Spice Back in the Brawl
November 22, 2002 06:21 PM | General
November 22, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Now that the Black Diamond Trophy is safely back in the Puskar Center trophy case after a five-year hiatus, West Virginia can now turn its attention to the Backyard Brawl next Saturday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
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| Running back Avon Cobourne gets a hug following West Virginia's 21-18 upset at Virginia Tech Wednesday night. |
In recent years, the West Virginia-Pitt game has lost some of its spice. Since a sellout at Pitt Stadium in 1996, the Backyard Brawl has failed to draw at least 50,000 spectators in each of the last five games. The top draw was a 1997 contest in Morgantown when 48,044 saw Pitt pull out a 41-38, triple-overtime thriller.
The average attendance of the last five games is just 44,386.
The late Jack Fleming, West Virginia’s most well-known Pitt hater, would have read that statistic with great consternation.
Part of the reason for the lack of interest can be attributed to the fact that the game has been moved to late November during Thanksgiving when the weather isn’t as warm.
Also, when Pitt has had good seasons West Virginia hasn’t, and vice versa.
Sam Sciullo, Jr., editor of the Panther Sports Journal and noted University of Pittsburgh historian, believes for years Penn State also got in the way of the Backyard Brawl.
“People nationally used to think of Pitt-Penn State as a big rival because for a while both programs were in the Top 10, particularly from 1977-82,” he said. “Growing up, I always thought Pitt-West Virginia was a truer rival in the sense of the definition because you went into the game thinking either team had a legitimate chance to win, where as in the late 1960s and early 1970s Penn State was always so much better than Pitt.
“Because there is so much bitterness on the part of the Pitt people for Penn State -- and there really is an inferiority complex on the part of a lot of Pitt people -- they sort of forgot West Virginia I think,” he added. “The one game Pitt fans always wanted to win was Penn State, but the one game they didn’t want to lose was West Virginia.”
Since Penn State left for the Big Ten and West Virginia and Pitt now play each other in the same conference, the game has taken on new meaning.
Having two good teams makes the game more attractive, too. “You look at the standings and you see both schools near the top of the standings and the game takes on added importance,” said Sciullo.
Following West Virginia’s 21-18 victory over No. 13-ranked Virginia Tech, the Mountaineers (8-3) are looking to crack the Top 25 for the first time since 1998.
Pitt, also with an impressive 8-3 record after last night’s narrow 28-21 loss at No. 1-ranked Miami, is ranked 19th this week and shouldn’t slip far in the rankings if at all. The Panthers’ three losses this year have come against Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Miami.
West Virginia’s three losses have come against Wisconsin, Maryland and Miami.
If both teams should wind up in the Top 25 next Monday, it would mark the first time since 1989 that both will have played each other while ranked. It would also mark just the fifth time in the 95-game history of the series it will have happened.
Prior to 1989, when No. 9-ranked West Virginia and No. 10 Pitt played to a 31-31 tie, No. 11 West Virginia faced No. 16 Pitt in Pittsburgh in 1988, No. 2 Pitt hosted No. 14 West Virginia in 1982, and No. 6 West Virginia traveled to No. 17 Pitt in 1955.
It also isn’t a coincidence that three of the largest crowds to ever watch the Backyard Brawl came during those games – the largest being 68,938 that packed Mountaineer Field in 1989.
This year’s game could rival the 1982 and 1989 West Virginia-Pitt classics as far as national interest. ABC picked up its option to televise the game at 1 p.m.
“Both teams are good, both teams are improving and I think the West Virginia win against Virginia Tech sort of put it on the map and I think the same thing goes for Pitt last night at Miami,” said Sciullo.
In 1982, West Virginia came into the Pitt game having defeated both nationally ranked Oklahoma and Maryland, while Pitt’s first three victims that year included North Carolina, Florida State and Illinois.
Mountaineer consensus All-America linebacker Darryl Talley led West Virginia to a slim 13-0 lead to start the fourth quarter before Panther quarterback Dan Marino led Pitt to 16 unanswered points for a 16-13 come-from-behind win.
The 1989 game was the only time both teams were ranked in the Top 10. After the two teams tied, West Virginia went on to an 8-3-1 record and a meeting with Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Pitt was also 8-3-1 and defeated Texas A&M, 31-28 in the 1989 John Hancock Sun Bowl.
The winner of this year’s game will probably determine the Big East’s representative in the Gator Bowl. The loser will either wind up at the Insight.com Bowl or the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.
“This year the game has a great deal of built-in importance for both teams,” said MSN radio commentator Woody O’Hara. “I want to see another Abraham game next Saturday – something like that.”
“One thing I think that is so unique about the Pitt-West Virginia series is that there have been so many crazy games,” added Sciullo. “With West Virginia, you’ve got the 36-35, the 47-41, and the 63-48 games.”
Expect a near-capacity crowd when West Virginia and Pitt hook up for the 95th time next Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.
This and that ...
Boston College coach Tom O’Brien gave West Virginia a nice compliment today in the Boston Globe. After watching the Mountaineers defeat Virginia Tech 21-18 in Blacksburg, O’Brien said he thought West Virginia was the better team. “Of the teams we’ve played this year, the day we played Miami and West Virginia, I thought they were the two best teams,” he said.
