STORY PROVIDED BY PITT ATHLETICS (https://pittsburghpanthers.com/):
Tye Edwards rushed for three touchdowns, including a one-yarder in overtime to lift West Virginia to a 31-24 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night in the Backyard Brawl.
Nicco Marchiol, benched for five series in the second half, led West Virginia on a furious comeback. The Mountaineers scored 10 points in the final five minutes of regulation to send it to overtime, then Marchiol led the eight-play scoring drive on the first series of overtime.
Pitt had the chance after Edwards’ overtime score but went nowhere. Eli Holstein threw incomplete on fourth-and-20 to end the game.
West Virginia (2-1) bounced back from a pitiful performance on the road a week ago at Ohio. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez won in his first matchup with Pitt since 2007, when the Panthers prevailed 13-9 and denied the Mountaineers a trip to the BCS national championship game.
He has said this game wouldn’t erase any of the angst from that loss. But the result set off a celebration from the sellout crowd.
Pittsburgh (2-1) lost for the fourth straight time in Morgantown.
Holstein brought Pitt back from a 7-3 halftime deficit with a short TD run and a 14-yard scoring toss to Raphael Williams Jr. for a 24-14 lead with 9:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Marchiol then returned to the game to lead one drive that resulted in a field goal and, after West Virginia’s defense forced a punt, the Mountaineers got the ball back at their 13 with under 3 minutes left.
Marchiol led the Mountaineers down the field, hitting tight end Grayson Barnes with a 2-yard TD toss to tie the score at 24-24 with 11 seconds left.
Edwards ran 25 times for 141 yards, including other TD runs of 12 and 1 yards. He got the bulk of the carries in place of Jahiem White, who was lost for the season a week ago with a knee injury.
Holstein finished 22 of 37 for 303 yards. Pitt leading rusher Desmond Reid had 30 rushing yards in the first 11 minutes of the first quarter but didn’t get a carry the rest of the game.
The takeaway
Pittsburgh: Unlike last year, when Holstein engineered a comeback win for the Panthers over West Virginia as a freshman, he couldn’t get it done this time.
West Virginia: Marchiol came up huge after two backup quarterbacks got little done for the Mountaineers. Scotty Fox Jr. threw a pair of interceptions in the third quarter that gave Pitt the ball in West Virginia territory and led to a pair of field goals. Marchiol finished 19 of 25 for 192 yards.
Up next
Pittsburgh: Is idle next Saturday and hosts Louisville in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Sept. 27.
