The 102nd Backyard Brawl Friday night is not only a rivalry and a big game as far as the Big East Conference goes, but the annual West Virginia-Pitt tussle also marks the final game at Milan Puskar Stadium for 23 WVU seniors.

Franchot “Boogie” Allen (DB), Max Anderson (RB), Alric Arnett (WR), Payton Brooks (WR), Jarrett Brown (QB), Selvish Capers (OL), Carmen Connolly (WR), Zac Cooper (LB/DE), Jack Crow (WR), Guesly Dervil (DB), Zach Flynt (LB), Ovid Goulbourne (LB), Scott Kozlowski (P), Josh Lider (K), Scott Loving (TE), Wes Lyons (WR), Trevor Mathews (P), Michael Poitier (RB), Kent Richardson (DB), Nate Sowers (DB), Jon Walko (OL), Reed Williams (LB) and Anthony Wood (DB) will be suiting up for the last time.

Each senior will get a chance to speak tonight when the team convenes for the last time at Lakeview Resort.

“I don’t know how I’m going to hold up Thursday night when our seniors talk,” coach Bill Stewart said.

“When they look at you and tears are coming down their faces, and they say, ‘Thank you for recruiting me and giving me a shot when no one else did,’ it’s tough.

“I recruited some of these guys from West Virginia. It’s special. When the seniors talk to the team, and their teammates yell, ‘Let it out, man’ — Thursday night is awesome. It will be a great time.”

Several state natives are on that list.

But none have forged out the careers of Williams and Sowers.

Sowers, the one-time Kennedy Award winner, has gone from quarterback to receiver to safety, but in the end he finished with a fine career.

Williams has amassed several individual honors and is considered one of the top linebackers in the Big East, despite being slowed by a litany of injuries.

“We were in a fight to get (Sowers), and I am so pleased that we did,” Stewart said. “I promised his mom and dad, just as I did Reed Williams’, because I recruited both at the same time, that I would treat them like my own sons. There will be tough times and discipline, but there will also be a lot of good times and love.”

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Stewart is a big fan of resilient Pitt quarterback Bill Stull, who has gone from starter to the bench to starter again. He was even booed at home during his career, which sticks in the craw of coaches like Stewart.

“Billy Stull is a great example of Proverbs 24:16 — you just have to keep rising,” Stewart said. “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.

“To be booed at home like Bill Stull was, it’s good to see him stay within the framework of his upbringing. For him to press onward, I can only say good things about him. He is a player. He is a good person.

“I hope he doesn’t get booed at Mountaineer Field, except for when he walks in the door, but I also hope he doesn’t receive a lot of cheers. We want to win this football game. I’d love for him to have a nice, storybook ending in his last game (against Cincinnati).”

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Dave Wannstedt makes no secret that Pitt’s 13-9 win over WVU in 2007 in Morgantown, a game that knocked the Mountaineers out of the national title game, had a huge effect on the Panthers’ program.

“I remember going out there for pregame warmups and the recruits were all lined up on the sidelines, and I looked over and could see all of these kids that we were recruiting and that they were recruiting,” he said. “Within 10 to 14 days (after the game) we got eight commitments. Two or three of those kids that were right there (at the game) committed with us.”

That game was also former coach Rich Rodriguez’s last as Mountaineer coach. He left days later to take the Michigan job and WVU went on to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

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The game will be televised live on ESPN2 with kickoff scheduled for just after 7 p.m. Friday.

— E-mail: demorrison@

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