The Backyard Brawl will take place for the second-year running with Pitt and West Virginia facing off at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, W.V. Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
The primetime slot for the game is because ABC will broadcast the game to a nationwide audience eager to see the historic rivalry. Sean McDonough will serve as the play-by-play announcer, while Greg McIlroy will serve as the analyst and Molly McGrath will work as the sideline reporter for the Backyard Brawl.
Pitt and West Virginia played in a classic last season in Week 1 on Thursday night football on ESPN, to an audience of 1.7 million. Defensive back M.J. Devonshire made his famous pick-six to win the game for Pitt late in the fourth quarter, 38-31.
With the game on ABC, WTAE-TV the local affiliate, the game should feature as one of the most watched of Week 3 in college football.
This is the second straight primetime nationally televised game the Panthers have played in 2023. They faced off against the Cincinnati Bearcats at home in Week 2 in the first college football game on the CW Network, but lost 27-21 in the River City Rivalry.
Pitt leads the all-time series with West Virginia 62-40-3 and the two teams played each other every year as independents and in the Big East from 1943 to 2011. The series stopped for 10 seasons due to both teams leaving the Big East, with Pitt going to the ACC and West Virginia to the Big 12.
The Panthers also lead the Mountaineers in the series at Mountaineer Field, with an 18-14-2 record since 1930.
The current series will expire in 2025, but another four-game series is set for 2029-32, meaning the schools will play each other eight times in 11 seasons.
Broadcast Information
Television • ABC (WTAE-TV, Channel 4 in Pittsburgh)
Sean McDonough (play-by-play),
Greg McElroy (analyst)
Molly McGrath (reporter)
93.7 The Fan & Pitt Radio Network (937thefan.radio.com)
Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play)
Pat Bostick (analyst)
Larry Richert and Dorin Dickerson (reporters)
Learfield National Radio
Chris Hassel (play-by-play)
Mike Golic Jr. (analyst)
SiriusXM Satellite Radio
SiriusXM channel 391 and on the SiriusXM App
WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM
Jurkovek is gonna come out smoking. WVA Better Look Out! Panthers On The Prowl !
I hope for the best for our Panthers, but I don’t see the upside with #5 at q.b..
Those Panthers better stay on top of things because WVU is not playing around this year
Sean McDonough is one of the most negative announcers I have ever listened to. There are many different ways to say that a team or player is having difficulties…there you go Sean…you were having difficulties keeping a positive spin on the WVU vs Pitt game. Perhaps you feel like you call it as you see it, but you did not do either team justice tonight!