PITTSBURGH — Sports teams within and around the city of Pittsburgh tend to find themselves in the middle of some of the biggest rivalries in sports.
For example, the rivalry between the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens is considered one of, if not the absolute best overall rivalries in the NFL. On a lower level, Pitt has the Backyard Brawl (West Virginia) and the River City Rivalry (Cincinnati). With that being said, there are two more teams in and around the city that just played in their version of the Backyard Brawl, the Duquesne Dukes and the Robert Morris Colonials.
The two universities are located just 20 minutes apart from each other and are now in the same football conference for the first time since 2019. To give some context on the “rivalry,” the two teams have met each other 22 times on the gridiron with the Dukes winning 14 of those games. The series started in way back in 1994 and the game was played for three of the following four seasons before going on hiatus.
Then, from 2003 on, the two teams met annually, with the site of the game rotating from the Bluff to Moon Township every season, until Robert Morris left the NEC following the 2019 season. Now with the Colonials back in the NEC fold, the series is rejuvenated and ready for another chapter.
While Duquesne dominated Robert Morris in the latest rendition of the “rivalry” on Saturday afternoon, both sides seemed to share the same sentiment about the game, the build-up of it and everything else that surrounded it following the conclusion of play last weekend.
“I love it,” Robert Morris head coach Bernard Clark said about the rivalry following the game. “It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to turn out but even when we (RMU) were in the Big South, I was doing everything that I could to play Duquesne. I think that it is a rivalry that needs to go on. I’ve told people countless times that I wished they turned it into the ‘Rooney Bowl’ or the ‘Steel City Bowl.’ Let’s get some sponsors, let’s put it in a neutral site and let’s play a big game.”
Clark compared the atmosphere surrounding the game to when he was at Florida International and their battles against Florida Atlantic in the “Don Shula Bowl.”
“The one thing that I loved when I coached at Florida International University, when we played Florida Atlantic, they turned it into the ‘Don Shula Bowl.’ So even if we were losing or they were losing, we knew we could go get that trophy or they could come get the trophy so I think it is something to play for.”
Despite coming out on the losing end of the “Steel City Bowl” this season, Clark seemed passionate in getting the rivalry some recognition. Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt, who is his 20th season as head coach of the Dukes and has seen his fair share of clashes against the Colonials, seemed to share similar thoughts as his counter-part following the game on Saturday.
“It’s great to have them back in the conference,” Schmitt said following the game. “He (Clark) has talked to me about playing the game at a neutral site or something like that. I said ‘Well you let me know wherever, it doesn’t matter to us, we’ll play.’ I think it is awesome, two teams who are just 20 minutes away from each other playing against each other.”
While the rivalry is just heating back up as both teams are in the same conference again, there is a mutual interest from both sides in elevating the stature of the game. It is unknown if Clark’s hypothetical will ever come to fruition but despite that, there will be no love lost when the two teams meet again next season.
