Defense Allows Only 224 Yards in Huge Win on the Road
N/R

#16

Pittsburgh, PA - This was a huge clash of Big East heavyweights, but that was not the focal point of tonight's game. It was the "Backyard Brawl" and the stakes were very high. For both teams, this was their final Big East game of the season. The weather was nice for this edition of the "Backyard Brawl", unlike last year's edition in Morgantown, when the snow came down heavy and often in a game that decided the Big East Championship.
For Pittsburgh, the story was missed opportunities. The Panthers got into the red zone twice, but did not convert either one. The Panthers missed a 39 yard field goal in the first quarter, then threw an interception in their second red zone opportunity in the third quarter. The Panthers got inside the 25 yard line early in the fourth quarter, but a pair of sacks backed the Panthers up outside of field goal range as the Panthers could not convert a 4th and 15 attempt.
West Virginia did not have a very good game offensively, either, as the Mountaineers only racked up 252 yards of total offense. The passing game was almost nonexistent as Adam Bendarik only completed 9 of 20 passes for 63 yards and an interception. Luckily, Jason Gwanltney stepped up and delivered 136 rushing yards on 21 carries and a touchdown. "Jason won the game for us along with our defense," explained Coach Frizzell. "It was a very hard game on the offensive side of the ball, but our defense made it hard for Pittsburgh to do anything offensively either.
Pittsburgh's only score came in the fourth quarter off of an 80 yard touchdown pass off of a blown coverage. West Virginia had a touchdown run each from Jason Gwanltney and Pernell Williams to get their 14 points.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Final West Virginia 0 7 7 0 -- 14 Pittsburgh 0 0 0 7 -- 07
1st Quarter
No Scoring
2nd Quarter
0:49 - WVU - 1 yard run by Williams (7-0 WVU)
3rd Quarter
3:32 - WVU - 6 yard run by Gwanltney (14-0 WVU)
4th Quarter
4:34 - Pitt - 80 yard pass from QB #28 to WR #48 (14-7 WVU)
West Virginia Leaders
QB Adam Bendarik - 9/20 63 yds., INT, 6 carries, 22 yds.
HB Jason Gwanltney - 21 carries, 136 yds., TD
WR T.J. Mitchell - 2 receptions, 30 yds.
CB Jarvis Schneider - 6 tackles
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