WVU opens football season with 3-game stretch of games vs. Penn State, Duquesne, Pitt
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West Virginia’s 2023 football schedule opens with a distinctly Pennsylvania flavor, featuring back-to-back-to-back nonconference games against Penn State, Duquesne and Pitt.
The Mountaineers open Sept. 2 at Penn State in the third-longest series in school history. The series has been dormant since the most recent meeting in 1992, but it will be the 60th game between the schools and the first time the Mountaineers have traveled to State College since 1991.
The Mountaineers come home for the next two games — Duquesne on Sept. 9 and Pitt on Sept. 16 in the 106th Backyard Brawl, the longest-running series in WVU history. Pitt hasn’t visited Morgantown since 2011.
After that, WVU will play exclusively Big 12 opponents, including new members BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. The Houston game will the Mountaineers their first look at former coach Dana Holgorsen, who was coach at WVU from 2011-18.
The conference season opens Sept. 23 against Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium. The remaining home conference schedule includes dates with Oklahoma State (Oct. 21, homecoming), BYU (Nov. 4) and Cincinnati (Nov. 18).
The conference road games include trips to TCU (Sept. 30), Houston (Thursday, Oct. 12), UCF (Oct. 28), Oklahoma (Nov. 11) and Baylor (Nov. 25). With the addition of the four new Big 12 members, WVU will not play Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas and Texas this season.
The Big 12 championship is Dec. 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“I am looking forward to my first football season at West Virginia and excited to be a part of the Backyard Brawl, which is one of the greatest rivalries in college football,” WVU first-year athletic director Wren Baker said.
Said coach Neal Brown: “Our players know what kind of schedule we play year in and year out, and they are preparing for the grind that it takes. The Big 12 is so strong and competitive. Every league game brings a new challenge each week, and this year will be no different.
“For the third straight year, we will open with a Power 5 opponent on the road, and we have a lot of work still ahead of us in our winter conditioning, spring practices and summer camp. The season will be here before you know it, and our focus will be on getting better every day in preparation for one of the strongest football schedules in the country.”