line for a featured role in the offense.

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is likely coaching for his job. After a disappointing game plan at Penn State, a loss to their heated rival could spell the end of his tenure in Morgantown.

Brown broke out new depths of the playbook in Happy Valley, including a merry-go-round two-point conversion attempt, so don’t be surprised to see some innovative play calls during the Mountaineers’ second prime-time game of the season.

West Virginia will need a strong defensive line in order to stifle Jurkovec, as five sacks helped lead Cincinnati over Pittsburgh.

A stymied Jurkovec is the key for West Virginia, as the struggling passer has only completed 49% of his pass attempts through his first two games. If that can stay put and West Virginia can keep their rushing offense rolling, they have a clear path to victory over the Panthers.

Pitt will be able to beat their rivals if their passing offense begins to click.

Tune into the Backyard Brawl at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night on ABC.

Evan Smith is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu