2007 Pittsburgh Vs. West Virginia Football Game - Aftermath

Aftermath

The outcome of the game was met with stunned silence from Mountaineer fans while a small number of Pittsburgh fans were cheering in similar shock. At Pitt's campus in Pittsburgh, large numbers of students began forming in different locations of the Oakland neighborhood. In addition to the crowds a sofa chair was burned in front of the university's Cathedral of Learning, mocking the WVU couch burning tradition.

Several football recruits that were visiting West Virginia for the game ended up on the cheering with the Panthers on their side line by the end of the game. Several of them later decided to play for Pitt over West Virginia. 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. However, Wannstedt was later fired following the 2010 regular season. The trickle-down affect 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. Most prominently affected was LSU, who slid into WVU's slot and ended up winning the BCS Championship.

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. Two weeks after the loss, Michigan hired Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez as Carr's successor. Had West Virginia beaten Pitt, Rodriguez likely would not have left West Virginia and passed up the chance to play for a BCS National Championship, and Michigan would have been forced to look elsewhere for its coach. Michigan fired Rodriguez after the 2010 season.

The game was named as the "Game of the Year" by ESPNU and other publications. It was also the first time the Pittsburgh Panthers defeated a no. 2 ranked opponent since their 24-20 win over Georgia in the 1982 Sugar Bowl.