[Music] showdown in Morgantown is sponsored by Tony the Taylor well the Mountaineers are in the final few days of preparing for the big showdown in Morgantown this Saturday with Penn State but we're taking a look back at the history of this rivalry Sports director Mark Martin has that for us tonight while it has been one-sided in favor of the nitty Lions the Rivalry itself between the two programs will forever have a nice ring to it Penn State and West Virginia this football battle started in 1904 last year's meeting in State College Pennsylvania marked the 60th time the teams had played and once again things didn't go West Virginia's Way West Virginia um they' beaten them nine times out of 60 that they played so it's not very many I think all those games that West Virginia won would be considered alltime wins the great Sugar Bowl team started a spring of three straight wins in 1953 the most for the Mountaineer program but Penn State would take total control of the series registering 25 victories in a row one of the most spectacular plays during that string of losses was Tom pridemore of anstead West Virginia returning this interception 100 yards for a touchdown during the 1977 game quarterback Jeff Hoster fell twice to the nney lions in 1982 and 83 a program he had once played for in 1979 and 80 other greats had to taste defeat finally it came to an end and the hand off given to Rand with blocker swings out to the right touchdown of the 20 to 15 the 10 to five touchdown W Virginia and in 84 that was an unbelievable win and I know Sunny sigh about burned down of course the most memorable play for a mountaineer was actually a mistake his Heisman Trophy Contender Major Harris went the wrong long way yet scored a touchdown in West Virginia's decisive victory in 1988 and that was such an unbelievable memorable game and and I can remember after the game I I participated in all of the celebrating that went on and in sunny side and it was just a wonderful memory but anytime you beat Penn State that's what it means that win came nearly 40 years ago West Virginia would love to do it again West Virginia would be fortunate to win this game it would be a it would be a a big big deal and we'll have a full preview of the big matchup this week with our showdown in Morgantown it will air right after the North Carolina Minnesota football game Thursday night 11:30 on Fox 11 and right before the fox big noon kickoff show at 9:30 Saturday morning kickoff for the Mountaineers in Penn State starts at noon thank you for watching and here's another video to watch from Eyewitness News just click right here to subscribe and don't forget to to hit the Bell notification for the latest