Running down WVU’s ol’ ball coach — Don Nehlen — for Backyard Brawl memories
If I wasn’t ready for the Backyard Brawl an hour ago, I certainly am now.
See, I just spent a half hour talking to former WVU coach Don Nehlen. Hearing his voice is like hearing Keith Jackson call a game. It’s like experiencing Bear Bryant walk a sideline with his houndstooth hat. It’s like listening to Bobby Bowden say “Dad Gumit” back in the day.
Nehlen IS college football. College Football Hall of Fame, that is.
And as he’s still spry at 87 years of age, I didn’t hesitate to call and ask about the Backyard Brawl series between Pitt and West Virginia, which resumes in Morgantown on Saturday.
I mean, is there anyone better to ask? Nehlen, the Walter Camp and Bobby Dodd national Coach of the Year in 1988, guided the Mountaineers 21 seasons. And his team played Pitt 21 games.
“I had some great ones,” Nehlen said with a chuckle on Tuesday, “and I had some bad ones.”
He certainly started his career at WVU needing to catch up. In Nehlen’s first year at WVU, 1980, the Mountaineers lost at Pitt Stadium by 42-14 – to a Jackie Sherrill team that finished ranked No. 2. The New York Times named the Panthers national champs with the likes of future Pro Football Hall of Fame members Dan Marino, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Jimbo Covert. Several others like Mark May and Hugh Green would be Pro Bowl selections.
“They were light years ahead of us as far as personnel,” Nehlen said. “But through the years it was a great rivalry. We should be playing it every year, no question about that.”
Nehlen did have one issue with the series.
“The very first thing that jumps into my mind is when I came here how personal the series was,” he said. “It’s always been heated, but I remember the T-shirts were F-this and F-that. It was really kind of nasty. I wanted a good series, but I didn’t like that. I tried to get rid of it.”
We can argue the coach’s success rate on that, but let’s move on.
“When I think about our series, I think about a couple plays,” Nehlen said. “I remember they were loaded with Dan Marino, Chris Doleman and we went up there and almost beat them. Paul Woodside attempted a field goal to tie and it hit the crossbar.”
It was the game that introduced the world to All-America linebacker Darryl Talley. He intercepted a Marino pass and blocked a punt for a safety. It was 1982 and WVU was ranked No. 14 after QB Jeff Hostetler led the Mountaineers to a stunning win at Oklahoma and a victory at Maryland.
“With the boos from a sellout crowd of 57,250 still ringing in his ears, Dan Marino directed Pittsburgh to two touchdowns in the last quarter today to give the Panthers a dramatic 16-13 victory over inspired West Virginia,” wrote Steve Hershey of The Washington Post. “It took two bad snaps by West Virginia’s substitute center and a barely short field goal attempt by one of the nation’s most successful kickers, Paul Woodside of Falls Church, Va., for Pitt to escape its archrivals. Pitt is ranked No. 1 by United Press International and No. 2 by Associated Press.
“They can expect what they want,” Marino said of the booing. “I expect a lot from myself, too. But as long as we win, that’s what counts.”
Marino clearly was outperformed by opposing quarterback Jeff Hostetler, who had guided the Mountaineers to a 13-0 lead on this warm, sunny afternoon.”
Back in 2005, WVU historian John Antonik asked if it was the “Best Brawl of All.”
“Jeff was our quarterback and they about killed him,” Nehlen said on Tuesday. “I remember that. We had to put a couple guys under Jeff’s arms to get him to the bus. The effort we got out of that team was unbelievable, absolutely amazing.”
Another prominent memory for Nehlen was the kickoff to the 1996 season. It ended in a Gator Bowl appearance. It started with a 34-0 win in Pittsburgh.
“I remember one year we went up there and Amos Zereoue — the first time he touched the ball — went 69 yards for a touchdown. It was his very first game. Really exciting. His first and Marc Bulger’s first game.”
“A chill went through my body,” Zereoue said later.
Then there was 1994. Neither team was spectacular that year. But one game was. One play was.
“Probably the most spectacular game was [QB] Chad Johnston’s game,” Nehlen said. “It was crazy. Back and forth we went. We went ahead, then they went ahead.”
Pitt had running back Billy West and wideout Dietrich Jells. WVU had standout DB Aaron Beasley, wideout Rahsaan Vanterpool and linebacker Matt Taffoni. All the latter did was record a 100-yard extra-point interception return. All Beasley did was return an interception 50 yards for a score.
Yet they paled in comparison to the final nail of the 47-41 WVU victory. With time running out…
“At the end of the game, Chad Johnston hit Zach Abraham to win,” said Nehlen. “That may have been the most unbelievable play in the series. It was either third or fourth down. We’d fallen behind right at the end. But I’ll be daggone if we didn’t score at the end to beat them.”
The Associated Press:
“Chad Johnston threw two touchdown passes in the final 1 minute 32 seconds, rallying visiting West Virginia to a bizarre 47-41 victory over Pittsburgh yesterday.
In another wild game in a 100-year-old rivalry filled with them, Johnston found Zach Abraham, a walk-on, on a decisive 60-yard scoring pass play with 15 seconds left. Only 23 seconds before, John Ryan’s touchdown pass and quarterback sneak on a 2-point conversion apparently sealed a dramatic rally from a 31-6 deficit by Pitt (1-6).
Pitt’s rally was reminiscent of similar comebacks against West Virginia in 1970, when the Panthers trailed by 35-8 before winning, 36-35, and in 1989, when they trailed by 31-10 with 10 minutes remaining before gaining a 31-31 tie. West Virginia also beat Pitt, 63-48, in 1965 in what was then the highest-scoring Division I game ever played.
Johnston threw for 396 yards and 4 touchdowns, including an 81-yarder to Rahsaan Vanterpool with 1:32 left that put West Virginia (3-4) up by 40-33 — the Mountaineers’ first points since a 2-point conversion in the second quarter put them up, 33-12.”
Nehlen also pointed to that 1989 tie. I remember being in the press box furiously writing then rewriting the game story before just throwing up my hands.
In Nehlen’s last Backyard Brawl, WVU lost 38-28 with Scotty McBrien and Brad Lewis at quarterback for the Mountaineers. Avon Cobourne was the running back.
“The last time [he coached against Pitt] we were a badly injured team,” Nehlen remembers. “At the end we couldn’t beat anybody. Had a player in the secondary that shouldn’t have been playing. It was bad.”
WVU, however, had a chance to heal and sent Nehlen out on a high note, defeating Ole Miss by 49-38 in Nashville’s Music City Bowl. The Mountaineers withstood a second-half rally behind a freshman named Eli Manning.
It was appropriate for Nehlen to go out a winner. He laid the groundwork for the WVU program to have subsequent success. He finished his career 11-8-2 against Pitt, including a record of 9-2-1 from 1988-1999.
“It was amazing we caught them as quickly as we did,” Nehlen said. “When I came to Morgantown there was an article saying West Virginia was one of the bottom 10 worst programs in America. Pitt was one of the top 10.”
Of course, like the Zach Abraham game, much goes back and forth. Programs rise and fall.
But there’s one constant with the Backyard Brawl, according to Nehlen.
“It’s been a crazy run.”
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.