University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Lose Backyard Brawl to West Virginia, 52-14
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
November 27, 1998
PITTSBURGH - Marc Bulger passed West Virginia into an upper-tier bowl game and reminded Pittsburgh of just how far away it is from playing again in the postseason.
Bulger, unwanted by Pitt despite playing high school football just a few blocks away from its campus, threw a school-record six touchdown passes Friday in West Virginia's 52-14 rout of the Panthers.
Scoring the most points by either team in the Backyard Brawl since Pitt's 52-7 win in 1978. West Virginia (8-3, 5-2 in Big East) had seven touchdowns in a span of eight possessions to position itself for a possible Gator Bowl bid.
"It's going to be difficult this week because there's a lot of apprehension. You just don't know where you're going to play," West Virginia coach Don Nehlen said. "This team, with eight victories, I feel is good enough to play in a lot of bowl games."
The Panthers (2-9, 0-7) aren't. Just a year after unexpectedly going to the Liberty Bowl, they lost their seventh in a row in arguably their worst season since they were 1-10 in 1972. They were 2-9 in 1995 but beat two major-college opponents; they defeated only Akron and Division I-AA Villanova this season.
"We got our rear ends whipped," Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris said. "They're better than us physically. We're hurting in certain areas and other guys didn't play the way they're coached to play."
Bulger worked over an injury-depleted Pitt secondary to go 26-of-37 for 409 yards before being lifted seven yards shy of Mike Sherwood's 1968 school record 416 yards against Pitt. His six TDs were one more than Allen McCune's five in West Virginia's 63-48 victory over Pitt in 1965.
With starting right cornerback Hank Poteat (sprained knee) already out, left cornerback Tray Crayton was taken to a hospital following a mid-field collision on the game's first play. He initially reported numbness in his arms, but all feeling returned a few minutes later.
"I knew they had to stick to basic coverages because of their injuries and they couldn't disguise as much because of that," Bulger said. "It made it easier for us. With our receivers and their inexperience, that's too much to ask of them."
With 3,178 yards passing, Bulger is the first 3,000-yard single-season passer in school history.
"It's nice to come in here and play and not have to be a spectator," Bulger said of the first West Virginia-Pitt game at Three Rivers Stadium. "I was a Steelers fan growing up and still am, so this means a lot."
Even worse for Pitt, Bulger played just down the street at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, the alma mater of former Pitt star Dan Marino.
Earlier in the week, Harris called former coach Johnny Majors' decision to not recruit Bulger "a tragedy." Bulger showed why, throwing two touchdown passes to Khori Ivy and one each to David Saunders, Anthony Becht, Mark Corman and Shawn Foreman.
"Anytime you have receivers like we do, it's to your advantage to throw the ball," said Foreman, who made five catches for 115 yards.
Ivy had six receptions for 133 yards, and Saunders had seven for 91 yards.
Bulger made it look easy only one year after Pitt shocked West Virginia 41-38 in Morgantown behind Pete Gonzalez's five touchdown passes. Bulger rarely missed an open receiver while throwing for 366 yards just in the first three quarters.
With more than 100 friends and family cheering him on, Bulger connected with Saunders for 23 yards and Ivy for 24 yards and a touchdown in quick succession immediately after West Virginia partially blocked a punt early in the second quarter.
That made it 10-0, and the rout was on, with the Mountaineers scoring on their next six possessions except for one two-play series just before halftime.
Bulger followed with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Saunders and a 4-yarder to Becht later in the first half, and Gary Thompkins returned a blocked punt - West Virginia's seventh blocked kick this season - 22 yards for a touchdown and a 31-7 halftime lead.
Bulger added a 1-yarder to Corman and a 30-yarder to Foreman in the third quarter and left after hitting Ivy for 26 yards three plays into the fourth quarter.
Amos Zereoue complemented Bulger with 110 yards on 20 carries to raise his Big East career rushing record to 3,907 yards. The nation's No. 4 rusher has 1,430 yards this season.
West Virginia has won six in a row in Pittsburgh dating to 1988 in a 91-game series in which the visiting team has won nine of the last 12. Pitt hadn't played a home game in Three Rivers in 1982, when the Panthers were top-ranked for seven weeks.
