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Why the Pitt-West Virginia Backyard Brawl is a college football rivalry unlike any other

DAVE WANNSTEDT NEEDED his team to do some studying.

The Pitt football coach was leading the 4-7 Panthers into the 2007 edition of the Backyard Brawl against No. 2 West Virginia in Morgantown as a 28.5-point underdog.

But he wasn't concerned with showing his players blitzes or screen passes. Instead, he showed them pictures of the bus Pitt would ride into West Virginia and told them stories of the team bus getting pelted with beer bottles and rocks on previous trips to Morgantown.

"I was just trying to tell our players, 'We better get ready for what we're driving into here.