West Virginia University defeated Western University of Pennsylvania by a score of 8-0 on October 26, 1895 in a game held in Morgantown, marking the first time the two schools met on a football field. From the steel producing city on the river, to the coal-filled hills, a mere 75 miles separate the two schools, and the proximity built a natural connection, and also the perfect contrast.
Since that 1895 meeting, the Mountaineers, and the school that eventually was rebranded as University of Pittsburgh, have been bound together, shaping one of the most heated, historic, and passionate rivalries in all of American sports.
On the eve of the 107th Backyard Brawl, the hatred of the opponent on each side is as strong as it has even been. But beyond the sh*t eating, and the gentle reminders of a memorable score from 2007, there is an understanding on each side.
Pitt needs West Virginia, and the feeling is mutual. You may not choose respect the opponent, but damn if either side does not respect the rivalry itself.
“This is one that is extremely important to the fans and our players understand that,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said in his press conference on Monday. “This is a game that’s of super high-importance to our fan base. For us in here, we respect the rivalry and it’s what makes college football great.”
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi might not agree with much Brown has to say at Acrisure Stadium tomorrow afternoon. But in the much more relaxed setting of a press briefing, Narduzzi’s words matched Brown’s sentiment about the meaning of the Brawl.
“I believe that the game should be played all the time,” said the Pitt head coach. “This is why you coach football. This is why you play the game.”
Despite being each other’s most commonly played opponent, there have been gaps in the Backyard Brawl, and that is simply not right. College athletics lost its soul a long time ago, but it has been downright dragged through the mud the past three years.
The sport that everyone fell in love with is hardly recognizable these days. With the advent of the transfer portal, NIL, revenue sharing, and conference realignment, it’s far too much for the casual fan to consume, let alone care about anymore.
From 2012 up through 2021, the Brawl was on hiatus.
Pitt made the move to the ACC, while West Virginia landed in the Big 12, and of course, the Big East Conference dissolved in the process. There was a distance created between the two programs during that Brawl-less decade, but it felt almost too natural when it resumed in 2022.
Pitt won a classic that day, thanks to a huge pick-six by MJ Devonshire in the fourth quarter. That contest was played in front of 70,622, a record crowd for Acrisure Stadium. ESPN’s College Gameday was in the house for that one before a primetime audience. Last year’s 17-6 West Virginia win was highlighted by a national television spotlight as well.
Even if the game is not kicking off under the lights tomorrow, another sold-out crowd was announced by Pitt earlier this week. The meetings over the past two years reassured everyone involved that this game still has plenty of meaning, and it always will.
“The crowd will be into it,” said Brown. “It will be a great atmosphere the last time we were there, great atmosphere here last year.”
The two teams will play out the final meeting of the current series next year in Morgantown, before another break from 2026-2028. It’s a short gap, and the two sides have already agreed to pick things back up in 2029, with the hope from both coaches that it will be a permanent fixture on the schedule moving forward.
“I don’t want to speak for them, but I know it makes sense for us to play the game,” said Brown. “Close proximity, it’s a great TV audience, the fans on both sides are excited about it.”
Narduzzi reiterated it does not matter when the game takes place on the schedule, but the veteran head coach hinted that it might return to its roots in the future, with the two sides working on getting the game back to Thanksgiving weekend, its usual spot on the schedule from 1998 through 2011.
“We'd like it to be back like it used to be back in the old days,” Narduzzi said. “A lot of times, I remember as a little kid up in Youngstown watching it on Thanksgiving. That's kind of like…it's a thing. To me, we need to get it back to where it used to be.”
If Brown himself made the calls, he’d work the Pitt game back on his team’s schedule as soon as possible, to ensure the series does not even take a break for the upcoming three-year gap. West Virginia hosts a home and home with Alabama during that stretch, something Brown wants ‘fixed’ about his schedule, while Pitt has a two-game agreement with Wisconsin, one of which is set to be played in Ireland, hardly in the backyard.
“I think it’s a series that needs to be played,” Brown stated. “It’s important. I think Pitt wants to play it, we want to play it. College football is so up in the air, nobody knows what it’s going to look like.”
And that is just it.
Nobody knows what the future holds, or what happens next in college football. If the last five years have taught us anything about the future of the NCAA, almost anything is on the table.
It’s a sobering reality and makes for an uneasy future ahead, especially for two programs like Pitt and West Virginia who aren’t in one the perceived ‘Big 2’ conferences. The Brawl is, at the very least, a security blanket from the great unknown.
It’s reassuring, comforting almost, there is a team each side can hate immensely year round, but especially for three hours every fall when the two teams get to decide it on the field.
As both schools enter the great unknown of what is next, the bitter rivals will stand together, hate each other, and at least keep one tradition burning in an era where those are becoming less common.
