College Football's Twilight

On Thursday night, 69,000 people watched the Pittsburgh Panthers defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers in a hard-fought football game. The 38–31 contest was a throwback to another era, and not just in style of play. The “Backyard Brawl” always has an electric atmosphere, but this game was especially raucous—perhaps because fans have to get their licks in while they still can. The two schools are close to one another geographically, and their fans mutually disdainful, which makes for a heated rivalry. When the “Backyard Brawl” was first played in 1895, West Virginia won convincingly, delighting the home crowd. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer wrote that the “Western Penn Foot Ballists” came to have fun, but they “had all they wanted of it, and went back home without coming anywhere near scoring,” leaving no doubt that West Virginia’s side “is as good as any of them in these parts.” For the next century-plus, the teams played nearly every year to packed houses, featuring such memorable games as Pitt’s 13–9 miracle slog in 2007 over a speedy West Virginia with national title aspirations. But suddenly the games stopped, with this season’s meeting the first since 2011 and just a handful scheduled for the future. In 2025, the rivalry will once again go on hiatus. Read Full Article »