Backyard Brawl: Great Moments In WVU-Pitt Football History

by Country Roads on Nov 23, 2011 1:00 PM EST in Pitt Sucks

It's still Pitt week, and as we get prepared to hate Pitt for perhaps the last time this decade, it's a good time to look back at some of the classic battles we've had over the last 104 editions. We've had some great ones, and we've had some...forgettable ones. We all have stories upon stories of the great wins against Pitt over the years. It's such an intense rivalry, where you can seriously throw out the records, that some of WVU's greatest and most memorable moments in football have come against Pitt.

Ok, maybe I stole this from the Pitt blog Cardiac Hill. Or maybe they pre-emptively stole it from me. Either way, we present to you Great Moments in WVU-Pitt Football History, starting with the one and only Pat White:

The 2010 "Nike Pro Combat" edition where a WVU team trying to climb back into the Big East standings put a fitting end to Dave Wannstedt's career:

The 2009 Brawl in Morgantown featured a 9-1 Pitt team ranked #9 in the country. The Panthers lost to WVU on a last-second Tyler Bitancurt field goal before turning around and losing at home in heartbreaking fashion to undefeated Cincinnati the following week to crush their BCS bowl hopes:

The 2005 edition in Morgantown, where Pat White and Steve Slaton made the Panthers look slow in the famous Dave Wannstedt "run faster" game on a frigid Thanksgiving night:

In 2003, a ranked Pitt team featuring Biletnikoff award winner Larry Fitzgerald came to Morgantown and left with its tail between its legs after suffering a 52-24 blowout loss to Quincy Wilson, John Pennington, Rasheed Marshall, and a solid Mountaineer defense:

In 1996, an innocuous freshman named Amos Zeroue took the first handoff of his illustrious career for a 69-yard TD at Pitt:

In 1994, WVU beat Pitt 46-41 on a last second bomb from Chad Johnston to Zach Abraham:

And last, but not least, 1975 when Bill McKenzie beat the Panthers on a last second field goal:

There are so many more that either didn't have video for or didn't have room for. Which is your favorite Backyard Brawl memory?

Tweet Comment 2 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

2009

Pitt ranked 9th. BCS-bound or so they thought. I’m sitting 3 rows back on the 45 yard line and Hutchins (Kicker for pitt at the time) is on the receiving end of a constant barage of my smack talk. He misses 2 field goals in that game. It’s nice to think I may have had a hand in it, or it could be very simply that PITT SUCKS. I’ve never had more fun during a game in all my life

…other than VT-WVU 2003

by RichRN on Nov 23, 2011 1:56 PM EST reply actions

October 1, 1983... WVU 24 - Pitt 21

My freshman year, Jeff Hostetler drives WVU’s offense 90 yards in the 4th quarter and then takes it himself on a 6-yard naked bootleg in for the TD. Pitt Coach Foge Fazio remarked, "I’ll tell you what, when the chips are down, that Hostetler kid is good."

by Mountaineer Chuck on Nov 23, 2011 2:56 PM EST reply actions