Heading into the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia, it is no secret what Pitt will want to do. The only question is will West Virginia be able to stop it.
Last season, Pitt applied pressure and lots of it. The Panthers ranked second in all of the country in average number of sacks per game with 3.86. Pitt also ranked third in the country in total sacks with 54.0, trailing only Alabama and Oklahoma State.
In comparison, when West Virginia played Oklahoma State last season, the Cowboys had eight sacks and 12 tackles for a loss. Now, with the Backyard Brawl on the horizon, the pressure is getting turned up for West Virginia’s offensive line.
The Mountaineers have experience on their offensive line. Center Zach Frazier, is a Preseason All-Big 12 First Team member and has been the newfound leader of this group. Frazier mans the offensive line with Doug Nester who has played in 32 career games, and James Gmiter, who has played in 33 career games. Then you have Wyatt Milum who started eight games last season as a true freshman. Add in either Ja’Quay Hubbard or Brandon Yates, there are two guys who each have been in college programs for three years.
On the flip side of the coin, Pitt also returns their defensive line. The Panthers’ top three leaders in sacks on the defensive line are all back, and those three combined for 21.5 of Pitt’s 54.0 sacks last season.
West Virginia offensive line coach Matt Moore knows it is going to be a battle and a pressurized situation on Sept. 1 at Acrisure Field. His goal has been to put his unit under pressure during fall camp, with the goal they won’t falter in week one.
“Every one of my guys is going to have to play their A-game to be able to stay in that stadium these guys,” Moore said. “I told my guys… ‘there’s going to be 67,000 people there you better get ready because you’re going to be going against some of the best people you’re going to go against all year, maybe your whole career.’”
Moore said the important thing is to do the little things right, especially in regard to mental mistakes.
“We can’t make mental mistakes,” Moore said. “We can’t put our eyes in the wrong spot. We can’t overset. We can’t get our hands outside. We got to get where that’s what we’re thinking because these guys are really, really good,” Moore said.
For Moore though, one of the advantages he has is his unit played together all last season. Moore said he will not be worried about the communication aspect of things, but rather just if his players will be fundamentally sound.
“The communication and stuff I feel good about. I feel really good about knowing what to do, getting it done is what we have to do,” Moore said. “I feel like we’re on the same page, we just got to go out and we got to perform. We got to play to the best of our ability and perform against a quality opponent.”
Moore said he thinks the pressure is a good thing, and expects his guys to embrace that pressure.
“I told my guys today, I hope [playing Pitt] is why you came here. There’s a lot of schools you could go to where the first game is not a big deal,” Moore said. “I guarantee if you give up a sack on third and long in this game, there’s a lot of people that are going to remember you for a long time.”
