On third and 9 with two minutes left, West Virginia quarterback Nicco Marchiol dropped back and found tight end Grayson Barnes over the middle of the field for 34 yards, putting the Mountaineers into Pitt territory.

A couple of plays later, with 11 seconds left, Marchiol hit Barnes again for the game-tying score. WVU went on to win the Backyard Brawl 31-24 in overtime.

The tight ends had a lot of pressure put on them during the preseason. Rich Rodriguez said other than the quarterback, the tight ends had the hardest position in his offense. It makes sense, in a tempo offense, you can’t sub because it allows the defense to sub, so the tight end will have to block effectively for the run and be able to catch, without a break.

In the first two weeks, the tight ends looked shaky. Barnes, wh

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