MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The 102nd edition of the Backyard Brawl took place tonight before a crowd of 56,173 at Milan Puskar Stadium and like many of the games between Pitt and West Virginia over the years, this one will be remebered as a classic.

Well, perhaps not a classic as there was a lot of sloppy play on both sides of the ball but it was indeed a close game which featured a number of swings in momentum and enough big plays to keep fans interested before it came down to the final drive.

And on this night, it was West Virginia kicker Tyler Bitancurt who was the hero of the day as he kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give the Mountaineers a 19-16 victory.

It was an impressive win in that the Mountaineers gave up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but composed themselves in time to make the final drive to win the game.

Pitt had trailed for much of the second half and looked dead several times but somehow found enough to mount a comeback a and tie the game at 16-16 on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Bill Stull to Jonathan Baldwin with 2:54 to play.

But the Mountaineers took over at their 32 on the ensuing drive and marched to the Panthers 26 and won the game on Bitancurt's kick.

Pitt actually had a chance to stop West Virginia's final drive as the Mountaineers faced a third-and-10 at the Panthers 45 but Jarrett Brown ran nine yards to the 36 and then Ryan Clarke ran for one yard to get the first down and extend the drive.

The Mountaineers deserved to win the game as they outplayed the Panthers and earlier in the game they capitalized on two Bill Stull interceptions - the only two turnovers in the game -- and turned them into six points.

It is a huge win for West Virginia (8-3, 4-2 in the Big East) because it puts them in position to earn a Gator Bowl berth if they can win next Saturday at Rutgers. The Mountaineers are an attractive team to any bowl because they travel so well and at 9-3 and presumably ranked they'd be a more attractive option than either Pitt at 9-3 or even Cincinnati at 11-1.

West Virginia also snapped a two-game losing streak to the Panthers and kept alive its streak of not losing three games in a row in the series since 1980, 81 and 82.

The loss does little to change Pitt's situation as the Panthers (9-2, 5-1) can still win the Big East with a victory next Saturday at Heinz Field against Cincinnati. It does like mean the Panthers will be a tougher sell to the Gator Bowl should they lose to the Bearcats.

One thing that is certain is this -- Pitt will have to play much better than it did in this game if it wants to have any prayer of beating Cincinnati.

The Panthers never seemed comfortable in the game -- and some of that was due to West Virginia's defense -- missed two field goals, turned the ball over twice and though tailback Dion Lewis had another 100-yard game couldn't consistently move the ball or sustain drives.

And while the second half provided some fireworks and excitement, the first half was more like a dud as neither team could get out of its own way on offense and ended with the two teams tied at 3-3 .

The Panthers had a total of only 27 plays of offense in the first half because they couldn't get the running game going and Stull struggled to make throws with accuracy.

Pitt started off fast, though, as it mixed in the pass and the run and kept the Mountaineers defense off balance on its first possession.

Lewis had 30 yards rushing on the drive but he was stuffed on third-and-2 from the Mountaineers 26 and Dan Hutchins missed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide right.

West Virginia's first promising drive of the game started with 5:31 left in the first quarter -- but like the Panthers, the Mountaineers came up empty when Jarrett Brown was stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

After a Pitt punt, West Virginia again went on the march and drove to the Panthers 28 only to come up empty again when Brown was stopped for a 1-yard run on fourth-and-9.

Hutchins finally got the Panthers on the board with a 37-yard field goal with 3:21 to play and Pitt stopped the Mountaineers on the ensuing drive in order to get the ball with a chance to add to its lead right before the half.

But Stull was intercepted by Keith Tandy at the Panthers 46 and returned it for six yards to set up the Mountaineers with a first-and-10 at the 40. Ten plays later Bitancurt kicked a 37-yard field goal to tie the game going into half-time.

The redzone woes continued into the third quarter as both teams had good drives stall deep and Hutchins and Bitancurt traded field goals to leave the game tied at 6-6 with 4:52 to play in the third quarter.

But Noel Devine finally broke through when he ran 88 yards for a touchdown off the left side of the Mountaineers line.

Pitt safety Dom DeCicco had a chance to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage but missed it and Devine sprinted to the endzone and was never in danger of getting caught.

The Panthers attempted to answer but a chop block on Jason Pinkston left Pitt with a fourth-and-14 at the Mountaineers 36 and Hutchins missed a 53-yard field goal attempt and the fourth quarter ended with West Virginia leading 13-6.

The two teams then traded field goals before Baldwin tied the game with his big play.

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