Shawne Alston’s second touchdown run was the go-ahead score as West Virginia rallied from a 13-point deficit to record a 21-20 victory over visiting Pittsburgh in the “Backyard Brawl” on Friday.

Alston’s 1-yard run with 6:10 remaining put the No. 23 Mountaineers (8-3, 4-2 Big East) ahead for the first time and kept West Virginia a half-game behind Louisville in the Big East title chase. Pittsburgh (5-6, 3-3) was eliminated with the loss.

West Virginia sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri 10 times with defensive tackle Julian Miller being credited with four sacks.

The Mountaineers trailed 20-7 in the third quarter before Alston scored on an 8-yard run to pull West Virginia within six points with 8:59 left in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh led 17-7 at halftime after holding West Virginia to minus-2 rushing yards in the opening 30 minutes.

Zach Brown scored on a 1-yard run and Isaac Bennett rushed for a 6-yard touchdown as the Panthers took a 14-0 lead.

West Virginia got on the board midway through the second quarter on Geno Smith’s 63-yard pass to Stedman Bailey.

Pittsburgh’s Kevin Harper booted a 30-yard field goal in the second goal and added a 27-yarder early in the third quarter to make it 20-7.

Smith passed for 244 yards to raise his season total to 3,741 yards, surpassing the school record set by Marc Bulger (3,607 in 1998).