As far as postgame press conferences go, it was unusually riveting. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez stood at the podium, ashen-faced, shell-shocked, and fighting back tears as he prepared to face the media. No more than 25 feet away, in the visitor’s locker room, the Pitt Panthers could be heard celebrating triumphantly. After mumbling through some answers, the exasperated losing coach searched for the right words to describe what had just happened.
“Nightmare. Just a flat-out nightmare.”
The surreal postgame scene followed one of the most shocking upsets in recent college football history. Five years ago this weekend, on December 1, 2007, Pitt traveled to Morgantown for the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. They were 28½ point underdogs. The Mountaineers, ranked 2nd in the country, were one win away from securing a berth in the National Championship game. West Virginia came in averaging 42 points per game. Pitt was 4-7 at the time.
Sports will always be boiled down to numbers. Numbers define who was best, at what position, in what era. They will always be a point of reference in arguments. If a player transcends his sport, his number will be retired, never to be worn again. But few moments in sports than can be described strictly in numerical form. The 2007 Pitt-West Virginia game is a prime example, for it will forever be known only by its astonishing final score: 13-9.
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The 2007 football season was one of the wildest in the long, storied history of major college football. The opening weekend featured an historic upset, as 5th-ranked Michigan lost in Ann Arbor to Appalachian State, the two-time defending FBS champions. It was the first time a ranked team lost to a lower-division opponent; the Wolverines dropped out of the Top 25 after the game and have not been ranked that high in the polls ever since.
About a month later, USC upped the ante by losing at home to Stanford. The Trojans were 41-point favorites – it remains the biggest point spread in college football history – and had not lost a home game since 2001. Stanford was 1-3 at the time and playing their backup quarterback; USC had only lost six times in the previous five seasons combined.
Upsets like this continued throughout the year. Seven more Top 5 teams would lose to unranked or lower ranked teams. Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe, another lower-division opponent. Nobody finished the season undefeated. It had been 11 years since the top two teams in the country lost on the same weekend; in 2007 this happened three different times. The final time it occurred was the last weekend of the regular season: On the same night WVU’s title hopes slipped away, top-ranked Missouri lost to Oklahoma by 21 points.
In 2007, to be ranked No. 2 in the country was more of a curse than a blessing. USC was the first 2nd-ranked team to fall, followed a week later by Cal (who lost to unranked Oregon State). Five days later, new No. 2 South Florida lost to unranked Rutgers. In November, Boston College, Oregon, and Kansas all ascended to the No. 2 ranking and lost. On the last weekend of the regular season, the Mountaineers became the final 2nd-ranked team to go down.
How strange was the 2007 season? The eventual national champ, LSU, was ranked 7th in the BCS standings as late as November 25. They lost twice when they were ranked No. 1 in the polls, and both losses came in triple overtime. In January, the Tigers became the first – and still only – two-loss team to win the BCS title game.
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The 2007 West Virginia Mountaineers came into the Backyard Brawl averaging a whopping 42 points and 310 rushing yards per game; only Navy (who ran the triple option and only threw the ball 98 times all year) would finish the season with more yards on the ground. West Virginia’s two Heisman hopefuls, quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, both rushed for over 1,000 yards. The Mountaineers’ dynamic and terrifying offense was a big play waiting to happen; by season’s end, eight different players had at least one run or catch of 50 yards or longer.
This would mark the zenith of Rodriguez’s zone-read spread offense, a system he pioneered during his time at Glenville State in the early 1990s. The spread is ubiquitous in the college game today, but it was virtually non-existent when Rodriguez became West Virginia’s head coach in 2001. By 2007, he seemed to have the perfect personnel for his up-tempo attack: a dual-threat quarterback with breakaway speed (White), two elite running backs (Slaton and stud freshman Noel Devine), one of the best fullbacks in the nation (Owen Schmidt, now with the Oakland Raiders) and a dominant receiver (Darius Reynaud, who had 12 touchdown catches on the season).
Rodriguez’s offense was unique in that it put a heavy emphasis on the running game. On most plays, the quarterback mainly had two options: hand the ball off to one of his backs or keep it himself. Rodriguez only coached two quarterbacks – Rasheed Marshall and Pat White – in his seven seasons in Morgantown, and both operated more like running backs who could throw if they needed to. White finished his career with 4,480 rushing yards, second only to Ray Rice in Big East history.
It is telling that the third- and fourth-best all-time leading rushers in the conference were also on the 2007 Mountaineers. Slaton finished with 3,923 yards in just three seasons. Devine eclipsed that mark in 2010. West Virginia’s ’07 offense was a bona-fide juggernaut, blowing out several solid teams while putting up points in bunches. On six different occasions, they scored 21 or more points in a single quarter.
Only one team was able to slow them down. Prior to the Brawl, WVU’s only loss came in late September against South Florida. It was a bit of a fluky defeat, as White missed the second half with a knee injury and the Mountaineers committed six turnovers. They won all their other Big East games, including a 31-3 dismantling of 25th ranked Rutgers, and an impressive 28-23 win against Brian Kelly-coached Cincinnati.
One week before the Pitt game, the Mountaineers overwhelmed 20th ranked Connecticut, putting up 42 second-half points and a season-high 517 rushing yards en route to a 66-14 victory. The win clinched the Big East title and moved West Virginia up to No. 2 in the BCS standings. A victory over their hapless rival the following Saturday would put them in the Sugar Bowl, playing for the National Championship.
All signs pointed to a lopsided win, but especially this one: In the previous year’s Backyard Brawl, Slaton and White became only the third tandem in D-1 history to each run for over 200 yards in a single game.
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The 2007 Pitt Panthers were in the midst of a season to forget. The program was struggling to build an identity under 3rd-year head coach Dave Wannstedt. Despite impressive recruiting classes, the Pittsburgh-bred coach was piling up losses. On the eve of the Brawl, the Panthers were 4-7, and headed for their worst overall record since 1998, when they were 2-9.
Pitt’s threadbare win column overshadowed a roster flush with talent on both sides of the ball.
Future pros Aaron Berry, Greg Romeus, Kennard Cox and Scott McKillop anchored a defense that, while not exactly stingy, had held seven of its first ten opponents to 24 points or less. The offensive line featured future NFL draft picks Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn.
The undeniable star of the team was running back LeSean McCoy, now an All-Pro with the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite being the only dangerous player on an otherwise pitiful offense, McCoy would set the Big East freshman record with 1,328 yards rushing. He also set a Pitt freshman record with 14 rushing TDs, breaking Tony Dorsett’s old mark.
Still, Pitt’s offense struggled to replace departed quarterback Tyler Palko. When de facto starter Bill Stull was injured in the season opener, true freshman Pat Bostick (now Pitt’s radio analyst) was forced into action. Without much of a passing game, the Panthers turned to the ultimate gimmick offense, the wildcat, with mixed success. The inconsistency on offense led to several close losses, all on the road: 17-14 at Michigan State, 24-17 at Louisville and 20-16 at Rutgers. Their only impressive win was a 24-17 defeat of 23rd-ranked Cincinnati.
One week before the West Virginia game, Pitt suffered a demoralizing home loss to South Florida. With Heinz Field less than half full, the Panthers blew an early 14-7 lead by giving up 24 unanswered points, including an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
The loss clinched Wannstedt’s third straight losing season; rumors swirled that he was on the verge of being fired. With a trip to Morgantown looming, a terrible season looked like it was about to come to a bitter end. But in an unexpected twist that would later seem clairvoyant, he was given a contract extension just two days before the game
Still, all signs pointed to a lopsided loss, especially this one: Pitt had not won a road game since October 13, 2006.
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Some say, with strong evidence, that the reverberations of Pitt’s unlikely victory are still being felt throughout college football to this day. Looking back, it’s become a prime candidate for the ultimate “what if?” game. But when you look beyond the question – What if West Virginia had won? – there are a whole other set of fascinating scenarios.
Would Rodriguez have ever left West Virginia for Michigan? Would Les Miles have left LSU for Michigan? Would Jim Tressel have won his 2nd National Championship in six seasons?
Does the Big East remain relevant? Does the Big Ten remain a powerhouse conference? Does the SEC still win all those national championships?
What happens to Terrelle Pryor and Ryan Mallett?
The answers can’t be known. But it’s rare that a late-season upset would so dramatically impact such a large swath of the college football landscape. The fallout of the loss altered many careers, and the immediate effects were felt in Ann Arbor.
Longtime Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr announced on November 19, 2007 that he would be retiring after Michigan’s bowl game. The open position was highly coveted, a big-money, high pressure job with a storied program. Carr had been there since ’95, and Michigan had only had two other coaches – Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeller – since 1969.
An intense national search for Carr’s replacement narrowed in on LSU coach Les Miles, who played and coached under Schembechler. On the morning of December 1, as LSU prepared to face Tennessee in the SEC Championship game, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit reported that Miles had accepted the Michigan job. Before the game – which LSU won, keeping its scant national championship hopes alive – Miles hastily arranged a press conference to clarify that he was staying in Baton Rouge.
That night, Missouri and West Virginia both lost, propelling LSU to the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings. Michigan continued its awkward courtship of Miles until December 16, when Rich Rodriguez accepted the job.
It was a decision he now must certainly regret. WVU immediately sued him for breach of contract, kicking off an ugly six-month lawsuit that further tarnished his image in his home state. Meanwhile, his tenure in Ann Arbor was an unequivocal disaster. Michigan finished 3-9 in ’08, their worst record ever, and missed a bowl game for the first time in 33 years. In three seasons, Rodriguez won only six conference games and his teams didn’t finish higher than 7th in the Big Ten. He never beat Ohio State or Michigan State. He was mercifully fired after his third season; in his final game, Michigan was blown out by Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.
Ryan Mallett (now a backup with the New England Patriots) made several starts as a freshman at Michigan in ’07 under Carr. He seemed destined to carry on a long tradition of pro-style quarterbacks churned out by the program. At the time, every Wolverine starting quarterback dating back to 1991 had played in the NFL. When Rodriguez was hired, Mallett saw the writing on the wall. He was not suited for the spread offense, and he transferred to Arkansas.
Terrelle Pryor (now a backup with the Oakland Raiders) was a quarterback ideally suited for the spread offense, and he was being intensely recruited by Rodriguez and many others in the fall of ’07. Pryor was the top recruit in the nation, and he seemed like the perfect player for Rodriguez’s offense. He was like a taller, faster version of Pat White, with a stronger arm. Pryor seemed to have a rapport with the coach; when Rodriguez took the Michigan job, Pryor added the school to his list of possible destinations – and crossed off West Virginia.
Pryor eventually chose Ohio State – memorably calling it “The University of Ohio State” at his signing press conference – but his career there didn’t meet the lofty expectations that followed him there. He was also part of the infamous tattoo scandal that eventually forced head coach Jim Tressel to resign.
LSU, of course, beat Ohio State on January 10, 2008 to win the national title, the first of six straight by SEC teams. True to his word, Miles is still their coach.
The Big Ten has suffered a major drop in stature over the past five years. Ohio State finished this season undefeated but ineligible for any postseason due to NCAA sanctions leftover from Tressel’s tenure. Michigan is rebounding from the Rodriguez Era, but is not the national power it once was.
The Big East has fallen on hard times. West Virginia is gone; Pitt and Syracuse will follow next year. The conference has such an uncertain future that it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if it eventually folded. Several schools slated to be added in the future, including Boise State and San Diego, are now rethinking their move.
Rodriguez is now in his first season as the head coach at Arizona, guiding the Wildcats to a respectable 7-5 finish. In Ann Arbor, his three-year stint is viewed as a colossal mistake. In his home state of West Virginia, he remains a pariah.
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Feverish and boisterous crowds are a common presence at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, so it comes as no surprise that the place can really get rockin’ for a big game. When West Virginia beat Penn State for the first time in 1984, fans stormed the field and removed the goal posts – before the game was over. When they beat Syracuse in 1988 to clinch an undefeated regular season and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl, the stands remained packed – and loud – until the final seconds of a 35-9 blowout. In 1993, when the undefeated and 9th-ranked Mountaineers hosted No. 4 Miami, over 70,000 fans packed into the stadium, whose capacity at the time was just 63,500.
The crowd at the 100th Backyard Brawl was as raucous as any, hoping for something akin to a 3-hour long celebration. The winner of the Brawl always got a certain satisfaction in taking out its rival, but rarely were the stakes ever so high. The game would play out like a Shakespearean drama, full of gut-wrenching plot twists that had to be seen to be believed.
West Virginia got off to a furious start, intercepting a pass on the second play of the game and moving the ball deep into Pitt territory. But when the drive stalled at the 3-yard line, reliable kicker Pat McAfee (now the Indianapolis Colts’ punter) missed a chip-shot 20-yard field goal. It would be the first ominous sign in a game full of squandered opportunities for the Mountaineers.
Later in the 1st quarter, McAfee missed another short field goal, this time from 32 yards. Color man Todd Blackledge, calling the game for ESPN, said in a genuinely hushed and somber tone, “My gosh. He missed another one.”
With about five minutes left in the half, White injured his thumb on a designed quarterback run. This would be the crucial turning point of a still-scoreless game. Though West Virginia managed to gain a 7-3 halftime lead, this couldn’t mask the fact that Pitt was playing better.
The jaw-dropping moments continued. The Mountaineers fumbled the second-half kickoff; they would run only 4 plays in the 3rd quarter. McCoy scored a highlight reel touchdown; it was called back by a rather dubious holding penalty. Cameras began to pan the crowd, showing face after face full of frayed nerves. When West Virginia went three-and-out following Pitt’s only touchdown, the first anxious boos could be heard raining down. Soon after, the Panthers converted yet another fumble into a field goal.
West Virginia kept the game within reach, at 13-7, throughout the 4th quarter. White dramatically returned to the game about halfway through, reinvigorating the tense crowd. The Mountaineers were able to get deep into Pitt territory twice in the last six minutes, but both drives stalled against the relentless Panther defense. On the game’s final play, Pitt ran out the clock by taking a safety, giving the game its unusual final score.
Pitt celebrated as if it were them headed to a BCS bowl. McCoy was the star of the night, finishing with 148 yards on 38 carries. The Panthers dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for over 36 minutes. Wannstedt finally had his first – and some would say only – signature win as Pitt’s coach.
As for Rodriguez, he might not have believed his eyes when he saw the box score. West Virginia’s high-powered offense was held to 183 total yards. They lost three fumbles. Their longest play went for 21 yards. They scored just nine points, their lowest total since 2003.
“We picked a bad time to play our worst game, offensively, in years,” Rodriguez said after the game. He probably didn’t know how right he was. He probably also didn’t know his tenure at West Virginia would last just 15 more days.
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Five years after its most memorable episode, the Backyard Brawl is dead. This season was the first time since 1918 that West Virginia and Pitt didn’t have each other on the schedule.
The Mountaineers are about to wrap up their first season in the Big 12. They got off to a remarkable 5-0 start and climbed as high as fifth in the polls, which was their best ranking since…well, you know. They lost their next five games before winning last week, and will be bowl eligible.
Pitt is playing out the string in its final Big East season. They are on their third head coach since Wannstedt was forced out in 2010. They will join the ACC in 2013, and there are no future games planned against the Mountaineers.
The two schools are separated by only 75 miles, but in many ways have never seemed more far apart. Most fans hold out hope that the rivalry will be renewed sometime in the not-so-distant future. No matter what happens, it’s unlikely that we will ever see another Pitt-West Virginia matchup with such high stakes, with such a stunning result, and with such broad repercussions. It’s also unlikely that fans of either school will ever forget those two numbers. 13-9.
