Backyard Brawl themes: Aggression, physicality, hatred
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One by one, three Pitt football players in their early 20s — smiling, friendly young men — stood in front of a group of reporters Thursday afternoon and spoke of the Backyard Brawl.
None has played in the game, of course.
Defensive tackle David Green, a Central Catholic graduate, said he was in the sixth grade when Pitt and West Virginia most recently met in 2011.
What does he know of the Brawl?
“Not a lot,” he said. “I just hear a lot of stories about it. When I watch film, I just see how aggressive it is, how physical it is. I like that.”
Outside linebacker Bangally Kamara recalled Pitt stars from past Brawls:
• Darrelle Revis’ 73-yard punt return, aided by Derek Kinder’s vicious block, during the first half of what eventually became West Virginia’s 45-27 victory in 2006.
November 16, 2006: Aided by a teammate Derek Kinder’s nasty block, Pitt’s Darrelle Revis (@Revis24) takes a @PatMcAfeeShow punt and returns it for a touchdown. pic.twitter.com/7sbWtGHX93
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) November 16, 2020
• LeSean McCoy, who carried 38 times for 148 yards in Pitt’s shocking 13-9 upset in 2007.
“Great players have played in that game,” he said. “That was a long time ago. A lot of us want to make our own mark.”
Wide receiver Jared Wayne, a senior who feels the pulse of the team as well as any of his teammates, can’t help but put this game in a class by itself.
“As a player, we treat every game the same,” he said, “but this one definitely has a special atmosphere to it.”
Although there’s so much more than hatred involved in this game, all three Pitt players mentioned it as part of the rivalry.
Green said others are “pounding in our heads … this is a big game. Don’t take it lightly. They hate you. We hate them. Get ready for that.”
Kamara grew up in Akron, Ohio, and he can’t say the Brawl means much across Pennsylvania’s western border.
“I’m from Ohio,” he said, “so this rivalry is not the thing over there.”
But he’s been paying attention when others speak of it.
“What I’ve learned is really that it’s a very deep, deep, deep rivalry between West Virginia and Pittsburgh,” he said. “And the rivalry is there, back from a long time. There’s a lot of hatred between these two teams.”
Wayne, who grew up playing football in Peterborough, Ontario, said hatred for the Mountaineers has surfaced among his teammates.
“We developed some of that hatred, I guess you can say,” Wayne said.
For years, the hate has boiled on both sides — and not just in football.
West Virginia University officials increased security at basketball games in 2010 when fans in Morgantown turned former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon’s name into an obscenity and Pitt assistant Tom Herrion was struck below the left eye by a quarter.
Legendary West Virginia play-by-play announcer Jack Fleming used to tell the story of sitting on his mother’s lap on the porch of their Morgantown home and watching Pitt players enter old Mountaineer Field for a game.
“See those guys,” Fleming said his mother told him. “You are going to learn to hate them for the rest of your life.”
Over the years, Fleming was threatened and harassed by Pitt fans, including nocturnal phone calls to his Pittsburgh hospital room on one occasion, according to WVU author and historian John Antonik.
But perhaps wise heads will prevail next Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium.
Pitt and West Virginia have continued to play basketball in recent years without incident. The current Pitt football team has too much at stake to let emotions get in the way of a winning effort.
“We understand it’s a big game,” Kamara said, “but we can’t think too much of the game as in that (rivalry) aspect.”
He said it would be smart to just concentrate on the “X’s and O’s.”
“Execute, and let’s do our job,” he said.
A victory could show a sellout crowd and an ESPN audience that No. 17 Pitt still can win, even with Kenny Pickett in the NFL. Couple a victory against West Virginia with another the following week vs. Tennessee, and Pitt could be a top-10 team by mid-September.
“It adds a lot of juice,” Green said of playing a formidable foe in the opener.
The mere fact Pitt is opening against two Power 5 opponents for the first time since 1986 is important if those games turn into victories. Defeating WVU and Tennessee could help maintain the national relevancy Pitt built while winning an ACC championship last year.
Pitt and West Virginia players have been preparing for this game — and this season — since winter workouts through spring drills and into the hot, August grind.
Said Green: “All I hear is a lot of guys saying, ‘I’m tired of hitting each other. I’m ready to go hit somebody else in a different color jersey.’
“I can’t wait to go out there with my brothers and fight.”