Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Taking Nothing for Granted in Backyard Brawl Prep

Pat Narduzzi is taking no risks when it comes to the Backyard Brawl this weekend against West Virginia.

It’s been an unseasonably warm summer in Pittsburgh, with a lot of warm (bordering on hot) weather and not a whole lot of adverse conditions. As such, Pitt spent just about every day of fall camp outside. And that continued into the season.

But this week Narduzzi has taken his squad indoors, practicing inside at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Why? Well, who knows whether there are spies in the hills behind Beano Cook Fields or not?

“Extra careful,” Narduzzi said Thursday during his weekly presser. “Paranoid. You’ve got people in the hills. I mean, they live in the hills, we’ve got binoculars. Mountaineers, man, they’re up there. In the mountains right there. So — hey, take nothing for granted. We were inside.”

There is a large hill overlooking Beano Cook Field on the South Side, rising high above the train tracks and the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex below. It is a spot that has a perfect vantage point. And according to a former West Virginia cornerback who now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it isn’t just practice where Narduzzi is taking precautions.

“(Pitt) lock all their doors,” Bishop told reporters Thursday morning. “They put our faces up in the meeting, me, (and former WVU offensive linemen) Doug (Nester) and Zach (Frazier), they’re like, ‘Oh, if you see these guys on the side of the building, kick ’em out.’ It’s kinda crazy.”

The Brawl, when it’s on the schedule, is one of the most eagerly anticipated games on the Pitt schedule — especially when it’s in Pittsburgh. And with the Panthers coming off a historic comeback victory, Panther Nation will be out in full force this weekend.

Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi August 31, 2024 David Hague/PSN

Pitt is 2-0, coming off a come-from-behind win against Cincinnati this weekend, and is looking to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2020.

West Virginia is 1-1, rebounding from a season-opening loss against Penn State with a 49-14 beatdown against Albany. WVU quarterback Garrett Greene and the Mountaineers’ offense are looking to continue their ascent.

Pitt leads the all-time series with West Virginia 62-41-3. It’s a series that initially kicked off in the 1800s, with an 8-0 WVU win in 1895, but the two sides played every season from 1943-2011 — and just about every season since 1900 before that. It’s grown into perhaps the greatest rivalry in college football in the years since.

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, following the 2011 season.

But it resumed in the 2022 season. Pitt knocked off WVU, 38-31, to open the season at Acrisure Stadium, and WVU returned the favor with a 17-6 win at Milan Puskar Stadium last season. After last season’s embarrassing showing, with three interceptions from then-quarterback Phil Jurkovec, the Panthers have a lot to prove this time around.

The Brawl is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with ESPN2 broadcasting the matchup for those who will not be in attendance. 70,623 fans would set a new sporting attendance record in Pittsburgh.