Roles reversed for Backyard Brawl

By Bob Hertzel

MORGANTOWN — It is now Week 1 of a two-week long celebration of The Backyard Brawl.

Or, as we try to give it some real meaning this year, let us put it this way:

Pitt-West Virginia: The Shoe is on the Other Foot

The scene is the same, Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, as it was two years ago when the Panthers came to town and pulled the stopper on West Virginia’s tub full of soothing warm bathwater, allowing them to watch their season go down the drain.

Only this time it is Pittsburgh with everything to lose. The Panthers are the ranked team, the Panthers are the team sitting on a Big East championship, the Panthers have the star players.

And it all will be played under the lights, ESPN today announcing a 7 p.m. starting time on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, and a national television audience on ESPN2.

Two years ago, the Mountaineers were unbeaten, four-touchdown favorites, coached by Rich Rodriguez, ranked No. 1 in one of the polls and heading for the National Championship game with a victory, only to — and there’s no nice way to put it — get their fannies whipped.

It was a game that turned both programs around.

Rodriguez ran away from it to Michigan and WVU has not regained those heights under Bill Stewart.

As for Pitt, it improved last year and jumped among the national elite this year.

“That game seems so long ago,” Pitt Coach Dave Wannstedt said earlier this year on one of the Big East coaches conference calls. “At that point, where we were at, it was a critical win for us. It springboarded us into the next season. It helped with recruiting. It gave our players and fans at least some hope we might be a capable team. At that given time it was an important game for us.”

And now the game can do the same for the Mountaineers.

“I am going to tell the team to out-block, out-tackle, out-hit, out-hustle Pitt, strain and play Mountaineer football,” Stewart said when asked about this year’s role reversal. “Were we a better team in game 10 last week than we were in game nine? In my assessment, we were. We played better on the road against Cincinnati than we played at home against Louisville.”

But the fact of the matter is that it no longer matters how West Virginia played at Cincinnati or against Louisville, any more than how Pitt played in beating Notre Dame last Saturday night matters.

If West Virginia no longer can play for the Big East championship, if it no longer can go to a BCS bowl, it still can beat Pitt and in West Virginia — especially after the disaster two years ago — that can save what is left of this season.

The Backyard Brawl always has meaning. It is a season of its own.

“It’s going to be tough, coming to West Virginia,” Wannstedt admits. “I can relate to when I played down there. Nothing’s changed. It’s The Backyard Brawl. Throw the records out the window. For 60 minutes, it’s a dogfight.”

“It’s a very intense rivalry, it’s going to be one the fans enjoy and one the players and coaches enjoy,” Stewart said. “They’re probably beat up and we’re not nicked up too bad in key positions, but this week gives us a chance to get healed up. Our classes will not be in session next week.

“The team will be going home this weekend, as I’m sure the University of Pittsburgh youngsters will do the same. We’ll get a chance to spend a lot of family time here and get ready for one of the greatest days of the year, Thanksgiving, and most certainly what we think is an even better day is the annual Backyard Brawl.”

The issues Stewart must deal with during this off week are almost as difficult as those he will have to deal with the next week when he begins readying for Pitt and freshman running sensation Dion Lewis, 6-5 receiver Jonathan Baldwin, quarterback Bill Stull, the best offensive line he’ll see all year and rowdy defensive front that is eating up quarterbacks.

Stewart has seen two backs run for more than 300 yards against him the past two weeks, with Isaiah Pead going for 175 in the Cincinnati game. He’s seen his offense go flat, not reaching 30 points in five games. He sees running back Noel Devine hobbling from a variety of nagging injuries. He watches Jarrett Brown running for his life all too many times when he tries to set up in the pocket.

There’s a lot to fix, but there is time to fix it. Right up until 7 p.m. on Nov. 27. After that it will be too late.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.