--West Virginia led this game 34-24 with 4:55 left and completely imploded in this game. For as bad as the loss in 2022 was, this one was somehow even worse. The Mountaineers defense held Pitt to 4 total yards on 11 plays in the second half but then permitted the Panthers to pile up 152 yards and two touchdowns in 11 plays with both drives taking less than 1:49. Meanwhile the offense, between those possessions goes conservative and still only burns 1:07 off the clock and goes -7 yards. This was just an utter collapse and Pitt tried to give the Mountaineers this game at multiple opportunities and they simply couldn't take it. This is the type of loss that is going to linger for a while in the minds of the fan base and rightfully so as it's now consecutive trips to Pittsburgh where the Mountaineers have simply let the game slip out of their fingers and in one case that was quite literally what unfolded. There simply isn't any excuse here and while the officiating was awful a team that was billed as the most talented one that Neal Brown has had now enters the Big 12 1-2 with the only win over an FCS team.
--What's unfortunate is outside that blocked punt, West Virginia dominated the second half of this game until things came unraveled. Unfortunately none of that is going to be remembered because the way this thing finished and it's going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
--West Virginia allowed a 21-yard pass on 2nd and 17, a 19 yard pass on 2nd and 14, a 19 yard pass on 2nd and 10, a 22 yard pass on 2nd and 23 and a 40 yard pass on 2nd and 30 from the 40. That last one is almost unbelievable and the fact that they still caught the ball even after pass interference for a touchdown was the icing on the cake.
--West Virginia held Pitt to 1-7 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down but permitted 379 yards and 301 passing yards. The pass rush was able to get home in the second half at times and the defense finished with 5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, but allowed Pitt to get out of those holes more often than not. The Mountaineers were able to get pressure, but allowed Holstein to get out and pick up yards with his legs over and over in this game.
--West Virginia was 4-4 in the red zone, but kicking a field goal on the one drive with the fade pattern on third down was costly.
--Garrett Greene was 16-30 for 210 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. It was an up and down game for him in this one and really thought he played much better in the second half once he settled in. Now the one interception was a tipped ball and the second was with the Mountaineers in comeback mode, but he made some nice plays with his legs at times and was able to keep drives alive with some nice throws to Traylon Ray.
--West Virginia had some things going with CJ Donaldson in this one and he ran for 79 yards and a touchdown, while catching another one. Felt he was the best back out there today.
--TJ Jackson was great in this one with 6 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
--The officiating in this game was atrocious and it wasn't really just for one side. That holding penalty on Wyatt Milum was not just awful but was late and it took seven points off the board and then the punt was blocked after the Mountaineers had to boot it away. That wasn't the only call, but yikes it was bad.
--The talk is surely going to shift to winning the Big 12 and the games counting there, but I'm not going that route here and truthfully if you can't win these type of games it doesn't need to be discussed right now either. Sure with the team that's fine, but I'm not going to try to convince you of anything you saw this unfold. I'm not going to dive into this any further here.
--What's unfortunate is outside that blocked punt, West Virginia dominated the second half of this game until things came unraveled. Unfortunately none of that is going to be remembered because the way this thing finished and it's going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
--West Virginia allowed a 21-yard pass on 2nd and 17, a 19 yard pass on 2nd and 14, a 19 yard pass on 2nd and 10, a 22 yard pass on 2nd and 23 and a 40 yard pass on 2nd and 30 from the 40. That last one is almost unbelievable and the fact that they still caught the ball even after pass interference for a touchdown was the icing on the cake.
--West Virginia held Pitt to 1-7 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down but permitted 379 yards and 301 passing yards. The pass rush was able to get home in the second half at times and the defense finished with 5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, but allowed Pitt to get out of those holes more often than not. The Mountaineers were able to get pressure, but allowed Holstein to get out and pick up yards with his legs over and over in this game.
--West Virginia was 4-4 in the red zone, but kicking a field goal on the one drive with the fade pattern on third down was costly.
--Garrett Greene was 16-30 for 210 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. It was an up and down game for him in this one and really thought he played much better in the second half once he settled in. Now the one interception was a tipped ball and the second was with the Mountaineers in comeback mode, but he made some nice plays with his legs at times and was able to keep drives alive with some nice throws to Traylon Ray.
--West Virginia had some things going with CJ Donaldson in this one and he ran for 79 yards and a touchdown, while catching another one. Felt he was the best back out there today.
--TJ Jackson was great in this one with 6 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
--The officiating in this game was atrocious and it wasn't really just for one side. That holding penalty on Wyatt Milum was not just awful but was late and it took seven points off the board and then the punt was blocked after the Mountaineers had to boot it away. That wasn't the only call, but yikes it was bad.
--The talk is surely going to shift to winning the Big 12 and the games counting there, but I'm not going that route here and truthfully if you can't win these type of games it doesn't need to be discussed right now either. Sure with the team that's fine, but I'm not going to try to convince you of anything you saw this unfold. I'm not going to dive into this any further here.
