Spring Break
Season opener the Pitts
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Sports
One more win. That's all West Virginia needed.
In what was supposed to be nothing more than a small speed bump in West Virginia's open highway to the BCS Championship game, the Mountaineers wandered off their home field in utter shock and complete dejection. They didn't even bother to take off their helmets when they moped into the locker room. They couldn't even lift their heads up. Maybe it was because they couldn't bear to see the look on the faces of their fans. Or maybe it was because glancing upwards would create the possibility of seeing what was placed on the scoreboard: Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 9.
Last year's installment of the "Backyard Brawl" ruined West Virginia's chance at a National Championship and at the same time, catapulted Pitt into the national spotlight.
The Panthers didn't play another game in 2007. After all, they were not even bowl eligible. But somehow, after all the dust settled in the off-season, the stars aligned perfectly for Pitt and it found a spot in the preseason top 25 despite going 5-7 (3-4 Big East) last season.
The Panthers were going to be this year's West Virginia. Behind sophomore tailback LeSean McCoy and the second consecutive No. 1 recruiting class in the Big East, they were primed to challenge for the Big East title and for a berth in a BCS Bowl game. Success was inevitable.
But in college football, scheduling is everything. And in just the first game of their promising 2008 campaign, the Panthers ran into a team that few wish to face at any point in the season - let alone the opener. Pitt ran into a team with a scary amount of offensive firepower; a team that could grind it out between the tackles one play and strike with the deep ball the next. Pitt ran into a team capable of shutting down McCoy and equally adept at putting the clamps on the Panthers' explosive passing game.
That team was the Bowling Green Falcons. Yes, the same Bowling Green squad that put up a valiant fight against national power Tulsa in the prestigious GMAC Bowl last season, losing 63-7.
In what was supposed to be nothing more than a small speed bump in West Virginia's open highway to the BCS Championship game, the Mountaineers wandered off their home field in utter shock and complete dejection. They didn't even bother to take off their helmets when they moped into the locker room. They couldn't even lift their heads up. Maybe it was because they couldn't bear to see the look on the faces of their fans. Or maybe it was because glancing upwards would create the possibility of seeing what was placed on the scoreboard: Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 9.
Last year's installment of the "Backyard Brawl" ruined West Virginia's chance at a National Championship and at the same time, catapulted Pitt into the national spotlight.
The Panthers didn't play another game in 2007. After all, they were not even bowl eligible. But somehow, after all the dust settled in the off-season, the stars aligned perfectly for Pitt and it found a spot in the preseason top 25 despite going 5-7 (3-4 Big East) last season.
The Panthers were going to be this year's West Virginia. Behind sophomore tailback LeSean McCoy and the second consecutive No. 1 recruiting class in the Big East, they were primed to challenge for the Big East title and for a berth in a BCS Bowl game. Success was inevitable.
But in college football, scheduling is everything. And in just the first game of their promising 2008 campaign, the Panthers ran into a team that few wish to face at any point in the season - let alone the opener. Pitt ran into a team with a scary amount of offensive firepower; a team that could grind it out between the tackles one play and strike with the deep ball the next. Pitt ran into a team capable of shutting down McCoy and equally adept at putting the clamps on the Panthers' explosive passing game.
That team was the Bowling Green Falcons. Yes, the same Bowling Green squad that put up a valiant fight against national power Tulsa in the prestigious GMAC Bowl last season, losing 63-7.
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