Neal Brown opens up on the importance of the Backyard Brawl between WVU, Pitt
West Virginia came up short in a rivalry game against Penn State a couple of weeks ago. The Mountaineers are looking to come out on the right side of things this weekend against rival Pitt.
Neal Brown and WVU will face the Panthers on the road this weekend in the Backyard Brawl. Brown knows how important it is to come away with a win.
“This is one that’s extremely important to the fans. And our players understand that,” Neal Brown said. “This is a game that’s of super-high importance to our fanbase. For us in here, we respect the rivalry, and I think it’s what makes college football great.”
West Virginia and Pitt played every year for decades until WVU left for the Big 12 in 2012. This will be only the third meeting between the two teams since 2011.
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West Virginia and Pitt also played each of the past two years, with the Panthers winning in Pittsburgh in 2022 and the Mountaineers winning at home last season.
Brown is well aware of what type of environment his team is walking into for Saturday’s game.
“The crowd will be into it. It’ll be a great atmosphere. It was a great atmosphere the last time we were there. Great atmosphere here last year,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of familiarity. It’s probably a little bit different than it was 20 years ago. But there’s a lot of familiarity. We know a lot of guys on their roster. They know a lot of guys on our roster.”
While the Backyard Brawl will without a doubt be filled with a lot of emotion, Brown’s message to his players is to contain those emotions and play well.
This is an important game for West Virginia to avoid falling to 1-2 overall and 0-2 against FBS opponents.
“For us it’s about getting to 2-1 and getting another win as we get into conference play,” Brown said. “It’s a tough opponent. It’s our second high-level opponent. And then from here on out we play good people every week. So it’s a challenge but our guys are very aware of the emotions that are going to be in the building.”