Kickoff time for the last Backyard Brawl until 2029 has been set for 3:30 p.m. on September 13 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi is disappointed the rivalry is taking a pause, because it’s “one of the best, if not the best in the country.”
Narduzzi tells The Fan Morning Show, what makes the rivalry so strong is the hatred both teams and fanbases feel.
“I’ve been around a lot of rivalries but the hate that West Virginia has for Pitt, the disrespect, to me that makes a rivalry,” said Narduzzi.
Prior to Pitt, Narduzzi was part of the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry for eight years.
And when you talk about the West Virginia rivalry, you can’t help but think of Penn State.
“That Penn State/Pitt one, which we’re still trying to figure out why we don’t play that game still,” said Narduzzi. “We should be playing West Virginia and Penn State every single year and I’ll go on record as saying I’m ready to go right now. Let’s line it up.”
Former Pitt All-American Dorin Dickerson says he can’t figure out why Penn State doesn’t want to play Pitt.
Big West Virginia fan Adam Crowley says the Nittany Lions “got plenty of space” on their schedule the next two years.
With money dominating college football, classic rivalries are falling by the wayside all across the country, but Narduzzi wants the games that fans want.
Crowley says that West Virginia wants the Backyard Brawl as much as Pitt does, but when it comes to Penn State, he doesn’t understand why they can’t fit Pitt into their schedule when they have opponents like Nevada, FIU, Temple and Buffalo, Delaware and more over the next few seasons.
The Backyard Brawl returns in 2029 through 2032.