PITTSBURGH — Pitt is relatively healthy entering the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia, but there are a few players who appear to be inactive.
Keye Thompson left the come-from-behind win against Cincinnati early, and he was wearing street clothes during the team warmups.
Brandon George could be in for additional snaps at Mike linebacker, but Braylan Lovelace is a candidate to slide from Money to Mike considering his versatility. Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles are in line for a heavy workload at Star and Money, respectively. Biles is receiving his first start at Money.
Sean FitzSimmons and Anthony Johnson didn’t make the trip to Cincinnati last week, and neither will play against West Virginia. It gives additional opportunities to players like Elliot Donald and the true freshman duo of Francis Brewu and Jahsear Whittington. Ty Yuhas, a true freshman defensive line, was also not dressed for warmups.
Ryan Jacoby, who missed the Cincinnati game due to injury, is back in the starting lineup against WVU. Jason Collier Jr. will be one of the first linemen off the bench.
Juelz Goff remains sidelined as he rehabs from a hand injury.
Not that YSU will be an easy test but it’s not a conference game. Will be curious what the carnage from today will be.