We don’t just love this rivalry because it’s ours—this comeback match-up truly is legendary.
“The Backyard Brawl embodies the essence of college sports. A rivalry that withstood the test of time,” says WVU Broadcaster Tony Caridi. “It’s called a ‘brawl’ for a reason.”
As we continue to anticipate the 2022 return of the Backyard Brawl, let’s take a deeper look into why the WVU v. Pitt rivalry is so unique in college football.
- Longevity The first Backyard Brawl was in 1895—yes, 1895! These teams played 104 times between 1895 and 2011. And in fact, the 1921 edition was the first football game ever broadcast on radio. That is a lot of history.
- Familiarity The players and coaches know each other. With the campuses only 75 miles apart, a lot of the players were recruited by both universities. Many of the players played at the same high school or against each other at rival high schools.
- Winners WVU and Pitt have historically been winning programs and part of the national championship picture for years. Pitt comes off an ACC Championship season into the 2022 version of the Backyard Brawl. Why else would ESPN College GameDay be coming to Pittsburgh to broadcast prior to the game?
- The QBs A unique twist for the 2022 version of the Backyard Brawl is two opposing quarterbacks who are former teammates. Pitt transfer QB Kedon Slovis and WVU transfer QB J.T. Daniels were previously teammates at the University of Southern California. Both quarterbacks transferred and now find themselves facing each other in the 105th edition of this rivalry.
- The Fans Let’s face it—we hate Pitt. Maybe even loathe. One of the basic maxims of being a Mountaineer is to hate Pitt. The mutual dislike for one another knows no bounds.
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