Trailing by one possession late in the fourth quarter, West Virginia twice had the ball in Pitt territory.
The final Pitt possession saw the underdogs run the ball out of the back of the end zone for an intentional safety as time expired.
At Pitt's campus in Pittsburgh, large numbers of students began forming in different locations of the Oakland neighborhood.
[3][4] The game was briefly seen as a turning point in Coach Dave Wannstedt's early tenure at Pitt, during which he had struggled and seemingly stagnated.
The trickle-down effect of West Virginia being knocked out of the BCS Championship has been speculated to have had a major impact on the bowl placement of many teams and the filling of various head-coaching positions.
[4] The game turned out to have a profound impact on the future of Michigan, which was in the midst of a search to replace retiring coach Lloyd Carr.
[citation needed] West Virginia's season ended on a positive note, however, as it was elected to play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners.