Growing up in the state of West Virginia, fifth-year senior defensive lineman Dante Stills doesn’t need any history lessons on the significance of the Backyard Brawl.

“I’ve been waiting on this my whole life,” he said.

Stills, the son of former West Virginia pass rusher Gary and brother of nose guard Darius, has deep roots within the Mountaineers football program. Growing up 20-minutes down the road in neighboring Fairmont also helped to cultivate his feelings on the rivalry despite never playing in it.

In fact, Stills only remembers a handful of the actual games considering the last on-the-field meeting against the Panthers was a decade ago but the impact of the result isn’t lost on him.

“This game is big for all of us. This isn’t just a team thing, this is a state thing,” he said. “As a whole state we’re looking forward to this game. Me and my guys are just amped.”

The two longtime rivals have met a total of 104 times with Pittsburgh holding the 61-40-3, although the Mountaineers have won 15 of the last 22 on the gridiron. This will be the first time the one-time annual match-up will have been played since the 2011 campaign when West Virginia left the Big East.

The game is the first in a series of four with the Panthers rotating between Morgantown and Pittsburgh. The two also agreed to another four-game series stretching from 2029-2032. It’s a key game for both teams and a chance for each of the current Mountaineers to have their first taste of the brawl.

“We don’t like them I know that,” running back Tony Mathis joked. “It’s good, it’s definitely a good opportunity for everybody on the team. A big rival that goes way back before I was born.”

The Mountaineers aren’t focused on Pittsburgh for now with fall camp just opening a few days ago, but having them on the schedule to open the season in primetime is motivation in itself.

The game is set for Sept. 1 as the premier offering on ESPN with College Gameday set to be in town.

“We always talk about urgency in team meetings. We have a countdown every day that we see when we meet if you waste a rep, waste a second that’s a second or a rep that Pitt can have over us,” redshirt junior guard James Gmiter said.

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