No burning coaches that I saw--just shirts that Pitt sucks
They have the aggie syndrome on teams they don't play anymore
To WVU's credit Pitt is 76 miles away, in a different state, and there is serious culture clash: North vs. South, Steel vs. Coal. Urban vs. Rural.
But the hate as we know it today stems from 2007, when WVU was ranked #2 in the BCS poll (#1 in Coaches Poll) playing the last game of the regular season. All WVU had to do was win the 100th "Backyard Brawl" in Morgantown over 4-7 Pitt (a 28.5 underdog), and they're in their first BCS National Championship game. WVU, at the time, was averaging 42 points per game. At home they score a season low 9 points, losing 13-9. This team was led by Steve Slaton and Pat White.
When interviewed in 2017 for an
SB Nation 10-year retrospective on the 2007 college football season as a whole,
Owen Schmitt, fullback for the 2007 WVU team, apparently still had problems coming to grips with the result, telling the reporter, "And then you get to the last game of the season and blow it against the [ Finebaum ] tiest team in the world."
Pitt earned a lifetime of WVU hatred that day. 15 days after that loss Coach Rich Rodriguez announced he was leaving WVU to become head coach at Michigan. According to legend, Rich Rod never called the plays, but took over for that week against Pitt. One week earlier they scored 66 points on 20th ranked UConn. At best his head was not in the game. At worst, he tanked it on purpose.