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Largest crowd packs Acrisure Stadium after 11-year wait for Backyard Brawl

Pitt and West Virginia haven't played each other in football since 2011.

Largest crowd packs Acrisure Stadium after 11-year wait for Backyard Brawl

Pitt and West Virginia haven't played each other in football since 2011.

REPORTER: ABSOLUTELY. THEY ARE SCREAMING BEHIND ME. SOMETHING GOOD MIGHT’VE JUST HAPPENED AGAIN. SUCH A GREAT GAME TO WATCH. IT’S DEFINITELY BEEN A LONG TIME COMING. ACCORDING TO PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL, THEY SAY THERE’S OVER 70,000 PEOPLE INSIDE ACRISURE STADIUM TONIGHT, MAKING THIS THE LARGEST CROWD PITTSBURGH SPORTS IS EVER SEEN. A DEEP RIVALRY THAT RUNS IN THEIR BLOOD, AND THROUGH THEY’RE FAMILY, GREG BURKE AND JARED OYLER HAVE BEEN ROOTING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER SINCE COLLEGE. WE LIVED THROUGH THAT RIVALRY >>WE LIVED THROUGH THAT RIVALRY AND THEN WE DIDN’T HAVE IT FOR A LONG TIME AND NOW IT’S BACK AND WE’RE EXCITED. REPORTER: IT’S BEEN 11 YEARS SINCE THE LAST BACKYARD BRAWL BETWEEN UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AND WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY. IT WAS A GAME SOME MAY NOT REMEMBER, BUT SURELY THERE ARE REMINDERS EVERYWHERE YOU TURNED THURSDAY NIGHT. >> IT’S CRAZY, MY DAD WENT TO WVU SO HE’S BEEN TO A NUMBER OF WV YOU-PITT GAMES SO I’VE HEARD ALL THE CRAZY STORIES SO IT’S REALLY FUN TO BE HERE AND EXPERIENCE KIND OF WHAT HE’S EXPERIENCED. REPORTER: THE SOLD-OUT GAME BROUGHT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BLUE AND GOLD FANS FROM BOTH SIDES, AND ADD IN THE RIB FEST, IT CREATED THE PERFECT EQUATION FOR A LONG-AWAITED FOOTBALL GAME. >> WHEN WE LOST THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A FIELD GOAL WHERE WE COULD’VE WENT TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, I STILL THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE THAT ARE OLDER AND MY AGE STILL FEEL THAT PAIN. >> WE HAVE FAMILY THAT WENT TO BOTH SCHOOLS AND IT JUST MEANS A TON TO US TO HAVE THE FAMILY AND EVERYTHING HERE FOR THIS. REPORTER: A SWEET CAROLINE VERSUS COUNTRY ROADS BATTLE, BACK AND MAKING IT’S MARK. >> THAT’S WHAT THE BEAUTY OF THIS RIVALRY IS, YOU HAVE PEOPLE IN THE SAME FAMILY THAT ARE ON DIFFERENT SIDES AND FOR THE NIGHT WE ARGUE AND THEN WE ALL COME TOGETHER AT THE END OF THE DAY. REPORTER: WE ARE SEEING SOME OF THE CROWD FOR OUT OF ACRISURE STADIUM AT THIS POINT, STILL HEARING SOME CHEERS FROM INSIDE AROUND THE FIELD. PITTSBURGH WILL FACE OFF TENNESSEE FOR THEIR SECOND GAME NEXT SATURDA
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Largest crowd packs Acrisure Stadium after 11-year wait for Backyard Brawl

Pitt and West Virginia haven't played each other in football since 2011.

The Pitt Panthers defeated the West Virginia University Mountaineers Thursday night during the Backyard Brawl at Acrisure Stadium.It marked the return of a college football rivalry game that hadn't been played since 2011.According to Pitt football, there were 70,622 people in attendance for the Backyard Brawl, making it the largest crowd in Pittsburgh sports history.Huge crowd for Pitt vs. WVU: Watch our report from the North Shore in the video above."To be able to bring that rivalry back from 11 years ago speaks volumes, and I'm glad to see the younger generations be able to come up and be able to experience this," WVU fan Corey Chaney said. "When we lost the national championship with a field goal, where we could've went to the national championship, I still think a lot of people here that are older and my age still feel that pain."Tens of thousands of fans packed in and around the stadium on Pittsburgh's North Shore for the long-awaited game Thursday night. "This is great. The atmosphere is, like, electric," Pitt fan Greg Johns said. "I have seen (the Backyard Brawl) before, and back then, it wasn't as big. But now it's maybe double, triple."

The Pitt Panthers defeated the West Virginia University Mountaineers Thursday night during the Backyard Brawl at Acrisure Stadium.

It marked the return of a college football rivalry game that hadn't been played since 2011.

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According to Pitt football, there were 70,622 people in attendance for the Backyard Brawl, making it the largest crowd in Pittsburgh sports history.

Huge crowd for Pitt vs. WVU: Watch our report from the North Shore in the video above.

"To be able to bring that rivalry back from 11 years ago speaks volumes, and I'm glad to see the younger generations be able to come up and be able to experience this," WVU fan Corey Chaney said. "When we lost the national championship with a field goal, where we could've went to the national championship, I still think a lot of people here that are older and my age still feel that pain."

Tens of thousands of fans packed in and around the stadium on Pittsburgh's North Shore for the long-awaited game Thursday night.

"This is great. The atmosphere is, like, electric," Pitt fan Greg Johns said. "I have seen (the Backyard Brawl) before, and back then, it wasn't as big. But now it's maybe double, triple."

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