WVU’s secondary against Pitt receivers will be key in Brawl

West Virginia’s offense has reason to feel confident heading into Saturday’s Backyard Brawl vs. Pitt at Acrisure Stadium.

While a valid argument could be made that the Mountaineers simply beat up on an FCS opponent last weekend, West Virginia fired on all cylinders through the air and on the ground in defeating Albany, 49-14.

That was a welcome departure from how the offense fared in Week 1 against No. 8 Penn State, which featured just one Mountaineers touchdown.

Pitt (2-0), off to a hot start and set to play in front of a large, energetic home crowd Saturday, is sure to present a tougher challenge for coach Neal Brown’s Mountaineers.

Still, coming off a 49-point performance vs. Albany allows the Mountaineers to arrive in Pittsburgh with some momentum.

“We know how good we are and how good the team is, so we’re just going down there to play our game, just like any other team,” sophomore receiver Traylon Ray said. “We know it’s going to be a nail-biter, but we’ve just got to go out there and scratch, fight and claw to get that win.”

Defensively, more questions linger.

A debate could be made as to how deeply it’s worth looking into West Virginia’s defensive performance against the Nittany Lions, who are one of WVU’s best opponents in 2024. If not the best.

A similar caveat exists when examining how West Virginia played defensively against Albany, given the lesser quality of opposition.

All that said, a sample size does exist to suggest the Mountaineers haven’t been elite against the pass.

Albany’s Myles Burkett, while passing for only one touchdown and posting a 46% completion rate, threw for 306 yards, a significant chunk of which took place before the Mountaineers ran away to win.

The Great Danes scored back-to-back touchdowns in the second quarter to come within 21-14 and used several explosive plays through the air to do so.

Then, receiving the ball to begin the third quarter, Burkett had completions of 41 and 49 yards over a span of four plays before the Mountaineers eventually forced a turnover on downs at the goal line.

However, Mountaineers defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley remains confident in his secondary.

“The pass coverage, I’m not down on our guys,” Lesley said. “I don’t feel any different way about them. We’re not executing very, very simple things.

“Do what you’re coached to do. It’s simple fixes, it’s easy things. Whether it’s playing the ball in the air, the depth, width, execution of your drop. … The sky’s not falling. It’s not panic time.”

Pitt will look to ensure that Lesley’s fixes aren’t enough for West Virginia to win its second straight Backyard Brawl.

Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein has looked good, averaging 319 yards per game while completing 66.7% of his passes with six touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

Holstein, in his first year at Pitt since transferring from Alabama, presents a challenge that WVU’s upperclassmen, preparing for their third battle with the Panthers, have not faced before.

That also could be said of Pitt’s offense in general, now under Kade Bell and featuring tailback Desmond Reid, another first-year asset for the Panthers.

Brown had high praise for Bell and Pitt’s new offense, likening the Panthers’ attack to Mike Leach’s air raid system at Texas Tech.

“They’re just playing really fast,” Brown said. “They’re using wide splits. They’re a little bit different each week, but the tempo is what sets them apart.”

Brown also has his eye on the 5-foot-8 Reid as a threat on the ground and through the air.

“Reid is a guy that’s really fast. He’s quick, and he’s a tough tackle,” Brown said. “Not real big. Big enough, and you can tell he’s got good lower-body strength. But, man, they take wide splits with the receivers a lot, and he’s had a lot of space the first two weeks. He’s made the most of it.”

If the history of the Backyard Brawl has demonstrated anything, it’s that the game will be intense and unpredictable.

“They’re real feisty,” Ray said of the Panthers. “We’re all going to have to finish blocks, finish runs. It’s going to hurt, but we’ll be all right.”