Despite a great gameplan, one poor decision by Neal Brown cost West Virginia a marquee win in the Backyard Brawl

The 105th edition of the Backyard Brawl had everything. 

After three ties, six lead changes and countless amount of entertaining-wait-what-just-happened-moments, the showdown between Pittsburgh and West Virginia was the perfect renewal of one of the storied rivalries in college football.

But once 60 minutes had run off the clock, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was kicking himself, taking out his frustrations on officials who didn’t decide the outcome of the game. 

He did. Unfortunately for him. 

The Mountaineers had a great game plan Thursday night. Except for one seismic decision of inches.

“We’ll be ready,” Brown said before a gut-wrenching 38-31 loss at No. 17 Pitt. 

They were. Almost.

The Mountaineers were a touchdown underdog on the road against the reigning ACC Championships, yet they were the aggressors for much of the night — taking shots downfield, busting big runs off tempo and blocking a punt for a quick score.

Georgia transfer quarterback JT Daniels was under constant pressure, but the veteran was smooth in the pocket, making throw after throw to Bryce Ford-Wheaton (nine catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns) in big moments. More surprisingly, freshman tailback/hybrid tight end CJ Donaldson was awesome, as the nearly 240-pound rookie rushed for 125 yards on just seven carries — good for 17.9 yards per touch. 

Which is precisely why Neal Brown was asked postgame about not going for it on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter. 

The decision cost West Virginia a potentially huge win — and Neal Brown a major opportunity at securing some goodwill in Morgantown. 

Up 31-24 midway through the final period, the Mountaineers had all the momentum. First-year WVU offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was doing his best to keep a tenacious Pitt front-seven off-balanced, yet facing a 4th-1 across the 50-yard-line, Brown turtled up. 

He had a chance to ice the game … but he panicked? Was looking at the wrong analytics sheet? Thought it was a good idea?

Evidently, it was the latter. 

“There was a little over six minutes to go in the game. It was 4th and about a foot. We’re up seven. We can pin’ em,” Brown explained.

“I looked up at the clock and they had to go 98 yards and we’re up by seven. If you go for it there and you don’t get it, then they got a short field and three timeouts. Best answer I can give you is, if I had to do it again, I would do the same decision.”

#WVU coach Neal Brown defends his decision to punt on 4th and short.

“The decision was sound. If I had to do it again, I’d do it again.” #Pitt @937theFan pic.twitter.com/3ZNXB5J3pM

— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) September 2, 2022

“It’s easy to second-guess now because they went 98 yards,” Brown added.

Those are the wrong words to Country Roads, Neal.

The decision sent West Virginia on a path home with an L. This isn’t a hindsight deal, either.

Ask a Mountaineers fan what should happen in the moment. Better yet, ask a Panthers fan what they didn’t want to happen: WVU going for it on 4th-and-inches or them punting the football?

In the end, Brown opted not to run his bulldozing tailback back inches for away from a first down. Again, the same kid who was averaging a well-more than a first down per carry. Instead, West Virginia chose to try and draw the Panthers offsides. They didn’t, taking a delay of game and punting. 

The Mountaineers allowed the tying score on the ensuing drive and then watched a tipped pass off Donaldson’s hands go for the game-winning pick-six. 

Ball game. 

It definitely didn’t have to end this way for West Virginia. It probably shouldn’t have.

Entering Year 4 in Morgantown, Neal Brown’s tenure at WVU was the ultimate shrug emoji  ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

Just 17-18 in three seasons, Brown’s teams have been the definition of meh. The Mountaineers have been raided by the transfer portal in the last two seasons — particularly on defense. Yet Brown snagged Harrell to run his offense in 2022, with JT Daniels to take the reins at QB. After three decent recruiting classes, the roster was at least restocked with some intriguing talent.

And it looked so promising for much of Thursday night!

Dante Stills was awesome providing pressure up front. A veteran OL was opening lanes for a who’s that freshman? Daniels was under siege as a passer but was strong in the pocket and delivered several winning throws to a legit playmaker at WR. 

It was all there for Brown to earn a Top 25 win over a once-storied rival. A chance to open the season 1-0 with winnable games against Kansas, Towson and Virginia Tech upcoming.  

Instead, he played not to lose. 

As an underdog. On the road. Up by a score with all the juice in a fantastic rivalry finally renewed, Neal Brown declined the chance to take the game. 

Perhaps West Virginia will (surprisingly) make some noise in the Big 12 this fall, but the Mountaineers were inches away from making a statement on primetime in Week 1 on Thursday night, and Neal Brown whiffed.