Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
West Virginia

Pat McAfee reacts to West Virginia's Backyard Brawl victory: 'What a win in Morgantown'

Danby: Daniel Hager09/14/25DanielHagerOn3
Pat-McAfee-reacts-to-West-Virginia-Backyard-Brawl-victory-What-a-win-in-Morgantown
© Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman | © Michael Longo/For USA Today Network

After a week of hatred spewed back and forth between the respective fanbases, West Virginia upset Pittsburgh 31-24 in the latest edition of the ‘Backyard Brawl’ Saturday afternoon. The victory came in WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez‘s return to the rivalry, as the win marked his first taste of the ‘Backyard Brawl’ in 18 years (2007).

ESPN‘s Pat McAfee, who played at West Virginia from 2005-08 and was the lone College GameDay panelist to pick the Mountaineers to win Saturday morning, reacted to the win on Twitter/X postgame.

“West Virginia wins, that’s what I’m talking about!” McAfee said. “That’s what I’m talking about boys! Yes this is good Mackenzie (McAfee’s daughter), yes this is good Mackenzie! What a win in Morgantown. Sorry (Pat) Narduzzi. Sorry Pittsburgh Panthers. West Virginia‘s a DAMN good team. Look at the f****** crowd. Look at that place striped out. Electrifying environment. Watch out Big 12, we might have found our hard edge.”

This year’s edition of the rivalry was an exciting back-and-forth affair, which ended with the Mountaineers coming out on top. West Virginia jumped out to a 14-3 lead courtesy of a Tye Edwards one-yard rushing touchdown with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter, but Pittsburgh responded with 21 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

A Kade Hensley 21-yard chipshot field goal made it a one-possession game with five minutes left in regulation, leaving it up to the Mountaineer defense to give their team a chance to tie the game. They delivered, forcing a punt with two and a half minutes remaining.

Clutch plays propelled Mountaineers to ‘Backyard Brawl’ victory

WVU quarterback Nicco Marchiol led a masterful two-minute drill, bringing the Mountaineers down to the goal-line with just 11 seconds remaining. Marchiol found Grayson Barnes for the two-yard score, tying the game at 24 to force overtime.

Overtime belonged to the Mountaineers, as Edwards rushed for the go-ahead touchdown on the first possession of extra time. Pittsburgh had an opportunity to tie the game, but were unable to, handing the ‘Backyard Brawl’ victory to West Virginia for the first time since 2013.

It seemed as if the Mountaineers’ season would be a rough one following their loss to Ohio last week, but that couldn’t be farther from the case now. West Virginia will now look forward to a clash with Kansas, where it will look to prove that it can hang in the Big 12.