Hot time in Morgantown?
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The revelry started in Morgantown after walk-on kicker Bill McKenzie's field goal in the closing seconds gave West Virginia a 17-14 win over Pittsburgh in 1975, prompting bonfires in a nearby off-campus student housing community.
Street fires like those were the precursor to a much bigger problem in Morgantown that by the late 1990s earned the university a sour reputation as college football's couch-burning capital.
In recent years, the threat of discipline for student scofflaws has greatly reduced the number of postgame fires in Morgantown after big wins and kept fans off the field. Yet as No. 2 West Virginia gets ready to meet Pittsburgh again on Saturday night with a trip to the national championship game at stake, university officials are taking no chances.
Their message: Keep the 100th Backyard Brawl among the players.
"It's hard to lose a reputation once you get it," said Morgantown Fire Chief Dave Fetty. "We have taken all the initiatives for preparing for the worst and hoping for the best."
Police, fire and university agencies have discussed response strategies as they do before every home game. A sellout crowd of 60,000 fans will be at a frenzied pitch for the 7:45 p.m. kickoff at Mountaineer Field.
Illegal burning is a misdemeanor that carries a possible $1,000 fine. Efforts by state lawmakers from the Morgantown area to stiffen the penalties failed in the Legislature this year.
The university placed newspaper ads reminding students of the consequences of unlawful behavior, including possible expulsion from school.
Officials have reasons to be wary.
In August, WVU was voted the nation's No. 1 party school in the Princeton Review's 2008 edition of "The Best 366 Colleges." The lists were compiled through a survey of 120,000 students at the colleges included in the book.
One fan Web site advertises a T-shirt for sale that glorifies WVU's couch-burning tradition. Numerous posts on another Web site encourage students to rush the field after the Pitt game, although it was quickly pointed out that they'd be met by police dogs and officers with pepper spray.
Morgantown led the nation in the number of intentional street fires between 1997 and 2003, with a total 1,129 set. Figuring prominently were wins over Virginia Tech's football team in 2002 and 2003.
About 50 street fires were set in March 2005 after the men's basketball team beat Texas Tech and advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since Jerry West led the Mountaineers to the title game in 1959. Police had to use pepper spray to control crowds.
Recently the tradition has quieted down. A single couch burned during postgame celebrations after WVU beat Marshall in the 2006 opener.
"We'd like to think it's in the past," said Bob Roberts, WVU's director of public safety. "We've worked with our administration and our students over the past three years. We've really seen a tremendous decline in it. What we've all talked about here is responsibility, and along with responsibility comes accountability. I think that message has gotten out. We wanted people to have a good time but remind them that it must be in a safe way."
