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Pitt tackle Petitti: West Virginia not quite 'Heaven'
Sunday, November 21, 2004

By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


If Pitt senior left tackle Rob Petitti were to drive from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, N.C., it would take him a lot longer than the average person. That's because he wouldn't follow the standard route of I-79 South to Route 19 to I-77.

"I'd find a way not to have to drive through West Virginia because I have no desire to be there, ever," said Petitti, "I hate that state, I hate that school, I hate those fans -- especially the fans. I hate everything about West Virginia.

"I can't even watch those commercials for the school or telling you to come visit the state of West Virginia. They really bug me.

"That's why I tell all my friends, if I ever have to drive anywhere in that direction, I'll find a way around the state because I don't ever want to go back there.

Yep, it's that week again, a time for players from Pitt and West Virginia to renew vows of hatred for each other. Petitti, like most of his teammates, has eagerly anticipated this week and is hoping it ends better for the Panthers than it has in each of the past two seasons.

The Panthers (6-3, 3-2 Big East) will play host to West Virginia (8-2, 4-1) in the annual Backyard Brawl Thursday night at Heinz Field, and, like most games in this series, especially recently, there is a lot more riding on the outcome than just the yearlong bragging rights.

The winner of this game has an outside chance at winning the Big East Conference and, at the very least, a good chance to secure a berth in the Gator Bowl, a New Year's Day bowl with a healthy paycheck. If Pitt loses, it can probably expect to end up in a smaller bowl, anywhere from Houston to Phoenix to San Francisco to Detroit.

While the conference championship and BCS bowls are a nice bonus, it is the bragging rights that really count to a lot of seniors, including Petitti, who has experienced the intensity of this rivalry firsthand the past four years.

"Every year, this is the most physical game we will play," said Petitti, who is 6 feet 6, 335 pounds. "They will be dirty out there, we'll be dirty; this is the game both teams want to win more than any other every single year. You want to look back at your season and say you beat West Virginia.

"Nobody on either team will give up and nobody will lay down, so it will be a lot of fun. There is always a lot of trash talk in this one, you can believe that."

Petitti is not one of the many local athletes in the game, nor was he the object of a recruiting war between the schools. He learned to dislike the Mountaineers, and it didn't take him long.

A native of Rumson, N.J., Petitti had no idea how intense the rivalry between the Mountaineers and Panthers was until he first stepped into the fray as a redshirt freshman in 2000. He picked up on the rivalry from veteran players as the Panthers beat the Mountaineers, 38-28, at Three Rivers Stadium.

Even then, it wasn't until the next year -- his first active season and first trip to Morgantown to play in front of the Mountaineers' notoriously belligerent crowd -- that he began to realize just how bitter the rivalry could be. Pitt won, 23-17, but Petitti hasn't experienced a victory against the Mountaineers since.

"Basically, just having to go down there my first year I played, I hated it, I hated it more than anything," Petitti said.

"I mean, it is not even so much the players; we have respect for each other. It is their fans and their arrogance towards us. They don't think too much of us, and we don't think too much of them."

And, just in case some people forgot what the game means in terms of bragging rights, he said, there is a sign in the locker room with the date of the game "11-27-04" in bold print. For a guy who has been through this game three times before, the sign isn't necessary, but for some of the younger guys, it is.

Petitti, who is a two-time, all-conference selection, has started 46 of 47 games since his freshman year -- he had a streak of 42 consecutive starts snapped earlier this season against Temple because of a concussion -- and has been a stalwart on the Panthers' offensive line since his first game.

He earned national recognition his freshman season, when he held Syracuse standout Dwight Freeney without a sack. That was the first time Freeney had been shut out in 15 games. Since then, Petitti has done nothing but improve his status as one of the premier tackles in the Big East.

Last weekend, he added to his reputation when he held Notre Dame standout Justin Tuck without a sack. He no doubt has a future in the NFL but admits his career will be incomplete if he finishes it with a third consecutive loss to the Mountaineers.

"That's definitely the way I want to go out, with a win over West Virginia at home," Petitti said. "It'll be emotional, no doubt, but it is a part of my life that I have to move on and do better things. I'll be pretty pumped up. I try not to think about the end, but I just want to worry about winning these next two games ... but especially this next one."
11-21-2004 08:07 AM
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