The Backyard Brawl returns to college football for the first time since 2011. MY alma-mater, the WVU Mountaineers will travel straight up I-79 to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers. 

Before we get into it, few things: 

Eat Shit Pitt

Hail WV

Country Rounds Take Me Home

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Now that we’re all on the same page, if you want to bet this game tonight, go right ahead but I’m steering clear because I refuse to bet on Pitt. 

The Mountaineers defense is my main concern. They lost basically their entire linebacking core and their top six tacklers on that side of the football after last season. They also have an extremely young secondary. 

Offensively, the JT Daniels era has begun in Morgantown. Daniels transferred from Georgia after starting his career at USC and has performed great on the national level. 

Daniels burst onto the scene as a freshman for the Trojans with 2,672 yards passing and 14 touchdowns after reclassifying to the Class of 2018 but the rest of his time in Southern California was cut short due to injury.

Coincidentally, the quarterback that took over for Daniels is now behind center for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Kendon Solvis took the job and threw 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns in 12 games that season, which earned him Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.

Daniels battled injuries at Georgia as well, but capped off a 2020 season by throwing for 392 yards and a score in the Peach Bowl victory over Cincinnati. He’s definitely had success, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 4,840 yards and 32 touchdowns with a 142.5 passing efficiency rating in 21 total college football games. 

>> Read More: College Football Best Bets: Top three picks for Thursday night (9/1), Parlay of the Day (+596)

The problem with WVU offensively, is that they lost both their top running back in Leddy Brown and top receiver in Winston Wright. 

Defensively, Pitt is bringing back their entire starting defensive line that ranked fifth in Defensive Line Yards, third in Power Success Rate Allowed, 11th in Rushing Success Rate Allowed and 16th in rushing explosiveness allowed.

I’m not quite sure if WVU has enough tools for JT Daniels offensively, and there’s concern with their linebackers and secondary on defense. 

The smart bet is to take Pitt -7 however my heart lies in Morgantown and I’m a Mountaineer for life. 

Mountaineers are always free. 

Pick WVU +7 and Under 51.5

Legends are born in the Backyard Brawl.

Who will this moment belong to?#BeatPitt pic.twitter.com/hdOY7c8gD7

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) August 31, 2022

Mandatory Credit: Jared Wickerham | Getty Images