West Virginia's championship-altering implosion needs a deep rewind
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- Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2022
- It’s December 1, 2007. We’re at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. The No. 2 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers are just one game away from their first BCS Championship appearance in school history, but their legendary offense has imploded at the most painful moment possible - against hated rival Pitt.
Everything this 28.5-point underdog Panthers team needs to pull a miracle upset has happened so far, but there’s no room for error against one of the most explosive teams in college football, even when you’re punting with six seconds left. How did West Virginia get so close to making history, and how did Pitt get this close to breaking it?
We need to rewind.
Written and produced by Steven Godfrey
Directed and edited by Ryan Simmons
Motion graphics by Philip Pasternak
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![Jason Aldean - Should've Been A Cowboy [Toby Keith Tribute] (Live from the 59th ACM Awards)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-B4nR-CgMVA/mqdefault.jpg)
Pat McAfee's week kicked off with the NFL refusing to let him use their graphics and it ended with a retrospective on his college team's worst loss ever. Guy can't catch a break.
Tbf the NFL changed their minds
They NFL overturned their decision and are allowing him to use their graphic…looks like the guy caught a break
@@OhKi11a that was such a weird situation honestly.
I instantly clicked on the vid to say exactly that 😭
Rent free. Get a life
I think the entire 2007 season needs a 15 part special
Best season ever
No it doesn't. That season sucked.
@@jaredreynolds7115 you mean the worst
Check out KTO's video on it. Breaks down how the 2 seed lost every week and how the rankings became complete chaos as the season progressed.
@@chrisuncleahmad awful take
LSU won the national championship, RichRod left for Michigan, and Pat McAfee hasn't stopped talking since.
Les Miles owes Dave Wannstedt a fruit basket. Without this upset, the Mad Hatter is a colossal underachiever.
@@chrisuncleahmad Yeah, we get it dude
@@chrisuncleahmad so true
he also can't decide if he's a sportscaster, pod caster, sports analyst, wrestling commentator, or wrestler
I grew up in West Virginia, this is the most devastating sports loss of my life. Even watching this video was painful. The WVU football program never fully recovered from this loss.
Moving to the Big 12 has done them no favors.
They ended up beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl
@@ericthomas917 So what....... No team would rather play in the Fiesta Bowl than the National title game.
@@jliller They had to, if they didn't they wouldn't be in a Power 5 conference.
@@PureBleachFilms They should have gone to the ACC or SEC.
As a lifelong fan born and raised in Morgantown this single game changed the trajectory of our program, state, and lives. We should’ve won. We should continued to trend upward to the top. Since this game I’ve lost my father and brother and I can truly say that after those two separate days this was the 3rd worse of my life. As an 11-year-old boy I was devastated, as I am to this day. Props to Pitt for pulling off arguably the biggest upset of all time in college football. Bias or not, I truly believe that. It’s hard to point to a single game that changed a program so much.
I was 12 when it was played and I live In SW PA. I’m the exact opposite my gram and pap liked Pitt and always liked when the ranked teams got upset like spoilers. Backyard brawls were always family ordeals w food drinks family it was like a cookout indoors. Best weekend of college football. Then they took it from us for how long. Happy it’s back, but as a silver lining I didn’t grow up a p-I-t-t Pitt Pitt Pitt fan lmao. I like LSU
Dude I love football but if you genuinely believe this game changed the trajectory of your whole STATE and LIVES you need to read some books on economics, political structures and history. There's a lot more at play then a college football game.
@@EdwardNigma48333934 considering how many of the 1.8 million people in the state are fans it’s not wrong to say it changed their lives in some way. Obviously yes football isn’t everything but very important to our small and proud state. Obviously no football doesn’t have the same effect on people as political and economic changes throughout history, I’m not that dense. It’s called a slight exaggeration.
@@EdwardNigma48333934 if you think winning the natty wouldn't have a huge affect on the state in many life aspects you're not looking deep enough. Sure in a place like new York, the giants losing wouldn't have a large affect but somewhere like West Virginia it's life changing. Hell where I come from in rural Texas, high school football games are life changing.
@@Itsactuallysmallaf yes I would rather play and lose to Pitt every once in a while than not play at all. One of the best rivalry games in the nation. It was a sad day when we stopped meeting
As a WVU fan this is still devastating, truly haven’t recovered since. Props to Pitt for playing spoiler but why did it have to be this game lol? I genuinely think that if WVU wins this game, they’re winning the Natty, Pat White and Steve Slayton were just so much fun to watch
Sorry, but they don't beat Ohio State.
Y'all woulda got crushed by LSU
@@cremedeinvisib with how insane this year of college football it’s pretty bold to make such a confident claim. We won’t ever know but nobody can say for sure. LSU didn’t crush the two teams that beat them that year
well Geno Smith has manage to Salvage his Career don't beat yourself up
@@cremedeinvisib LSU wouldn't have got in, it was this loss that allowed them to play Ohio State
Pat McAfee has a tear in his eye watching this video
Good I hope the crybaby never forgets the pain
@@L_Train you’re a bozo
@@L_Train people were giving death threats to a college kid and his family over a game. Grow up.
Football in 2000's was really something special 🥲
2007 was the craziest season for the top 10 I’ve ever seen
it was the worst season. Rankings felt meaningless and upsets were devalued.
I hope we never have a year like that again in CFB
@@chrisuncleahmad this season feels alot similar....
Especially if you was ranked number 2 that it seemed like every team was ranked number 2 they got beat
Taking a safety to run out the clock has to be the best clock management I've ever heard of
Not mentioned 1) How Pitt had a TD and a backbreaking 1st down late in the game both called back on phantom holding calls 2) Pitt also missed a FG, Pat gets grief for missing those kicks but there were special team errors on both sides
Oh man a core memory. Those calls were the most bullshit ever. I think there was a no-call in there too. The big least refs were the only part of wvus team that was trying to win
Pat missed super short kicks though and was a Lou Groza finalist that season. Him and the offense really choked.
Pitt really had it wrapped up more than we thought and people forget about those 2 crucial calls. Pitt also benefited from a phantom personal foul at the end of the half to set up a FG. Honestly, I think it was the same official on all 3 calls. He had a bad night.
Also not mentioned, White only missed 3 series and one of those was their scoring drive. Pitt's D shut him down the entire game and made it look remarkably easy.
One of Pat's missed field goals was spotted at the hash mark. It was a difficult angle from such a short distance because it was spotted off-center. WVU tried to intentionally take a delay of game to move the kick back 5 yards to improve the angle. Pitt wisely declined the penalty!
My sophomore year at LSU... was at the game and knew it was all over. Went out for late night dinner at a steakhouse. All patrons were fans grabbing food after the game. The whole place watched the outcome of this game on the one bar room TV. A group of total strangers celebrated Pitts shocking victory. We knew what this meant for LSUs championship possibilities. An amazing experience I'll never forget.
les miles owes dave wannstedt a fruit basket
Those kinds breaks don’t come WVU’s way….
To think we were really 1 game away from a Missouri-West Virginia national championship hopefully they’ll both be back on the map soon
Don’t forget Kansas even came close to making the title game that year too.
instead, we got a national championship game nobody really wanted
@@johnfoster8643 Missouri and Kansas in the race for the Big XII title was a wild fever dream and I want it back
I mean 2 games... mizzou got blown out by Oklahoma at the end of the year
are you being funny? internet. can't tell.
You know, I really miss the old Big East from when I was growing up. They didn’t have the firepower like the Big 10 or SEC but the games always seemed to mean something. They were the scrappy underdogs in the land of giants.
Big East had a 4 year stretch of excellent football and talent. Rutgers and USF found ways into the top 5. UCONN made a BCS bowl. Louisville had one of the best offenses in the country. It was a fun deep conference every team was unique with different strengths and they all had quality NFL talent.
@@Blitzburgh17 the conference had an automatic BCS berth, that's why UConn made it at 8-4. I miss the old Big East, but much more for basketball. Their conference tournament had the highest level of playing, it was really a preview of how the March Madness would go down
The Big East in football was fun to follow when WVU, UMiami, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, and Virginia Tech were all in the same conference ⁉📚🏈🏟📙🟨💺
Amazing breakdown. This game and the subsequent RichRod resignation led to an important point of reflection in my life. Leading up to this season, I put so much of my mental/emotional energy into being a WVU fan. I videotaped nearly every single one of Pat White's games, starting with the Sugar Bowl, up until this game. Taking some credit for jinxing it, I pre-wrote the label as "Game to go to National Championship." I remember pulling the tape out after this loss and shattering it over my knee. Combined with RichRod's departure, I was literally angry for a solid month, ruining the holiday season for myself and those around me. I was overjoyed when we were able to win the Fiesta Bowl, but after the season, I did some serious thinking about my priorities. I was resting so much of my happiness on what 20~ year old boys did with a ball. I continue to be a loyal fan, watching every game, including the current horrific season. I enjoy the wins and talking about future opportunities/recruits, but when we lose, I try to look at things in perspective. If the worst thing that happens in a week of my life is losing a game, that's a pretty good week.
Noel Devine. Theres a name I havent heard in years. He went to my high school and was a Florida LEGEND. Then after Slayton left, he had a great college career. If I remember, in his first game, he had like two 50 yd runs. But he got to the NFL and the playbook was too much for him. Shows that you need the brains and the brawn
Loved that backfield growing up, Slayton was great and Devine was so damn fast.
S/o 239 😂 soo many couldve beens 😪
I remember playing high school football around this time and watching Noel Devine high school highlights on RUclips back then. He was absolutely incredible.
Zone read being an accidental discovery is all kinds of hilarious
Sounds like the "Veer" offense to me
Long-time Pat McAfee Show fan's know: this game almost single handedly killed Pat's career. And possibly more than that.
Not only was he devastated, from feeling as if he failed his teammates, coaches, and University. But, there were whispers about under-the-table deals being done, given that Pittsburgh was his hometown. Which, of course, were completely false.
And, to highlight just how crazy-serious some fan's take these games: there were many, many threats sent his way. Mountaineer homers threatened a college kid's family, education/career, and personal livelihood. Glossing over the fact that Pat WAS the team's scoring in that game*. Did those misses change things? Sure. But, as was pointed out in this vid: there was PLENTY of blame to go around. Patty M did not injure Patty W, nor did he call a stagnantly conservative and predictable offensive gameplan.
This was an example of a perfect storm. A study of everything that can go wrong on the football field, on a Saturday afternoon. Especially, in a rivalry game.
And though he still counts this game as one of, if not THE, darkest moment's of his life; Pat learned from this, and overcame it. And now it is just a chapter, in the amazing (nearly legendary) tale of that dude's successful life story.
*Edit: Pat was NOT WVU's only source of scoring. He had 1 point on a successful point-after attempt. Credit to @I_Love_Fat_Girls
Whom, apparently, loves Mountaineer football, too!
"i got a bunch of death threats and started driving nowhere bc i wanted to disappear. die even. then did shrooms and decided to just kick better lmao"
It's a pretty crazy thought. I mean I can see questioning why he would go to WVU of all places(I grew up near Pittsburgh when this was a real rivalry), but to think that the dude was going to give up the chance at the National Title game and intentionally mess up is just crazy. Yeah if the records were reversed and if Pitt winning would have put them in the Title game and everything else with the game happened how it did I could understand the whispers. Still wouldn't believe them, but they would make a lot more sense.
All those losers who put the blame solely on him or even made threats to him & his family, look at him who not only made to the NFL & had a successful career, but also is enjoying his post-NFL career (and makes some good money), so who is laughing now?
found mcafees burner
@@jordanmerida8451 🤣
7:17 glad to hear Darius get his props. He gets forgotten when talking about those teams but was a huge part of keeping defenses honest. Dude scored on a high percentage of his touches
u
Dude was a beast on that ncaa 2007-2008 video game
2005-2009 might be wildest time in college football history, but specifically the 2007 season so much parody the big east might’ve been the wildest of them all
I'm a Pitt student and we still love bringing this game up. Even though most of us here were young when it happened September 13th is a celebrated day
13-9 is a glorious thing. Our penchant for wild upsets is why Pitt is college football’s Death Star.
Well I hope yall felt good squeaking by against our worst team in decades. I can't wait until we fire Neal Brown and his replacement gets their first big win against yall in Morgantown next year!
I'm not currently a Pitt student, a bit old for that (class of 10) but I was a Pitt student at the time this game happened. It was glorious. I was home that weekend and I remember texting back and forth with one of my friends the whole game who had stayed on campus, there was a huge crowd on Forbes around the intersection with the union, Cathedral lawn, and Hillman library. People were climbing up poles, pretty sure someone lit a couch on fire to mock West Va's habit of doing the same thing... still have mixed feelings about having gone home and missing it.
KTO did an entire video on the 2007 season and this was the final thing he went over. The final words where “ This was the closest Wes Virginia ever got to a national championship
His climax with the Pitt player singing West Virginia on the bus made me smile.
Played ND for it in '89. Major Harris got hurt in first half and ended that
@@chrischurch4551 lost that game to possibly the best ND team ever.
Hey, as a baseball nerd who never really got football, thanks for clearly explaining all of these plays, and how the overall strategies work. All of SB's football videos are great at explaining the stakes and the scope of the game but this one made me feel closer to understanding the plays themselves. Appreciate it!
West Virginia born and raised, I was 9 when we lost that game, I remember crying for hours afterwards. This loss not only shattered our shot at going to the Championship Game, but really was the start of a decline for the football program all together. The only outliers have been the immediate domination of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and the stomping of Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Other than that West Virginia hasn't been nearly as successful as we were during this golden era of football
That is a deeply mean way to kill the game at the end, there. Feels strangely fitting for a game called the Backyard Brawl, where the name suggests "screw the rules, anything goes". Including a game-winning safety that you just let your hated rivals have, as insult to their self-injury.
Ah, the year of the upset what a fun time to be a college football fan.
I am a lifelong WVU fan and was 11 when this game was played. I have never experienced more pain in my life.
That's a charmed life you're living then. Good for you.
@@jrob4795 My childhood best friend got killed by a drunk driver a couple years ago.
Well… buck up kiddo. Life, for sure, will send worse at you.
@@RealPattyP And somehow, a football game was the most painful event in your life. That must be nice.
I’m really happy that i was like 6 and didn’t understand what was going on lol
That last play was too smart. Some NFL coaches could learn from this Pitt coach.
Us Pitt fans needed something good right about now. This helps a lot.
We salvaged the season somewhat
@@jacobluedy5534 Yeah, I honestly didn’t expect us to go 8-4. Not a big slovis fan, though.
@@sidsbackhand no me neither. Izzy and the defense carry the team
West Virginia was fun to play as in the old PS2 NCAA 06 or 07 games.
I miss the old Big East. They had some great teams back then. I'd love a similar video about UofL's loss to Rutgers that cost them a chance at being in the BCS National Championship in 2006
As a WVU fan i'm not prepared for the pain this is going to revive
hell yeah... my USF Bulls pulled off that upset on my 14th birthday. back when we were "good", too. Miss those days. lately, they have stunk more than PMS..
That year was tragic for pitt. They lost their starting qb for the year in the first game, and they had to count on a backfield of two true freshman. Their defense was top 5 in the nation that year and kept them in a lot of games. But I think mckillop said if pat white plays that entire game, they lose 99 times out of 100.
This was truly the 1 out of 100. In so many ways. All the fluke things happening and Rich Rod, having his stubborn, ego maniacal personality coming to light.
Owen Schmitt is the most fullback name ever
I remember when Noel Devine's highlights on RUclips were the most incredible high school highlights I had ever seen and him with Pat White on the NCAA Football game was a unstoppable speed option attack it was a thing of beauty
I do too...those were sick to watch!!
I cannot believe in a rewind on the worst memory of my childhood, Secret Base decided to call them the 'Neers, it makes it even more painful to watch...
It's been so long and I still haven't recovered from that loss 😭 Every season I hope it will happen but this was the shot to get a Mountaineer national championship in my lifetime
I’m from Charleston, WV …. Appreciate the rewind! This was heartbreaking, I remember it like it was yesterday.
I really appreciated how the plays and everything else were explained in a way that was easy to understand. Well done!
I was at this game and what I remember was how cold it was. Everyone in the stands was on their feet for nearly the entire game but the stadium was so quiet. It was like the fans knew from the beginning that this was yet another game when we would be so close but still not get the big win. Almost 15 years later and it still stings.
I was four years old when this happened and my only memory of this game was my grandma bawling her eyes out. Our whole family were huge WVU fans
More of these! I love them!
Marshall has TWO National Championships. We’ve got it covered West Virginia.
Thank you for this historical documentation!
Life long WVU fan. Was at this debacle of a game and bawled my eyes out the whole way home. Also Rich Rods brother had Pitt ML.
This was a good watch. Great work everyone.
Didn’t remember what happened. I was like please tell me they don’t actually punt that would be moronic. Then he ran out for a safety and I was like ok well done.
Cover zero against a run-heavy zone read offense, you say? And an offensive coordinator’s stubborn refusal to adjust led to an unexpected loss that ended a great season? As a Ravens fan, I simply cannot relate.
Kansas vs. Memphis. 2008 National Championship. Mario's Miracle deserves a Deep Rewind video.
As a LSU fan we are so thankful for Oklahoma and Pitt… 🙏🏾
You are welcome. It was fun to break all the WVU hearts too. I laughed all night.
I was a huge football fan at the time and I remember this game just breaking my brain
The program hasn’t recovered since. I was 7 years old when this happened and I remember it being the only time I cried over a football game
you should do UVA's elite 8 buzzer-beater in 2019. It was one of the craziest plays in tournament history and had so many incredible storylines behind it, from the UMBC loss, to Carsen Edwards' 42 points, to Virginia's overall tournament struggles under Tony Bennet, to the 5'8 Kihei Clark who was a former UC davis commit. Just an incredible story overall.
LSU fan here. Thanks Pitt!! As a Cowboy fan. Thanks Dave!
this is fun because i was there. i was a freshman at pitt, and they bused a couple hundred students of us out to sit in the visitor's section. the vibes were immaculate. you could hear us on the broadcast. we were relentless and it was so much damn fun
As a long time WVU fan and currently going to the school this is very hard to watch.
Graduated from WVU in '07. This was easily the most heartbreaking moment in all of my personal sports fandom. Those years were such a fun time to be at the school, but the end of this season...
At least glad to see Pat McAfee absolutely killing it in regular(ish) life.
As a WV native and WVU fan I was hoping this video was never going to be made but never the less good video as always.
2007 was the first full season of college football I watched and this West Virginia offense was what got me to love the sport; it was just that fun watching Steve Slaton and Pat White carve up teams week in and week out. I wanted nothing more for Christmas than a Pat White jersey lol. Even as a kid from South Carolina who had no connection to WVU or the state, this loss devastated me. So so sad watching it crumble, falling victim to the wildest of all seasons
I think this might be the second most devastating loss in all of football, the first being 28 to 3.
Being #1 or 2 in 2007 was cursed. One of the craziest seasons ever.
As a native of WV, this still hurts… 😞
As a Pitt fan, I am happy.
Legit just woke up. Let's go!!!
Earlier that year I gir me n buddy rickets to the Thursday Night ESPN game against Louisville. Was an amazing night. Atmosphere was insane. Loved every sec of it
This was one of my favorite games as a teen. I lived near Pitt, never liked them but always hated WVU
10:28 Sun Tzu, the ultimate CFB mastermind 😆
How dare you make a video about this. Remembering it happened every few months is bad enough, now there's a whole damn video about it? This is gonna ruin my week
The whole time I kept thinking, “Why are they building up to a punt?” Just before the snap, I remembered what happened.
One coach outperforming the other.
That 2007 season was just chaos
it was too much of a good thing. That entire season was a joke.
@@chrisuncleahmad Jesus dude, obviously someone's favorite team got their ass clapped by a no-name that season.
SB, I am expecting a rewinder on Mike leach and the air raid offense, gotta give it up to a legend 🙏
Can't believe McAfee said WV most disappointed team this year when he had the most disappointing game ever at WV a player who went on to have a great pro career. Wandstat won that 2007 game by loading box with pat white slight ankle sprain that game. We had perfect player to knock Pitt out of box with rb Owen Schmidt. We barely gave him the ball that game. That's how we lost that game an a chance at a nat champ
This was the night Pitt saved the life of countless couches
I remember this game all too well. Being a WVU fan during this era was incredible! Then the 13-9 loss to Pitt happened. Sure, we got two big BCS wins in the following years, but this marked the decline in WVU football.
All I could say after watching this video is pain
Love it. I loved it when it happened and it always brings a smile to my face when I think about it.
This broke my heart.
This WVU team was my favorite of all time. Pat White and Steve Slaton were so fun to watch
The moment I knew I wanted to go to PITT 🤣
I've never recovered from this even 15 years later.....
What we learned in 2007 was that gimmick offenses have a ceiling for success. Kansas, Missouri, South Florida, Auburn, and WVU all had the clock ticking each year toward midnight when they would turn into pumpkins again. By 2008, the clock struck 12.
Was going to go in on you but isn’t worth the energy, so I’ll simply say, you’re clueless
Kansas didn't have a gimmick offense though, they had a pretty standard playbook, although the air raid-yness of it was not quite in its full swing across the conference yet. 2007 they benefitted from a relatively easy schedule and were simply overrated, and 2008 was also a decent year for them. What went wrong for KU wasn't that their gimmick blew up (they didn't have one), it's that their coaching staff fell apart and they didn't recruit well.
The spread isn’t a gimmick most of college football runs a spread offense now lol
It still hurts. -West Virginia Fan
I am still convinced RichRod new if he won a National Championship he would be stuck at WVU forever.
The man made a business decision.
Can't say I blame him then.
Damn i loved watching WV football and basketball back in the day, shame they never were able to punch thru
2007 WAS AN INSANE COLLEGE SEASON. INSANE
I grew up in WV but as a VT fan. I was 10 when this game happened. VT was playing in the ACC championship earlier that day, and my family went to Blacksburg to watch. This was before smartphones gave us the ability to check scores whenever we wanted. We found out WVU had lost when we stopped at a gas station at the VA/WV border on our way back home and the cashier was a WVU fan. He saw our VT gear, and, in the midst of a freakout, freaked out even more and proceeded to almost fight my dad.
This is typical of mountaineer fans. VT, bc, and Miami had stipulations for the ACC not to invite WVU in the future because of the problems with their home crowd.
This is and will forever be the worst day of my life. We have nothing in this state. Thanks for reminding me of the time we almost had something.
Damn I remember watching Noel Devine high-school highlights on this new thing called youtube...dude was a beast
Ideas for Rewinder:
Philly Special Play from Super Bowl LII
Francis Ngannou's KO of Alistair Overeem from UFC 218
Justin Tucker's game-winning field goal vs Lions
Clicking on this video to say that there’s no way I’m emotionally healthy enough to watch this but I appreciate your content. It’s basketball season. #HailWV
Everytime this story comes up , I hope there’s a different ending…
But nope, only heartbreak…
Was at this game I can't even watch the video still hurts me to this day
Big East football history is so wacky and deep. Nice video.
I’ll never forget this as a buckeyes a fan. I remember when they beat Michigan and brought out a bunch of Roses indicating they were going to the Rose Bowl. Then boom Missouri and WVU lost and the buckeyes moved in to the National Championship.
I already know which media darling is gonna take it on the shins in the next 12 minutes. Poor Pat
That Sun Tzu quote never quite clicked with me until this video. 😅
I definitely remember this game. I was rooting for WV. All they needed was ONE home win against an unranked opponent. But then again, there were a number of top teams that year who choked to teams they should have beaten by at least 2 scores. Top ranked USC (in a game that still bothers me when I think about it), LSU and WV all lost at home to unranked teams. LSU lost to Ark. and still wound up in the SEC and BCS title game. Just a crazy and weird College FB season.
Haha as a complete outsider to the USA and College Football I was not expecting that ending :D
Next the 2013 South Carolina vs Michigan game for a moment in history!