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By Michael Minnich
Tribune Sports Editor
mminnich@
newstribune.info
FROSTBURG, Md.--The West Virginia-Pitt football series may resume as an every-other-year event, according to a WVU signee on Wednesday.
Mountain Ridge's Jarrod Harper, who inked his letter-of-intent to join the Mountaineers on Wednesday afternoon, said that WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen told him during the recruiting process that the Backyard Brawl would continue.
"It's going to happen every other year, I'm pretty sure. Coach Holgorsen said that we're going to switch, playing Maryland and Pitt," said Harper. "I come from Maryland, so a lot of my friends are Terps fans. They always talk about West Virginia playing Maryland, whenever I'd get up there [to join the team]. Now we're going to be playing them, I guess, every other year, I'm not sure yet."
"At this time, we don't have any information on future schedules," said West Virginia football sports information director Mike Montoro via e-mail.
E-mails to the football sports information directors at Maryland and Pitt had not been returned at press time.
Both West Virginia and Pitt are leaving the Big East, which would mean that the two schools aren't guaranteed to play each other on a yearly basis.
West Virginia wants to join the Big 12 for the upcoming 2012 football season, pending the resolution of litigation between WVU and the Big East, while Pitt, who announced their departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference last September, look likely not to make the move until the 2014 football season.
So, if the Mountaineers are permitted to leave, last year's game, a 21-20 WVU win, is the last meeting currently scheduled.
The two schools, separated by only 75 miles, have met 104 times, including every season since 1943.
West Virginia and Maryland have met 48 times: the series resumed in 2010 after a two-year hiatus.
WVU and UMD played every year from 1980 to 2007, and were supposed to continue their series with a yearly meeting until at least 2017, according to a release on the Maryland web site from September 2010.
By Michael Minnich
Tribune Sports Editor
mminnich@
newstribune.info
FROSTBURG, Md.--The West Virginia-Pitt football series may resume as an every-other-year event, according to a WVU signee on Wednesday.
Mountain Ridge's Jarrod Harper, who inked his letter-of-intent to join the Mountaineers on Wednesday afternoon, said that WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen told him during the recruiting process that the Backyard Brawl would continue.
"It's going to happen every other year, I'm pretty sure. Coach Holgorsen said that we're going to switch, playing Maryland and Pitt," said Harper. "I come from Maryland, so a lot of my friends are Terps fans. They always talk about West Virginia playing Maryland, whenever I'd get up there [to join the team]. Now we're going to be playing them, I guess, every other year, I'm not sure yet."
"At this time, we don't have any information on future schedules," said West Virginia football sports information director Mike Montoro via e-mail.
E-mails to the football sports information directors at Maryland and Pitt had not been returned at press time.
Both West Virginia and Pitt are leaving the Big East, which would mean that the two schools aren't guaranteed to play each other on a yearly basis.
West Virginia wants to join the Big 12 for the upcoming 2012 football season, pending the resolution of litigation between WVU and the Big East, while Pitt, who announced their departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference last September, look likely not to make the move until the 2014 football season.
So, if the Mountaineers are permitted to leave, last year's game, a 21-20 WVU win, is the last meeting currently scheduled.
The two schools, separated by only 75 miles, have met 104 times, including every season since 1943.
West Virginia and Maryland have met 48 times: the series resumed in 2010 after a two-year hiatus.
WVU and UMD played every year from 1980 to 2007, and were supposed to continue their series with a yearly meeting until at least 2017, according to a release on the Maryland web site from September 2010.
