Last year was Neal Brown’s first welcome to the Backyard Brawl. It didn’t take him long to learn what it was all about.
Brown was walking in the stadium with his son Dax, and was going to record a video for his high school coach who was being inducted into the Hall of Fame the next day.
“I’m out there shooting a video and I had no idea the students were already there. Here I come out of the tunnel with Dax and he learned some new words. He wanted to know why they were giving us the number one signal with the middle finger. From that point on I got a good understanding for what it’s about.”
Brown and the Mountaineers were on the verge of possibly beating Pitt a season ago. West Virginia had the ball in a tie game, late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback JT Daniels’ pass went off of Bryce Ford-Wheaton’s hands and into the hands of Pitt’s MJ Devonshire for a pick-six.
“Really unique atmosphere,” Brown said of the game last year. “We had a lot of people in the stadium up there, you could feel it.”
What stands out to Brown about the Backyard Brawl is the history, but the ramifications many games in the past have had.
“Last year, really digging deep into that and learning about the history of the rivalry and some of the classic games, there’s very few college football rivalries that have the same memorable moments,” Brown said. “Especially when West Virginia and Pitt were in the same conference, some of those games really hinged with some opportunities to play in some elite bowl games, national championships, etcetera. I would say this is the biggest rivalry from a football standpoint that I’ve been apart of.”
Brown understands the significance of having to win this game both from a football perspective, but from a fanbase passion perspective.
“This is the biggest rivalry that we have in our program here,” Brown said. “We understand both in this building and from a fanbase standpoint.”
With this being the biggest rivalry West Virginia football has, Brown also recognizes the ties between the state of West Virginia and this rivalry and how his players who grew up here see the rivalry.
“If you can have at minimum about a quarter of your roster as West Virginia kids, then I think that’s a really good makeup,” Brown said.
“That’s really important because those guys, I don’t have to go in and tell Doug Nester about the Backyard Brawl. I’m not telling Zach Frazier about the Backyard Brawl, I’m not telling Hudson Clement. If they’re from different places, they know about the rivalry but there’s some education that’s involved there.”
The added connection between there not being any professional teams in the state of West Virginia is another way Brown thinks this rivalry connects to his players.
“This is a unique situation because you’re truly the state’s team and you’re playing for the state. There’s this real close identity between the state of West Virginia, and the University and the football program,” Brown said. “Those guys get it that are from here and they’re able to communicate that better than I can because they’ve lived it growing up.”
Brown knows the stage is bright for this game and he acknowledges the significance of this rivalry and wanting to deliver a win on his home field.
“This is heated. We understand that and our players look forward to getting back into that,” Brown said. “I hope it’s electric. I know this is one that’s been circled for a long time, it’s been sold out for a long time. A lot of people coming into town for this and so it’s a great opportunity.”
Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images
