(Sports Network) The latest edition of the famed Backyard Brawl doesn't include one team shooting for excellence or an undefeated season, but what it does have is a couple of Big East Conference programs fighting for a chance to quite possibly represent the league in a BCS battle as the West Virginia Mountaineers drop in on the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field on Friday afternoon.
Pitt Vs. West Virginia: Another Backyard Brawl
In terms of the league standings at the moment, the Panthers are at the top with a 4-1 mark in the Big East, but the team is just 6-4 overall while a second-place WVU squad is 3-2 in conference and has the best overall winning percentage with a 7-3 mark.
West Virginia has come back from back-to-back losses to post two straight wins, the most recent of those coming last weekend against Louisville in a 17-10 final on the road. After this week the Mountaineers have one last regular-season challenge at home against Rutgers.
Meanwhile Pittsburgh, which still has to face Cincinnati on the road December 4th, has captured four wins in the last five outings. The Panthers also lodged a 17-10 win last week, with their’s coming at South Florida.
The history of the series favors the Panthers by a count of 61-38-3, but the teams have split the last 10 meetings. Last year's contest went down to the wire in Morgantown as Tyler Bitancurt knocked through a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give the Mountaineers a thrilling 19-16 win over the Panthers who were, at the time, ranked in the top-10.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between for both schools at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium last week, but with a couple of first-half touchdowns and a field goal after the break the Mountaineers made it happen. Geno Smith had a tough day as he completed 9-of-20 passes for 133 yards and was sacked four times, while Noel Devine managed just 56 rushing yards on 22 carries, although he did hit the end zone. Just a few years ago the Mountaineers were one of the most aggressive running teams in the nation, but at this stage of the 2010 campaign they are just another squad along the landscape. In fact, WVU ranks third in the conference and a distant 46th in the country with a mere 162.7 ypg. Devine, who has run for more than 4,200 yards in his career, has gained more than 100 just once in the last seven games, but most know that that's due in part to a foot injury.
Ranked fourth in the nation in total defense heading into last week, the Mountaineers were at it again in Louisville as they held the Cardinals to a mere 26 yards rushing and 145 yards through the air. Louisville converted a mere 2-of-13 on third-down attempts as the Cardinals struggled to keep drives alive. Bruce Irvin finished with just three total stops for the visitors, yet two of those turned up as sacks for a defense that had four overall and a total of eight stops behind the line of scrimmage. Sacks have been a huge part of the West Virginia attack this year and right now the Mountaineers rank first in the conference and fifth in the country with 3.2 per game. Tackles for loss are also a key ingredient to the team's success as they average almost seven TFLs per outing to rank second in the league and 21st nationally. Put it together with a pass defense that is holding foes to just 157.1 ypg and it is easy to see why this is one of the most powerful defenses in the country.
Thought to be a candidate for the Heisman Trophy this year, Pittsburgh running back Dion Lewis has been almost invisible for the Panthers, but last week he showed up to the dismay of the South Florida Bulls. Lewis ran for 105 yards and a touchdown as the Panthers left Tampa with a much-needed victory. Quarterback Tino Sunseri converted 11-of-16 passes for 142 yards and a score in the victory as well. After gaining an astounding 1,799 yards and scoring 17 touchdowns on the ground last year as a freshman, Lewis has come speeding back to earth with just 661 yards and eight TDs so far this year. In fact, he's had just two 100-yard efforts this year after posting eight in a row to close out 2009. Lewis is second on the team in total rushing, trailing Ray Graham, but that's only because Graham posted 277 yards in a single game against Florida International in early October.
An amped up defense for the Panthers played rather recklessly quite a bit of the time against the Bulls. In fact, of the 19 first downs registered by the home team, seven came courtesy of a Pitt penalty. Cornerback Antwuan Reed was one of the biggest offenders as he was flagged four times for pass interference, but as time expired it was Reed who intercepted a pass to preserve the win for the visitors. In all the Panthers were handed 11 penalties for a staggering 116 yards. Outside of last week’s win, Pittsburgh has really only had one other dominating defensive effort and that came against Louisville when it limited the Cardinals to just three points. Yet somehow this group is ranked 12th in the nation in total defense this year with 302.6 ypg allowed and 19th in scoring defense, permitting only 19.2 ppg to the opposition.
This game is huge for both teams because it has postseason implications written all over it. Without Lewis dominating on the ground like he did last year, the Mountaineers can really get after anyone and everyone they spy in the offensive backfield, so the Panthers had better be ready to fight for their spot in the postseason.
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