Pittsburgh Upset No. 2 West Virginia 13-9, Crushing 2007 Title Bid
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 30
Pittsburgh Upset No. 2 West Virginia 13-9, Crushing 2007 Title Bid
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 30
A 13-9 Backyard Brawl loss to 4-7 Pittsburgh knocked No. 2 West Virginia out of the 2007 national championship race despite a title-game berth being within reach.
Five turnovers, just 183 total yards and two missed short field goals doomed a Mountaineers team that entered as a 28-point favorite in Morgantown.
That collapse was especially stark because Rich Rodriguez's team averaged nearly 40 points a game, ranked ninth nationally in scoring and led the country at 6.2 yards per rush.
West Virginia deepened the "what if" case by routing a top-five Oklahoma team in the Fiesta Bowl, but Rodriguez left for Michigan after the season and the program has not come that close again.
Can Rich Rodriguez's return finally erase the what-if legacy of West Virginia's infamous 2007 season?
How did one player's thumb injury reshape the destinies of multiple college football powerhouses?
Is Rodriguez’s roster overhaul a new model for success or a gamble in the chaotic NIL era?