For the first time in four years I was back in Morgantown. If you weren’t at this game, you missed an all-out classic for the 108th Backyard Brawl. A game that started with missed field goals by both teams, saw both teams overcome 10+ point deficits, and went to overtime. The crowd was electric. The opponent was known and defiant. And the win… a long time coming for a program that has a lot more heart and pride today. Let’s get into my thoughts.
CROWD
Let’s start with you, the fans. I walked down onto the field
at the end of regulation and start of overtime, and when I say I could feel you, I mean I could FEEL you. I could feel the electricity of 62,108 fans screaming and willing their team. I could feel your heartbeat as you saw the team come back from the depths of losing to tie the game. And I could feel the stadium shake and erupt when West Virginia tied the game, took the lead, and ultimately won the game.
I commented on the field: “It’s been a long time since this place felt like this. You forget just how loud and amazing this place can be.”
After the last six years, the excitement of football had waned to a level that wasn’t just apathy and despair. It was despondent — knowing losses were inevitable and wins would be boring, bland, and numbingly bad. Yesterday was none of that, and all 62,000 of the fans in attendance, including my son and our neighbors, supported and willed the team.
The stadium was rocking, loud at the right times, and caused at least some disruption and heartache for the Pitt Panthers. Last night felt like West Virginia Mountaineer football. It felt like the place I went to school at 20 years ago and the place I’ve supported for much longer. It felt like it did when games mattered and the team mattered and the game mattered. It turned back the clock to when we felt relevant, when excitement and fun weren’t forced. It felt good.
QUARTERBACKS
I know Nicco Marchiol won the game, and he has likely cemented himself as the starting quarterback, but I also think his absence in the third quarter served him well. According to Rich, Nicco wasn’t hurt, but he was looking for a spark as the offense only generated 7 points in the first half. Marchiol, while accurate, wasn’t making the throws that needed to be made in order to make Pitt adjust.
Scotty Fox came in and led the Mountaineers to a touchdown drive on his second possession before the game plan for Fox — sprint rollouts to his right — allowed Pitt to adjust their defense and pick him off twice. Jaylen Henderson entered after the two interceptions, and thanks to penalties by Pitt moved the ball, but ultimately took a sack by his own offensive lineman in a place you just can’t take a sack.
For the five drives that Marchiol was out, he was intently watching the defense, listening to the coaches, and studying. I think that served him well. There’s no telling if you keep Nicco in the game that he scores on the drive Fox scored on, nor is there any way to know if he throws interceptions or somehow gives away possessions. But once Nicco did re-enter the game, he looked more calm and collected and made plays and throws that mattered when it mattered.
It would not surprise me if Rich continues to give Fox game reps so he can learn, as Fox brings an element that Nicco doesn’t possess. But Fox is still young and has a lot of learning and growing to do as a college quarterback. The first interception was a bad read that you can’t throw late, and the second is a pass you just can’t throw — but one that young quarterbacks often do when they’re just trying to make a play.
REFS, PENALTIES, AND END OF HALF
I’m not one to blame the referees because I always say make plays so the refs can’t be a factor. But when I say this crew was bad, this crew was BAD. According to others, this was a backup ACC ref crew, as the head crew chief resigned last week, and it felt obvious that the crew was struggling with some of the nuances of the game.
At the end of the half, the situation that unfolded appears to be a weird loophole — one I don’t agree with, but one that likely doesn’t happen often. West Virginia, on offense, is driving and is without any timeouts. Quarterback Nicco Marchiol scrambles and picks up the first down. The clock stops on the first down being made. That is key point number one.
The dead-ball foul doesn’t stop the clock. It only would be enforced on the spot, the ball moved forward, and then when the ball is set, the clock would start again. Because West Virginia is out of timeouts, much like in basketball, there appears to be a minimum time needed to get a legal snap off — in this case, three seconds. The Mountaineers would not have been able to even get the field goal team on the field and snap the ball before the time expired.
To think about it another way: had the penalty not occurred, Marchiol’s scramble would have ended the half anyway, since they wouldn’t have been able to stop the clock.
I understand all that, but the fact that the penalty then is not enforced on the kickoff at the start of the second half is ludicrous to me. This is probably a rare situation that doesn’t occur again for years, as the timing of the penalty and the play is crucial to this. It’s not something you can simply draw up at the end of a half or game. But for there to be no repercussion for the flag simply means Pitt got a free flag. That isn’t the intent and can’t be allowed. If player safety is a requirement of the game, allowing defenders to purposefully (or not) get free flags is outside the intent of the rulebook and the letter of the law. It has to be changed.
More so, some of the remaining calls on both sides appeared ticky-tack and excessive. Pitt was called for 14 fouls, and most of them were egregious, though some were questionable. More so, some of the ones called on West Virginia were head-scratchers. I disagree with the two roughing-the-passer calls on West Virginia, but by the letter of the law I agree on the targeting: “forcible contact to the head or neck area of the quarterback.” It was, and I see why they called it. But our player hit Holstein within one step, so what do you want him to do — roll his knee?
The second, which led to a Pitt touchdown, was worse. The flag was thrown before the whistle and then called a dead-ball foul. You can’t have a dead-ball foul when the play is still live. You just can’t.
PITT INJURIES
Rich, take it away!
Rich said it best: “It’s amazing how many guys got hurt. I’m really concerned. Do they have anybody left to play next week? It was like 2 or 3 guys on every other snap. Like bad hurt…. you talk about bad luck, have you ever seen so much bad luck?”
Rich is being facetious here but also highlights the rule change that occurred, and what appears to be the new way teams are skirting that rule in order to buy time for their defense.
Previously, teams would flop after the ball was spotted and trainers would come out, the staff would help the player off, and the defense would get a breather. The NCAA cracked down and said if you are injured after the ball is spotted, you either lose a timeout or will be assessed a 5-yard delay of game penalty. To get around the rule, players simply fake an injury at the end of the previous play.
Rich’s suggestion is that you should have to sit out the remaining drive, or quarter, or half, or game. He’s not wrong, because it did appear obvious that Pitt was bothered by the tempo and therefore became injury-prone when they just needed a break. If teams are going to do that, then there has to be a larger set of changes that prevents skirting the current rules.
DEFENSE
If you know, you know — and you know I love defense and love aggressive, attacking defense. Through three games, the current West Virginia defense ranks as follows:
Scoring Defense: 14.7 PPG — 33rd
Rushing Defense: 93.7 YPG — 29th
Passing Defense: 206.7 YPG — 68th
Total Defense: 300.3 YPG — 47th
Opponent 3rd Downs: 26.1% — 19th
Zach Alley is getting paid 7 figures, and it’s still not enough. Absolutely love this defense.
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