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Rich Rodriguez earned the right to celebrate after leading West Virginia to a victory over Pitt in the most recent installment of the Backyard Brawl. However, he picked a fairly surprising venue to cap off the day after making his way to an Applebee’s for a victory meal.
West Virginia was riding a string of mediocre seasons when Rich Rodriguez was tapped to replace Don Nehlen as the head coach of the Mountaineers in 2002. It took him a while to find his footing in Morgantown, but he only needed a few years to turn the team into serious contenders once he did.
It looked like WVU was on its way to playing for a national championship in 2007 when they headed into the final game of the season at 10-1 and ranked at #2 against a 4-7 Pitt squad that was essentially playing for pride in that year’s edition of the rivalry game known as the Backyard Brawl.
However, the Panthers pulled off a stunning upset on the road with a 13-9 win that dashed West Virginia’s title dreams in what marked Rodriguez’s final game as their head coach (he defected to Michigan before the Mountaineers beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl).
His decision to head to Ann Arbor made him a pariah among the WVU faithful. However, they say time heals all wounds, and that appeared to be the case based on the reception Rodriguez received after he was hired prior to the start of the 2025 campaign after the school brought the Neal Brown Era to an end.
He kicked off his tenure with an easy (and expected) win over Robert Morris before the Mountaineers fell to 1-1 with a loss to Ohio on the road. However, he redeemed himself a bit against Pitt in a revenge game that was nearly two decades in the making, and he opted to head to one of America’s preeminent fast casual chains after the dust settled.
Rich Rodriguez rolled into Applebee’s to eat after West Virginia beat Pitt in the Backyard Brawl
Pitt was a 28.5-point underdog when it shocked West Virginia in 2007, but the Panthers were favored by around a touchdown when they headed into enemy territory on Saturday in search of their second straight win in the Backyard Brawl.
However, West Virginia was responsible for flipping the script this time around. The two teams needed overtime to decide a contest where the Mountaineers overcame a 10-point deficit in the last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, and they sealed the win by scoring a touchdown on the first possession before preventing Pitt from doing the same.
The contest wrapped up around 7:45 on Saturday night, and during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rich Rod said he celebrated the win by smoking a victory cigar with some friends. The clock was approaching midnight when they realized they wanted something to eat, and he revealed where they headed after realizing their options were limited, saying:
“I hadn’t ate since 8 A.M. We’re like, ‘What the hell’s open?’ There’s an Applebee’s like a mile away. At 12 o’clock, thankfully the chef’s still there. So we kind of barged in there and ate some Applebee’s at 12 o’clock at night, had a grand time.”
Dudes rock.