PITT-WEST VIRGINIA Spinning a tale or two nothing new in rivalry

The 98th Backyard Brawl is Thursday night in Morgantown, W. Va.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Former Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford stopped by Monday to see some of his former teammates and to spin tales about recent Backyard Brawl games against rival West Virginia.
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt wondered if, 20 years from now, Rutherford will be telling the same stories.
"Everyone's got a Backyard Brawl story, and they get better as the years go on," Wannstedt said.
Like the one Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko can tell about last year's 16-13 Pitt victory over No. 21 West Virginia, a Thanksgiving night game televised nationally. The Mountaineers lead 10-0 and 13-9 only to lose on Palko's 2-yard scoring run with just over five minutes remaining, putting Pitt into the BCS bowl berth that West Virginia seemed to have secured.
Tradition's lifespan
Wannstedt, a Pitt player from 1970-73, can tell stories himself about the Pitt-West Virginia series -- now, with Penn State gone, the only remaining rivalry on Pitt's schedule that has been played every season since World War II.
Wannstedt, as a freshman linebacker, was around for one of Pitt's most improbable victories in the series, a 36-35 decision in 1970 in which Pitt trailed 35-8 at Pitt Stadium.
"We know everything that's involved with the history of the game, and I think for both teams it's more than just who we're playing, too," Wannstedt said.
For No. 12 West Virginia (8-1, 5-0 in Big East), the 98th Pitt-West Virginia game Thursday night in Morgantown sets up a chance for the Mountaineers to secure that BCS bowl bid they were denied last season, although they may also have to beat South Florida on Dec. 2.
For Pitt (5-5, 4-2), the only way to dodge the school's first losing season since 1999 and make a sixth consecutive bowl appearance is to pull off an upset comparable to that 1970 game.
No doubt Wannstedt doesn't want to join Paul Hackett (3-7-1 in 1990) as the only first-year Pitt coaches to have a losing record since Carl DePasqua went 4-6 in 1969. Johnny Majors was 3-8 in his second turn as coach in 1993 but, his first time around, his 1973 team went 6-5-1 after DePasqua's final Pitt team was 1-10 in 1972.
Players knew each other
"In years past, West Virginia was always a big rivalry because of the location and recruiting," Wannstedt said. "They would come up this way and recruit some. There were players that knew each other and played against each other in high school. I think now with the Big East Conference, it adds even more to the rivalry."
Still, this matchup doesn't appear to be a good one for Pitt. West Virginia's team speed appears to be much better, and the Panthers have had season-long problems mounting a running game and protecting Palko.
No Pitt running back averages even 50 yards per game, and Palko's numbers are way down from a season ago, when he passed for 3,067 yards and 24 touchdowns with only seven interceptions during an 8-4 season in former coach Walt Harris' offense. This season, he has thrown for 2,084 yards and 15 touchdowns, again with seven interceptions.
West Virginia's unfamiliar 3-5-3 defense also presents a problem because it is difficult to simulate in practice.
"What's tough is you don't see it every week. It's kind of like playing a wishbone team on offense," Wannstedt said. "We used to play wishbone teams when we were at Oklahoma State and Miami, and we always felt that was their biggest advantage -- you have to work through defending some things you normally would not."