PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – When it comes to recent memorable Pitt wins over West Virginia, there was only one man to call. And the man who carried it 38 times for 148 yards to beat the then number two Mountaineers in 2007 didn’t disappoint.
LeSean McCoy got up in front of the current Pitt seniors and a ballroom of fans and got them even more ready than they were for the return of the Backyard Brawl. A hype video of the win in Morgantown in 2007 was followed by McCoy remembering the game and talking about the importance of the rivalry.
“It was great to see a guy who was played and was in the same position we are going to be in,” said Pitt senior Deslin Alexandre. “I’m even more excited about the game just because of that.”
“It was amazing to hear the West Virginia stories,” said Pitt senior Carter Warren. “It was cool to hear him talk and see him. I can’t wait.”
Even for a player who didn’t know about the rivalry until a few months ago and played in a number of big games at USC. Transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis was excited to learn more.
“It’s awesome, to be a part of a new rivalry is super cool,” said Slovis. “Hearing about the stories and the traditions. The fact it hasn’t been played in 10 years is also a whole new element that is super-cool. We are all super-excited, I can’t wait to play.”
McCoy said it felt good to talk to the team, saying he remembered when Tony Dorsett spoke to them when he was a freshman. He said rivalries are something special and told them how important it is to play their all on Thursday because you may not get another shot.
“I let them know that you never know what can happen,” McCoy said. “I’m sure players that played at Pitt played in the game and then it was taken away. Anything can happen, don’t take any moment for granted.”
McCoy said he remembered going down a dark road heading to the stadium and as they got closer the buses were getting pelted with batteries and beer cans. He said normally when they would walk into a stadium there was a cop or two. They needed a bunch of them to keep the fans away from the Pitt players.
He told a story remembering seeing four-and-five-year-old kids who were yelling at the players saying ‘Pitt eat S@%!’ and instead of getting in trouble for swearing their grandmothers were patting them on the back in approval.
It was that disrespect that fired up McCoy and the other Pitt players and they were determined to shock the world, which they did knocking the Mountaineers out of the BCS Championship game.
It was just one of the special moments at Pitt for the running back from Harrisburg. He was fighting back tears remembering how much Pitt has impacted his life. McCoy was a high school All-American and suffered an injured his senior year. He said his scholarship offers went from 80 to five. He was going to go to USC, then head coach Pete Carroll visited his school and Reggie Bush would often call him, even though it was illegal.
After the injury, the Trojans went away, but he said Dave Wannstedt was the same guy he always was to McCoy, even with his career in doubt.
“He told me he would give me a chance to regain my name and continue my career,” McCoy said. “Pitt has really helped me out. It really has in changing my family’s lives and my life forever. When they called me to talk, I said I would be there.”
The Panthers eighth all-time leading rusher said he loved watching the Panthers last year. That Kenny Pickett ‘got this thing jumpin again’. He recalled hooking up with another Pitt record-setting quarterback recently.
“I was down at Dolphins training camp and I was looking over and there was this guy,” McCoy said. “A tall white guy and he’s waiving at me and I’m like ‘who the hell is that’? So I go over to him, it’s Dan Marino. The first thing he says to me is ‘hey Shady, what’s going on. Hey are you going to the Backyard Brawl’ and I’m like ‘yeah, I’m going there’. As a Pitt family we always go back to the game because it means so much for us.”
We’re seeing how much this means to the region and the hype is only going to grow until kickoff at 7:30 on 93.7 The Fan Thursday.