It is officially Backyard Brawl week, and with that comes a look back at the historic series over the years.
The Backyard Brawl rivalry is on that dates back to 1895, with a total of 105 games being played in that time. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series 62-40-3 against West Virginia, but it’s the Mountaineers that have the advantage in the last 10 meetings, winning six of those games.
With the rivalry between West Virginia and Pitt being so meaningful to both sides, there have been games that have brought out the highs and lows of each team.
West Virginia’s highs against Pitt:
1975:
The 1975 contest between WVU and Pittsburgh saw a sold-out old Mountaineer Field of 36,000 people. Pittsburgh came to Morgantown with a 6-2 record, ranked 20th in the country behind star tailback Tony Dorsett.
West Virginia was led by legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, who oversaw a stingy defense that didn’t allow the Panthers on the scoreboard in the first half. Unfortunately for Bowden, his Mountaineer offense could not materialize any points either, so the game went into halftime tied at 0-0.
West Virginia got on the board first, when Ron Lee found the end zone from just a yard out, giving the Mountaineers a 7-0 advantage late in the third quarter. However, early in the fourth quarter, Pitt evened things up with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Gordon Jones.
On the ensuing WVU possession, the Mountaineers regained the lead when Artie Owens ran for a touchdown from 23-yards out. With their backs against the wall, the Panthers got a much-needed score from their star running back Dorsett, who caught a nine-yard touchdown pass with 7:55 remaining to tie the score at 14-14.
Late in the fourth, West Virginia moved the ball into Pitt territory with a chance to win, but a fumble gave Pitt the ball back. Bowden’s defense came up big again after the fumble, forcing a Pitt punt that gave the Mountaineers possession near midfield in the final minutes.
With ten seconds remaining, quarterback Dan Kendra completed a pass to Randy Swinson to put the Mountaineers on the Panther 22-yard line and was pushed out of bounds with four seconds remaining.
The completion brought out West Virginia native Bill McKenzie to try to win the game for West Virginia, and that he did, as the young kicker would put the ball through the uprights from 38-yards out to win the game 17-14.
2009:
After losing to the Panthers in heartbreaking fashion each of the past two seasons, the Mountaineers came into the Backyard Brawl with a chip on their shoulder, especially given the fact Pitt was ranked No. 9 in the country.
This was WVU’s first season since 2005 without the likes of legendary quarterback Patrick White at the helm, and the Mountaineers were sitting at 7-3 going into the rivalry game.
The Mountaineer faithful would not witness an offensive shootout this night, as both teams struggled to find the end zone. Going into halftime, the score was 3-3, but West Virginia would break through late in the third quarter. Leading 6-3, WVU quarterback Jarrett Brown gave the ball to star running back Noel Devine on his own 12-yard line. The speedy Alabama native took the carry 88-yards for the West Virginia touchdown, extending the lead to 13-3.
The Mountaineers would extend the lead to 16-6 early in the fourth quarter with a Tyler Bitancourt field goal, but the Panthers would not go away. With 7:37 remaining, Pitt cut the lead to 16-9 with a field goal, and a 50-yard touchdown reception from Jonathan Baldwin tied the game up with under three minutes to go.
On the ensuing West Virginia possession, head coach Bill Stewart would make the decision to go for it on fourth down and one yard to go from just past midfield. On fourth down, fullback Ryan Clarke used a second effort spin to barely get the first down.
After a couple more runs, Stewart let the clock run down to three seconds to set Bitancourt up for a 43-yard field goal. With the game on the line and Bitancourt right at his range, the freshman kicker came up clutch, putting the ball just inside the left upright, giving West Virginia the 19-16 victory.
Pitt’s highs against West Virginia:
2007:
It’s the game all West Virginia fans dread to hear the mention of, but a game like this is what makes a rivalry special.
As many know, the 2007 West Virginia football team was special behind a third year Pat White and Steve Slaton duo, combined with senior fullback Owen Schmitt leading the offense. West Virginia came into the game 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in the country, and with a funky college football season, the Mountaineers would clinch a berth to the BCS National Championship game despite the one loss with a win over Pitt.
Pitt, on the other hand, was having a tough season, coming into the game with a 4-7 record and a 2-4 record in Big East play.
West Virginia had a nightmare of a night offensively, as star quarterback Pat White went down with an injury with five minutes left in the first half. Reliable kicker Pat McAfee missed two field goals under 35-yards and the offense just couldn’t materialize much the entire night.
Right before halftime, backup quarterback Jarrett Brown found the end zone to give the Mountaineers a 7-0 lead, but the Panthers answered back with a 48-yard field goal to halt any WVU momentum going into the break.
On the kickoff to start the second half, WVU returner Vaughn Rivers made it near midfield before getting caught from behind and fumbling the football. The WVU turnover took life out of Milan Puskar Stadium.
Pitt took the lead midway through the third quarter with a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line, giving them a 10-7 lead.
Neither team could score for the rest of the quarter, but Pitt took whatever life was in the WVU crowd away when a sack on Jarrett Brown caused another fumble with just under 10 minutes left to play.
West Virginia’s defense made a big stop at the one-yard line, so Pitt settled for a field goal to extend the lead to 13-7 with 6:17 left to play.
On their last leg, WVU put Pat White back in the game, but Pitt’s defense came up with huge stops on third and fourth down and short inside their own 30-yard line.
WVU got the ball back, but Pitt’s defense again stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs. Pitt ran out the remainder of the clock and ran out of the end zone for a safety to end the game and end WVU’s National Championship hopes.
2022
Last season, we saw the Backyard Brawl resume itself with a sellout game at Acrisure Stadium.
This game was a bit more of an offensive battle, as quarterbacks J.T. Daniels of WVU and Kedon Slovis of Pitt both had solid games.
The first half wasn’t filled with fireworks, but West Virginia did find the end zone early in the second quarter when Daniels found his main target, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, for a 10-yard touchdown to go up 7-3. Pitt regained the lead when Rodney Hammond scored on a run from four yards out, but WVU evened the score when Casey Legg connected on a 24-yard field goal as the first half ended.
Early in the third quarter, WVU saw freshman CJ Donaldson make a big impact, blocking a punt on special teams, then immediately running in a five-yard touchdown on the following play to give the Mountaineers a 17-10 lead.
Pitt scored touchdowns on two straight short touchdowns on back-to-back possessions to go ahead 24-17 going into the fourth quarter.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was all West Virginia, as Daniels found Ford-Wheaton again in single coverage, and the senior came down with his second touchdown of the day to tie the game at 24-24.
WVU took a 31-24 lead on the next possession when Daniels snuck into the end zone from one yard out with 10:37 left to play.
After getting a stop on defense, WVU had a chance to extend the lead late in the game but elected to punt on a fourth down and one on Pittsburgh’s 47-yard line.
Pitt tied the game at 31-31 with 3:41 left in the game when Israel Abanikanda found the end after a multitude of missed tackles.
With the game tied, WVU had the chance to move the ball, bleed the clock, and take a late lead against the Panthers, but those plans did not come to fruition. As the Mountaineers approached the midfield, Daniels found a wide-open Ford-Wheaton, but the ball went off his hands and right into the lap of Pitt’s M.J. Devonshire, who took the interception back 56-yards for the game-winning touchdown with just under three minutes left.
WVU made a late push with a pair of Pitt 15-yard penalties, but the miracle efforts came up short when a fourth down shot near the goal line was called incomplete after review, giving Pitt the late stop. Pitt went on to win by a final score of 38-31.
While quarterbacks Daniels and Slovis are both still in college football, both have moved on from WVU and Pitt, so the offensive looks will be much different than last September.
The Backyard Brawl has provided lots of joy and heartbreak for Mountaineer fans, but this year is a new year. It’s a new week, and when the lights come on at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, 2007 won’t matter. 2022 won’t matter. All eyes will be on the 2023 Mountaineers preparing for battle against their hated rival, the Pittsburgh Panthers.
