West Virginia Has Owned the Modern Era of the Backyard Brawl

The Mountaineers are looking to pick up their second win in three years over the Panthers.

Michael Longo/For USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Backyard Brawl is one of the best rivalries in all of college sports. There have been several memorable games between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Pitt Panthers when meeting on the gridiron and maybe one in particular that's not so memorable.

This one is for all of the casual college football fans who will be tuning into the game on Saturday and will see the stat graphic that will pop up on ESPN2 showing Pitt leading the all-time series, 62-41-3. Don't be misguided, this rivalry has gone West Virginia's way more often than not in what we consider the modern era of college football.

Below, you'll see a handful of concentrated records of this rivalry that date back to 1963, showing WVU's success in this game. Underneath that, you'll find some data on how WVU has been a significantly better program than Pitt since that certain night in 2007, along with the game-by-game results of all 106 Backyard Brawls.

Backyard Brawl Recent History

WVU vs. Pitt since 1963: 26-23-2
WVU vs. Pitt last 50 years (1974): 20-18-2
WVU vs. Pitt since 1988: 17-8-1
WVU vs. Pitt since 2000: 8-5
WVU's last 15 games played at Pitt: 10-5

Since That Night in 2007

WEST VIRGINIA:
- Fiesta Bowl win over No. 3 Oklahoma
- Orange Bowl 70-point record vs. Clemson
- Six seasons of nine or more wins
- Four Top 15 NFL Draft picks
- One Group of Five loss (East Carolina in 2008)
- Zero FCS losses
- Fifteen weeks spent in the top 10 of the AP Poll

PITT:
- The 2022 Sun Bowl is the biggest bowl win
- Three seasons of nine or more wins
- One Top 15 NFL Draft pick
- Seven Group of Five losses (Bowling Green, SMU, Utah, Akron, Houston, UCF, Western Michigan)
- One FCS loss (Youngstown State in 2012)
- Three weeks in the Top 10 of AP Poll (Lost to WVU in 2009 and haven't returned to the top 10 since)

Note: These nuggets listed above were contributed by Jed Drenning, WVU sideline reporter.

Backyard Brawl Results

2023: West Virginia 17, Pitt 6
2022: Pitt 38, West Virginia 31
2011: West Virginia 21, Pitt 20
2010: West Virginia 35, Pitt 10
2009: West Virginia 19, Pitt 16
2008: Pitt 19, West Virginia 15
2007: Pitt 13, West Virginia 9
2006: West Virginia 45, Pitt 27
2005: West Virginia 45, Pitt 13
2004: Pitt 16, West Virginia 13
2003: West Virginia 52, Pitt 31
2002: West Virginia 24, Pitt 17
2001: Pitt 23, West Virginia 17
2000: Pitt 38, West Virginia 28
1999: West Virginia 52, Pitt 21
1998: West Virginia 52, Pitt 14
1997: Pitt 41, West Virginia 38
1996: West Virginia 34, Pitt 0
1995: West Virginia 21, Pitt 0
1994: West Virginia 47, Pitt 41
1993: West Virginia 42, Pitt 21
1992: West Virginia 44, Pitt 6
1991: Pitt 34, West Virginia 3
1990: West Virginia 38, Pitt 24
1989: West Virginia 31, Pitt 31
1988: West Virginia 31, Pitt 10
1987: Pitt 6, West Virginia 3
1986: Pitt 48, West Virginia 16
1985: West Virginia 10, Pitt 10
1984: West Virginia 28, Pitt 10
1983: West Virginia 24, Pitt 21
1982: Pitt 16, West Virginia 13
1981: Pitt 17, West Virginia 0
1980: Pitt 42, West Virginia 14
1979: Pitt 24, West Virginia 17
1978: Pitt 52, West Virginia 7
1977: Pitt 44, West Virginia 3
1976: Pitt 24, West Virginia 16
1975: West Virginia 17, Pitt 14
1974: Pitt 31, West Virginia 14
1973: Pitt 35, West Virginia 7
1972: West Virginia 38, Pitt 20
1971: West Virginia 20, Pitt 9
1970: Pitt 36, West Virginia 35
1969: West Virginia 49, Pitt 18
1968: West Virginia 38, Pitt 15
1967: West Virginia 15, Pitt 0
1966: Pitt 17, West Virginia 14
1965: West Virginia 63, Pitt 48
1964: Pitt 14, West Virginia 0
1963: Pitt 13, West Virginia 10
1962: West Virginia 15, Pitt 8
1961: West Virginia 20, Pitt 6
1960: Pitt 42, West Virginia 0
1959: West Virginia 23, Pitt 15
1958: Pitt 15, West Virginia 8
1957: West Virginia 7, Pitt 6
1956: Pitt 14, West Virginia 13
1955: Pitt 26, West Virginia 7
1954: Pitt 13, West Virginia 10
1953: West Virginia 17, Pitt 7
1952: West Virginia 16, Pitt 0
1951: Pitt 32, West Virginia 12
1950: Pitt 21, West Virginia 7
1949: Pitt 20, West Virginia 7
1948: Pitt 16, West Virginia 6
1947: West Virginia 17, Pitt 2
1946: Pitt 33, West Virginia 7
1945: Pitt 20, West Virginia 0
1944: Pitt 26, West Virginia 13
1943: Pitt 20, West Virginia 0
1939: Pitt 20, West Virginia 0
1938: Pitt 19, West Virginia 0
1937: Pitt 20, West Virginia 0
1936: Pitt 34, West Virginia 0
1935: Pitt 24, West Virginia 6
1934: Pitt 27, West Virginia 6
1933: Pitt 21, West Virginia 0
1932: Pitt 40, West Virginia 0
1931: Pitt 34, West Virginia 0
1930: Pitt 16, West Virginia 0
1929: Pitt 27, West Virginia 7
1928: West Virginia 9, Pitt 6
1927: Pitt 40, West Virginia 0
1926: Pitt 17, West Virginia 7
1925: Pitt 15, West Virginia 7
1924: Pitt 14, West Virginia 7
1923: West Virginia 13, Pitt 7
1922: West Virginia 9, Pitt 6
1921: Pitt 21, West Virginia 13
1920: Pitt 34, West Virginia 13
1919: Pitt 26, West Virginia 0
1917: Pitt 14, West Virginia 9
1913: Pitt 40, West Virginia 0
1910: Pitt 38, West Virginia 0
1909: West Virginia 0, Pitt 0
1908: Pitt 11, West Virginia 0
1907: Pitt 10, West Virginia 0
1906: Pitt 17, West Virginia 0
1904: Pitt 53, West Virginia 0
1903: West Virginia 24, Pitt 6
1902: West Virginia 23, Pitt 6
1901: Pitt 12, West Virginia 0
1900: West Virginia 6, Pitt 5
1898: West Virginia 6, Pitt 0
1895: West Virginia 8, Pitt 0

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