MORGANTOWN — This week is unlike all the others, no matter how many coaches and players try to make it business as usual.
In terms of things like conference standings and national rankings, WVU (1-1) at Pitt (2-0) on Saturday (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.) is just another nonconference game. In the eyes of fans, however, there is no more important game on the calendar than the 107th Backyard Brawl.
“It’s a huge game, obviously one that our fans always circle,” WVU coach Neal Brown said on Monday. “The Backyard Brawl is one of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”
“There’s not many more important rivalry games in the country,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi echoed. “If you don’t know anything about rivalries, this is the one people in Pittsburgh live for, this is the one people down south live for.”
The 10-year hiatus of the rivalry from 2011-22 did little to temper fans’ excitement. If anything, the break fueled even more passion for the game’s return.
“It’s probably a little different than it was 20 years ago, but there’s a lot of familiarity,” Brown said. “I respect the rivalry, we have a tremendous amount of respect for the rivalry in this program.”
Since its return, the Brawl has produced two classics.
In 2022, the crowd broke the Pittsburgh city attendance record as 70,622 fans in Acrisure Stadium were treated to a back-and-forth affair that saw seven lead changes and a game-winning pick-six by the Panthers in the final minutes.
“It’s our first time back in Acrisure Stadium since the disappointment in ‘22,” Brown said of Saturday’s game. “That’s still very fresh in our minds — on mine, I can’t speak for our players but on mine it is.”
MJ Devonshire’s 56-yard pick-six with less than three minutes last powered the Panthers to a 38-31 victory.
“Going back up there after what happened in ‘22, I think the whole lockerroom is looking forward to that,” WVU quarterback Garrett Greene said. This will be Greene’s first real Brawl experience after not playing in 2022 and leaving early in the game last year with an injury.
“I’ve just got to have a great week of prep and go from there,” Greene said.
The 2023 meeting in Morgantown last year was a rock fight with backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol doing just enough to lift the Mountaineers to a 17-6 victory. The WVU defense intercepted Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovich three times in the win.
“I think 73 players in this room were on that trip last year,” Narduzzi said of his team. “We took everybody that we could take. We’ve probably got another 46 or 50 guys that were here in 2022 when we played them at home. We’re going to educate them on the rivalry and what it is.”
As much as both coaches want their players to treat this as any other week and Saturday as any other game, there’s a feeling in the air that can’t be denied.
“After playing last year here at home, you realize what you’re getting into and what we’re getting into when we go up to Pitt this week,” WVU kicker Michael Hayes said. “The energy is different, you can sense a different energy.”
“You can kind of feel it,” sophomore receiver Traylon Ray added. “You feel it throughout the week and then once you step on the field, you feel it.”
The Mountaineers have won three of the last four Backyard Brawls dating back to 2009, and are currently 2.5-point road favorites going into Saturday according to ESPN.
“You can throw every record out,” Narduzzi said. “They could be 0-2, we could be 0-2, it doesn’t matter. This will be a knock-down, drag-out battle at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday.”
