Panthers and Mountaineers Set to Clash for 104th Time
11/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 20, 2011
GAME NOTES LINK:
Pitt (5-5, 3-2 Big East) vs. West Virginia (7-3, 3-2 Big East)
November 25, 2011 • 7 p.m., ET
Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000/FieldTurf) • Morgantown, W.Va.
GAME STORYLINES
One of the nation's longest running rivalries, Pitt and West Virginia renew ties for the 104th time in the "Backyard Brawl." With 103 prior encounters, West Virginia is the Panthers' most-played opponent.
Both schools feature new head coaches - Pitt's Todd Graham and West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen - in their first Backyard Brawl. While this is Graham's first Brawl as a head coach, he did serve as a WVU assistant under Rich Rodriguez in the 2001 and '02 games.
Pitt and West Virginia are two of six teams still in contention for either an outright or shared Big East championship with two weeks of the regular season remaining.
WVU boasts the Big East's top passing offense at 362.1 yards per game. Over its last five contests, Pitt's dramatically improved pass defense has given up an average of only 176.4 yards through the air.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: Pitt-West Virginia will be a national ESPN telecast. Joe Tessitore (play-by-play) and Rod Gilmore (color) will call the action.
PITT RADIO: The radio home for Pitt football is 50,000-watt flagship KDKA-FM, Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan. Games are also carried on the Pitt IMG Sports Radio Network. Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), former Pitt quarterback Pat Bostick (color) and Jon Burton (sideline) will call the action.
SIRIUS XM RADIO: The Pitt-West Virginia game will be aired on Sirius channel 92 and XM channel 207 (Pitt broadcast).
IMG BIG EAST GAME OF THE WEEK: The game will also be a national IMG radio broadcast with David Shumate (play-by-play) and Pete Brock (color) on the call.
SERIES IN BRIEF
Series Began: 1895
Overall: Pitt leads 61-39-3
At Pittsburgh: Pitt leads 39-20
At West Virginia: Pitt leads 22-17-3
At Neutral Sites: West Virginia leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 26, 2010 (West Virginia 35, Pitt 10)
Todd Graham vs. West Virginia: 0-0
Dana Holgorsen vs. Pitt: 0-0
SERIES NOTES
This year's "Backyard Brawl" between Pitt and West Virginia marks the 104th game played between the two rivals...the Panthers lead the series, 61-39-3...the two teams have met every year since 1943...this year's game marks the 69th consecutive year the teams have played...recent series history has been evenly contested...West Virginia holds a 6-5 advantage since the 2000 season...the teams have split the past four games with West Virginia winning the last two...three of those past four games have been decided by four points or fewer...Pitt has a 22-17-3 advantage in games played in Morgantown...the Panthers are 39-20 against WVU in Pittsburgh...there have been two neutral site games (none since 1898) and West Virginia is 2-0 in those contests...the visiting team has won 14 of the past 24 games, including last year's 35-10 WVU victory at Heinz Field...the Panthers' last road win in the series occurred in 2007 when they upset the heavily favored Mountaineers, 13-9, denying West Virginia a shot at the BCS title game...Pitt's last win in the series overall came in 2008 when the Panthers rallied from a 15-7 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Mountaineers, 19-15, at Heinz Field...this year's game features two new head coaches - Pitt's Todd Graham and West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen - in their first Backyard Brawl...Graham did serve as an assistant at WVU under Rich Rodriguez in the 2001 and 2002 Brawls....West Virginia split those games, losing 23-17 at Milan Puskar Stadium in '01 and winning 24-17 at Heinz Field in '02...the Backyard Brawl last featured two new head coaches in 1966 when Pitt's Dave Hart faced West Virginia's Jim Carlen...the host Panthers defeated the Mountaineers in that game, 17-14, for Pitt's only victory of the '66 campaign...Pitt is 19-10 with a new head coach against West Virginia...in fact, five of the past seven new head coaches at Pitt have defeated West Virginia in their first Brawl (John Majors in 1973, Jackie Sherrill in 1977, Foge Fazio in 1982, Mike Gottfried in 1986 and Walt Harris in 1997)...since 1973 the only first-year Pitt head coaches to lose their initial game with West Virginia are Paul Hackett (1990) and Dave Wannstedt (2005)...with 103 prior meetings dating back to 1895, Pitt and West Virginia have the longest running series among Big East schools...West Virginia is Pitt's most-played opponent...Penn State is next with 96 meetings although the series with the Nittany Lions has not been played since 2000...the lone overtime game between Pitt and West Virginia occurred in 1997 at Milan Puskar Stadium, a three-overtime affair won by the Panthers, 41-38...the victory clinched a Liberty Bowl invitation for Pitt under first-year head coach Walt Harris...the three-OT game stood as the longest in Pitt history until the 2008 season when the Panthers outlasted host Notre Dame, 36-33, in four overtimes.