This Saturday featured the 107th edition of the Backyard Brawl, the slugfest between rivals West Virginia and Pitt. Thankfully, this year's iteration did not disappoint as the Panthers emerged victorious in a narrow 38-34 comeback win.
Quarterback Eli Holstein led Pitt to its third win of the season, notching his third consecutive game with over 300 yards passing, three scores and 20-plus completions. Desmond Reid was on the receiving end of two of Holstein's touchdown passes while Daejon Reynolds pulled in the other. Derrick Davis Jr. scored the team's lone points on the ground.
Pitt's defense did a solid job of locking down West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene when it came down to it, with Kyle Louis pulling in the second of two picks to seal the win. Despite this, Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi had a bone to pick with the game's officials after the final whistle.
Here's what to know about Narduzzi ripping into referees after his wild Backyard Brawl win vs. West Virginia.
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What did Pat Narduzzi say about the referees after Backyard Brawl win?
While speaking to sideline reporter Dawn Davenport, Narduzzi first expressed his pride in his team, calling them the "comeback kids," complimenting their winning effort throughout the game. He also individually mentioned Holstein and his defensive backs.
"Our DBs did a heck of a job, period," Narduzzi said to Davenport. "Some of the calls we got, late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with the hands in the face and I've never seen anything like it.
"We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials too, in one game," he continued.
Pitt finished with 12 penalties for 112 yards and West Virginia finished with seven penalties for 67 yards. At first glance this seems quite uneven, but one could say Pitt is just an aggressive team that draws a lot of flags.
When looking at their first two games of the season, that's not the case. Last weekend against Kent State, the Panthers were called on seven penalties for 65 yards—roughly the same as the Mountaineers in the Backyard Brawl. In Week 1 they drew even fewer flags, called for only five penalties for 50 yards against Cincinnati.
One of the missed calls Narduzzi was complaining about was likely this one, involving West Virginia receiver Justin Robinson where he appears to have his hands in defensive back Ryland Gandy's facemask. The play resulted in a touchdown for the Mountaineers, but Pitt ultimately came out on top in the end.
On Sunday evening, the ACC publicly reprimanded Narduzzi for his comments criticizing officials and Pitt was fined $5,000 as a result. The statement released by the conference says "Narduzzi's postgame comments...were in direct violation of the ACC Sportsmanship Policy." The conference also makes it clear that this is the end of the matter and neither Narduzzi nor Pitt will face any further punishment.
Who is Pitt QB Eli Holstein?
Holstein was a 4-star prospect out of Zachary High School in Zachary, Louisiana. He had offers from Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Texas A&M among many others before committing to Alabama in May 2022.
In the 2022 quarterback class, Holstein was rated the No. 5 pocket passer by ESPN and was a top-10 pro-style recruit. He led his high school team to the Louisiana Class 5A state championship after throwing for 3,228 yards and 30 touchdowns.
However, the 19-year-old never saw the field in Tuscaloosa during Nick Saban's final year and entered the transfer portal on Jan. 3, 2024. Three days later, he committed to Pitt as a redshirt freshman.
Holstein won the quarterback battle with redshirt junior Nate Yarnell officially before the Panthers' Week 2 matchup against Cincinnati, after he threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns in the team's 55-24 win over Kent State in the opener. Now, he's 3-0 and making a name for himself in the ACC.
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Eli Holstein stats vs. West Virginia
Holstein had an incredible showing against West Virginia in his first iteration of the Backyard Brawl. The highlight of his rivalry debut was the final five minutes of play, where he facilitated two touchdown drives to pull Pitt back from a 10-point deficit to a 4-point lead before the final whistle.
Here's a look at how the redshirt freshman fared in his third performance as a Panther.
Passing
- C/ATT: 21-30
- YDS: 301
- AVG YDS: 10.0
- TD: 3
- INT: 0
Rushing
- CAR: 14
- YDS: 59
- AVG YDS: 4.2
- TD: 0
- LONG: 24
West Virginia vs. Pitt final score
The game in Pittsburgh was a back-and-forth affair where both teams were extremely close, even entering halftime tied at 17. West Virginia appeared to be in control when it jumped to a 10-point lead with 4:55 remaining in the game. However, Pitt would bounce back immediately with two scoring drives of 75 and 77 yards respectively for the win.
Here's a look at the box score from the contest.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| West Virginia | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Pitt | 10 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
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