Saturday night’s win over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl was special for West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez for a variety of reasons, and while he’ll never admit to it, it helped get the proverbial monkey off his back from that 2007 loss that, of course, kept the Mountaineers out of the national championship.
The significance of this win could never totally erase the feelings of that cold December night, but it sure makes things feel much better around the program, especially when WVU holds bragging rights for the next four years.
“Somebody asked me that after the game and I don’t reflect probably as much as one would think but if you want to say that’s in the top five… for sure,” Rodriguez said Monday night during his coach’s show. “It was more emotional and a little bit more fired up after that game than some others because it’s obviously important to us, the program, also it’s really important to our fans and the state of West Virginia. We all have the same feelings about Pitt, so if we can brag about it for a year or two years, whatever it is… damn right! Let’s do it!”
It was a long night as the game went over four hours long, not counting the nearly half hour of celebration on the field and in the stands. Rodriguez said he was so amped up that he and a few others enjoyed a victory cigar in the Puskar Center before realizing it was getting late and he needed to get something to eat. Rodriguez said he never eats before games, so he went all day without any food and had limited food options by the time he left the stadium. So what did he do? Well, he took a page out of Ricky Bobby’s playbook and strolled on over to Applebee’s right before they closed.
Could you imagine working the night shift at Applebee’s and you’re getting ready to close up shop, and then, out of nowhere, the head coach of the Mountaineers walks through the door after beating Pitt? That had to be a bit surprising.
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