Sometimes, it’s the strangest things you remember from the most magical moments in life.
For Scott McKillop, oddly enough, it’s Ty Pennington.
Pitt’s All-American linebacker from the late 2000s couldn’t quite recall Pennington’s name over the phone last week, but, for whatever reason, one of the first notes that came to his mind while reflecting on his alma mater’s upset of West Virginia in 2007 was a pregame appearance by the former star of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” an old ABC reality show focused on renovation projects.
Maybe it’s because McKillop and Pitt wrecked college football that day: Dec. 1, 2007, the date of 13-9.
That’s the now-iconic final score of Pitt’s triumph 10 years ago that floored then-No. 2-ranked West Virginia and its fans, who were so close to a berth in the Bowl Championship Series national title game that many had already booked their flights to New Orleans for the festivities. The memories of particular flashbulb moments from the game go on and on — McKillop’s fourth-and-3 stop late in the fourth quarter, star West Virginia quarterback Pat White’s thumb injury and freshman Pitt quarterback Pat Bostick’s 1-yard touchdown, to name a few — but so does the rivalrous bad blood from the 100th Backyard Brawl.
Former West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt, a senior in 2007, did his best to renew the vitriol with comments he made in a retrospective piece by SBNation.com earlier this year.
“We blew it against the [expletive] [expletive] team in the [expletive] world,” he said of that Pitt squad that finished just 5-7 on the year.
You had better believe plenty of Panthers from that era saw the comments and delight in how much bitterness remains on the other side of the coin from that fateful night in Morgantown, W.Va.
“Here’s the thing, though,” McKillop said, “if we [stunk], then apparently you [stunk] more than we did, because we beat you.”
There was no humor in the words of McKillop, one of the defining characters of this story. When something goes wrong for his former Pitt program, or something goes right for his wife’s beloved alma mater West Virginia, McKillop always has the ultimate trump card. He even had his own Schmitt-like moment six years ago, telling the Post-Gazette’s Joe Starkey, “I [expletive] hate West Virginia. I can't stand the state. I just don't like that university.”
Most ironically, McKillop married into a family of Mountaineers fans and donors, but he doesn’t regret his own vulgarities. He believes Schmitt and other alumni likely heard about those, and that’s what makes the rivalry great.
“That venom never leaves your blood,” Bostick said.
While it might be a long time before the war of words ceases, then-Pitt kicker Conor Lee takes a more matter-of-fact approach to rebutting Schmitt’s putdown.
“We weren’t the worst team ever; we won five games that year,” Lee pointed out with a chuckle. “But we didn’t like them, and I think a lot of the guys don’t like each other, right? You can tell with Owen Schmitt. He clearly doesn’t like Pitt, right? It bothers him.”
If Schmitt is the West Virginia graduate who hates that game the most, Mike McGlynn might be the Pitt product on the opposite end of that spectrum. The senior right tackle from that season absolutely loves talking 13-9, from freshman tailback LeSean McCoy’s dominance to putrid officiating that nearly cost Pitt the upset to Bostick’s quarterback sneak.
McGlynn went on to play eight years in the NFL, but nothing later in his football life would compare to all that. He even spent time on the Philadelphia Eagles with none other than Owen Schmitt.
“Hey, you can say we lost to the worst team, blah blah blah, but we came to play,” McGlynn said. “You had to chance to play for the national championship, and we whooped your [butt].”
Boundaries in the trash-talk are few, but they do exist. Maybe it’s a kicker thing, maybe it’s a local thing, but Upper St. Clair native Lee said he has “never, ever” mentioned the game to his counterpart that day, Pat McAfee of Plum. West Virginia’s kicker, who later would be the Indianapolis Colts punter for eight seasons, missed two short field goals in the first half that could’ve been the difference.
“That was just cruel. When they lost the game, a lot of people came at him,” said Lee, who used to play soccer with McAfee and considers him a longtime friend. “I remember he said he locked himself in his room for a week. He was devastated.”
Lee keeps his pot shots to reminding McAfee that it was the Pitt kicker who was named All-Big East Conference their senior year, not the eventual NFL All-Pro.
McGlynn, McKillop, Bostick and Lee each have their indelible images from that evening. For McGlynn, it’s walking off the field as a team, chanting the fight song. For McKillop, it’s not just the guy from the home remodeling show, but also senior Lowell Robinson forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half. For Bostick, it’s seeing punter Dave Brytus run out of the end zone to purposely give up a safety as time expired. And for Lee, it’s the way the Mountaineers seemed so confident before it all went south.
“I swear West Virginia didn’t warm up for that game. They were just dancing around,” Lee said. “It was like everyone was already celebrating, because they were going to the national championship. I remember [coach Dave] Wannstedt walking into the locker room after the warm-up and he was like, ‘All they [expletive] do is dance’ or something like that. And it was always something that’s been kind of ironic, because they were obviously pretty devastated by the end of the game.”
And it’s a feeling that might not ever fully go away. Schmitt’s remarks are proof positive of that. McGlynn gave his former college foe and professional teammate a shout when he saw how Schmitt disparaged the 2007 Panthers …
“I tried to reach out to him a couple ways,” McGlynn said, “but he didn’t respond. That’s OK.
“I understand, because that cuts him deep. I’d spout off too when you don’t take care of business. But we whooped that [butt] that day.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: November 30, 2017, 1:00 p.m.
