Pitt and West Virginia to renew Backyard Brawl in 2022

PITTSBURGH-The “Backyard Brawl” is coming back. The Panthers will host the initial game on September 17, 2022, and again on September 14, 2024.

The game heads to Morgantown in 2023 on Sept. 16, back to Heinz Field in 2024 on Sept. 14 and things wrap up in West Virginia in 2025 on Sept. 13.

One of the bigger casualties of conference realignment in recent years was the loss of some of college football’s greatest rivalries.

Pittsburgh holds a 61-40-3 advantage over West Virginia in the series, however, the Mountaineers have had the upper hand in recent years, winning seven of the last 10 games.

“I think this is a very exciting announcement for all of college football”, West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons said in a Thursday release.

The “Backyard Brawl” was played between the Panthers and Mountaineers 104 times up until 2011 when it was abandoned due to conference realignment. The two teams met every season from 1943-2011, and over the final 47 years, WVU posted a 25-20-2 mark.

Pitt’s other big rival, Penn State, returns to the schedule starting next season for four games, but Barnes said the Panthers are hoping to extend that in-state series as well. The first matchup in the series will take place at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The two schools were Eastern independents for a majority of the series but became Big East football founding members in 1991 and continued their rivalry until 2011.

“I’ve learned there is a lot of passion surrounding this game and we’re pleased to be able to rekindle that history”, Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes said in a school statement. “Everyone wins when two great series like Pitt-Penn State and Pitt-West Virginia are renewed, especially the student-athletes and fans of college football”.