MORGANTOWN Many words come to mind when one thinks about the annual "Backyard Brawl" pitting the Panthers from the University of Pittsburgh against the homestanding Mountaineers of West Virginia University.

Two of them would not normally be 'role reversal'.

However, that is the case at 7 p.m. Friday when the No. 8 Panthers roll into Milan Puskar Stadium for the 102nd meeting with their arch rivals from the Mountain State.

Two years ago an unranked Pitt, led by a head coach on the hot seat, strolled on Mountaineer Field and ended the national championship hopes of a then-No. 2 WVU squad with a 13-9 victory.

This time it will be an unranked Mountaineer squad (7-3, 3-2 Big East) looking to reverse its season with a win over a Panther team (9-1, 5-0 Big East) still in the chase for a Big East title and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series.

"We're getting ready for the "Backyard Brawl", our annual battle with the University of Pittsburgh," WVU head coach Bill Stewart explained. "I'm sure it will be a heck of a game. It's a very intense rivalry and we go back many years."

Many years is right.

The first "Backyard Brawl" took place in Wheeling on Oct. 26, 1895, and was won by the Mountaineers by an 8-0 score. The two teams have met on the gridiron every season since 1943 with the Panthers holding a series lead of 61-37-3, including wins in the last two contests.

"It will be a very physical, emotional, hard-fought game," continued Stewart. "They all usually are. If history repeats itself, this game will be like it has in the past tough and very exciting."

West Virginia is coming off a tough 24-21 loss to No. 5 Cincinnati which basically took the Mountaineers out of the race for the Big East title. However, there is much to gain with a win over the Panthers as the bowl contest the old gold and blue is invited to will basically be determined by the outcomes of the next two games and then there is the bragging rights which go to the victor of the "Backyard Brawl".

"Football is always important, as is each win," added the coach. "But with Pitt and West Virginia that's an intense rivalry, and it goes to recruiting too. You just develop that rivalry, and recruiting helps intensify it."

To accomplish that feat, however, WVU will have to play one of its best games of the year.

Pitt comes into the contest off of a five-point, 27-22, win over Notre Dame and has not tasted defeat since N.C. State came away with a seven-point, 38-31, win back during the last week of September.

The Panthers close out their regular season at home when No. 5 Cincinnati comes to Heinz Field for a battle of expected Top 10 teams.

Head coach Dave Wannstedt's team is led by freshman sensation Deon Lewis and a defense which has allowed only 16.4 points per game.

Lewis has rushed for 1,291 yards and 13 touchdowns on 224 attempts (5.8 ypc) and leads the team in all-purpose yardage, averaging 143.3 yards per game.

That production has allowed quarterback Bill Stull to pick and chose when he wants to put the football in the air and the senior has responded by completing 163-of-246 attempts for 2,115 and 18 touchdowns with only four interceptions.

"Bill Stull is a great example of Proverbs 24:16," said Stewart. "You just have to keep rising. Every time you get knocked to your knees, you just have to get back up. We'll get knocked on our knees in this life."

Friday will also be the final home game for 21 seniors who have played a part in 38 wins, one Big East championship, two 11-win seasons, three-straight bowl victories and two Top 10 final national rankings.

"I don't know how I'm going to hold up Thursday night when our seniors talk," said the coach. "When they look at you, and tears are coming down their faces, and then they say 'Thank you' for recruiting me and giving me a shot when no one else did it's tough."

The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Mark Jones doing the play-by-play and Bob Davie adding the game analysis.

West Virginia is 6-0 at Mountaineer Field in 2009.