WVU football was able to take care of business against archrival Pitt in the 108th edition of The Backyard Brawl on Saturday, pulling off a 31-24 win in overtime against the Panthers.
Earlier in the week, before the game, Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein said he expected to get "batteries and beer bottles" thrown at him from rowdy fans at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown. While the crowd was pretty amped up for the game, no projectiles ended up tossed at Holstein by any WVU fans – but Holstein did end up taking a bit of a nasty blow during the game, and he let everyone know about it after the game.
Holstein showed up to Pitt's post-game press conference with his nose wrapped in tape and gauze, and looking the worse for wear. When asked about a moment in the second quarter when he left the game for a single play and then returned after going down with an apparent injury, he attributed that play to his damaged nose and gave a description of what happened that might turn a few heads.
"I got punched in the face, my nose got split open and everything like that so I had to come out," said Holstein.
Eli Holstein showed up to his post-game press conference with tape and gauze in and around his nose.
— Shelby Cassesse (@ShelbyCassesse) September 14, 2025
He said he was punched, which split his nose. That was during the sequence in the 2nd quarter in the red zone when he left briefly. pic.twitter.com/W2vEvnuypX
It wasn't elaborated on by Holstein exactly who the punch may have come from or whether it was incidental or intentional, but one thing that was clear from watching the game was that WVU's defense gave Holstein a beating all game long and had him pretty out of sorts.
One thing that was learned about the Mountaineers from The Backyard Brawl is that the defense is likely for real, and that was particularly apparent along the front seven as Holstein was sacked six times during the game and finished with -27 rushing yards.
It definitely seemed to get to him, as the redshirt sophomore was struggling near the end of the game as the Mountaineers erased a ten-point deficit to force overtime – on the final plays of the game after WVU scored the eventual game-winning touchdown, Holstein took a massive sack on third down and then overshot his wideout on fourth down, essentially throwing the ball away onto the home sideline to take the loss. It seems as if Zac Alley's defense might have been a bit too 'hard edge' for Holstein.
A moment to be remembered … pic.twitter.com/R8BvuknlAH
— Jed Drenning (@TheSignalCaller) September 14, 2025