After the loss, the WVU coaching staff received criticism from fans and the media over the team's offensive struggles in two consecutive Big East conference games against Syracuse and the Huskies.

In the 103rd edition of the Backyard Brawl, the Mountaineers remained in contention for the Big East's BCS Bowl bid by winning 35–10 at Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh controlled its own destiny, and needed to win its last two games to claim the Big East title and BCS bowl berth outright, but the West Virginia defense forced 4 turnovers off of 6 Panther fumbles and an interception to defeat Pitt for the second year in a row.

The momentum heavily favored the Mountaineers after Geno Smith threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Tavon Austin to make the score 21–7 in the third quarter.

Following the win, the Mountaineers appeared in the top 25 rankings, listed 24 in the BCS and 23 in the AP, for the first time since their home loss to Syracuse over a month earlier.

The Huskies defeated South Florida later that evening, and despite winning a share of the Big East title, the Mountaineers lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with Connecticut, who received the conference's BCS bowl bid.