Backyard Brawl: Memories of 13-9 in ’07 with Pitt's Chris McKillop — 'We played a perfect game'

When it comes to Chris McKillop’s freshman year as a Pitt Panther, there is at least one aspect of coach Walt Harris’ daily practices that the defensive lineman will never forget.

“Walt Harris had a ‘West Virginia’ period,” McKillop said during Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast. “In an 18-period practice. … He’d make the hardest part of practice period 16 or 17, which was ‘West Virginia period.’ And then we’d finish practice. So you learned very early the level of hatred between Pitt and West Virginia.”

The year-long buildup of the Backyard Brawl wasn’t limited to the players either. From the fans’ standpoint, a similar effect happened in both Pittsburgh and Morgantown on an annual basis. So now imagine what it’ll feel like at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday when the rivalry gets rebooted after an 11-year absence.

Now an alum of the Pitt program, McKillop said he’ll be in attendance as a fan when the two teams square off for the first time since 2011. His brother Scott will be there as well. The two brothers from Kiski Area High School were on the 2007 Panthers defense when Pitt (4-7) scored perhaps its most memorable win ever against the Mountaineers — the famous 13-9 victory over second-ranked West Virginia (11-1) at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“We played a perfect game on that night,” McKillop said. “We were in the right place at the right time. And we didn’t miss tackles. We executed (defensive coordinator) Paul Rhoads’ game plan to a ‘T.’ And it was perfect.”

For as nice as it would’ve been for Dave Wannstedt’s crew to have gotten that win at (what was then) Heinz Field, McKillop said getting the victory at Mountaineer Field and ruining West Virginia’s national championship hopes made the night even better.

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“Before the game, obviously there was a little tension,” McKillop said. “I’m not going to name the (West Virginia) players. But there were a couple of players I grew up playing with, and I remember several of them saying, ‘If you want to stay in Morgantown tonight, you can because we are going to be partying. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Really!? Really!?’ One of them said, ‘We are going to be poppin’ bottles tonight.’ To go in there and spoil that for them that night was awesome.”

Making that ’07 victory even better for McKillop was remembering how the Mountaineers were caught on camera mocking the Pitt Panther growl on the loudspeaker en route to a 45-27 romp at Heinz Field in ‘06. Not to mention how WVU smoked the Panthers 45-13 in Morgantown in ‘05. That’s when Wannstedt belted out his infamous “we just have to run faster” speech at halftime on ESPN, as Pat White, Steve Slayton and Owen Schmitt were en route to 451 yards rushing.

It led to another classic quote by McKillop’s brother.

“Someone asked Scott after the game, ‘How fast were they?’ And Scott said ‘I have no idea I never got close enough,’” McKillop said.

The Brawl will head down Interstate 79 for both next year’s edition and the one in 2025. Acrisure Stadium will host the game Thursday and in 2024. It is then scheduled to go dark again for four years before reigniting for the 2029-32 seasons.

But McKillop said there’s no reason why the rivalry should ever cease again.

“Every single year. Pitt and West Virginia, Pitt and Penn State have to play on a regular basis,” McKillop said. “When Pitt is doing well and Penn State is doing well and West Virginia is doing well, it’s really good for college football.”

Also during the podcast, McKillop talks about how West Virginia ignored him during high school recruiting, what it was like to end his Pitt career with the 13-9 win and how he is dealing with some West Virginia neighbors and in-laws this week.

Listen: Tim Benz and Chris McKillop talk Pitt-West Virginia’s Backyard Brawl