Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Comments on Recent Renewal of Backyard Brawl

Pitt's head coach believes losing the 2023 Backyard Brawl could help this year's team.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The Backyard Brawl returned in 2022 after a decade hiatus thanks to the first major wave of conference realignment. Despite there being so much time in between games, we've learned over the past couple of years that the hatred between West Virginia and Pitt did not diminish one bit.

WVU head coach Neal Brown and AD Wren Baker have been very vocal about their desire to keep the Brawl running, ideally playing it as one of their three non-conference games every season. During today's press conference at ACC media days, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was asked about his thoughts on the brawl and even managed to slip in a shot to WVU's Week 1 opponent, Penn State.

“It’s great to have that rivalry back. At Pittsburgh, we embrace rivalries. We’d love to play Penn State, if they’d play us, but they won’t play us. We’d love to play West Virginia as many times as we can play them. Two years ago, we got them at home. They got us last year, and they’re coming back to Pittsburgh (this year). Our kids couldn’t be more excited. They really got an idea, I think, after two years what a real rivalry game is. I think you need to lose a rivalry game to understand what it means to you. I think you have to lose one to know, okay, I don’t ever want to lose a rivalry game again. So I think that’s kind of what we go into this game with in 2024.”

#Pittsburgh HC Pat Narduzzi on the recent renewal of the Backyard Brawl.

"At Pittsburgh, we embrace rivalries. We'd love to play Penn State, if they'd play us." pic.twitter.com/mAvUxdlou7

— Penn State Nittany Lions | Happy Valley Insider (@PennStateRivals) July 23, 2024

WVU and Pitt will meet September 14th at Acrisure Stadium and then back in Morgantown next September before taking a three year break. During that time, WVU has Alabama, UT-Martin, East Carolina, VMI, Ohio, and Tennessee on the schedule. The two will meet again in 2029 in Pittsburgh.

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