The Backyard Brawl should be electric this fall.
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It's been nearly two decades since West Virginia was in the national conversation deep into the month of November and with Rich Rodriguez returning to his post in Morgantown, it brings back a lot of good memories for Mountaineer fans, but also some bad ones, mainly the 13-9 loss to Pitt in 2007.
A few days ago, Rodriguez joined Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan and was asked about that brutal December night where the Panthers knocked WVU out of a spot in the national championship.
“It was the worst night of my professional career. By far. Nothing even comes close," Rodriguez said. "It was the Titanic for my career. We played poorly, I coached poorly. I was too conservative. We had a little bit of bad luck, we had a couple of injuries here and there, but it was just whatever could go wrong, went wrong. I try not to think about it, not so much because it brings back bad memories for our fans and all that but just because it brings back horrible memories for me, my staff, and our players. It was a great year, we just had a horrible night.”
Dec 1, 2007, Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineer head coach Rich Rodriguez leaves the field after the Mountaineers 13-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers at Mylan Puskar Stadium. Duhart recovered the fumble. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
This September, Rodriguez will meet those very Panthers in Morgantown and it's a game that he's excited to once again be a part of.
“It’s one of the greatest rivalries in college sports. Period. It’s just up the road. They don’t like us. We don’t like them. Every game is important, but Pitt’s the most important. No question about it.”
Rodriguez was also asked during his appearance with 93.7 about his relationship with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi.
“For being rivals, a lot better than probably it should be. I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach and I’ve known him for a long time. I think he’s an outstanding coach and he’s a friend. He’s been a good friend the whole time too. We can’t be as friendly now as maybe we were in the last 17 years. I don’t like Pitt. I don’t like anything about it. I don’t even like saying the word. There’s a lot of so-called hatred between the two, but I do have a lot of respect for Coach Narduzzi and I’ve got a lot of respect for the university.”
West Virginia and Pitt will square off on September 13th (9/13), ironically the score of the 2007 game. A start time will be announced at a later date.
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SCHUYLER CALLIHAN
Publisher of Mountaineers Now on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. Lead recruiting expert and co-host of Between the Eers, Walk Thru GameDay Show, Mountaineers Now Postgame Show, and In the Gun Podcast.
