Night games at Mountaineer Field are truly special.

Plummeting temperatures that dipped below 30 degrees didn’t stop over 60,000 fans from filling the stands to root on the Mountaineers against Louisville. The gold rush theme was evident and impressive. I could feel the energy radiating through the student section and all of Milan Puskar Stadium. Once again, thousands of tailgaters littered the parking lots just outside of the stadium. The ESPN crew readied for the national broadcast during primetime television hours. The streets of Morgantown became heavily congested with game day traffic since the afternoon. WVU professors cancelled many Thursday and Friday classes for the big game. This is what college football is all about. This is Mountaineer football.

West Virginia and Louisville are still the cream of the crop in the Big East. The last three showdowns between the Cardinals and Mountaineers have been electric. Big East and national standing implications are frequently put on the line when these two teams clash.

The game always features star power. Louisville’s Brian Brohm is one of the elite drop-back passers in all of college football. He will be a future first round NFL draft pick. UL wide outs Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia are two of the finest players at their position that you will see. They both should be drafted by NFL teams. West Virginia features the well-known duo of Patrick White and Steve Slaton. Both should have future NFL careers as well.

The famous Pride of West Virginia marching band takes the field and performs the fight song and an arrangement of John Denver’s beloved “Country Roads” while moving in intricate formations to spell out WVU, the flying WV logo and the state outline.

The video board comes to life with a view of the Mountaineer Express rolling along while sounding its horns. The entrance video of Coach Rich Rodriguez and highlight plays from 2007 and yesteryear fire up the Mountaineer faithful. The band members sway back and forth in rhythm to the up-tempo music. The Mountaineer fires his rifle and the entire team pores out of the huge inflatable WVU helmet and races down the field to the applause of a raucous home crowd.

WVU jumped out to an early 14-0 lead by White throwing two touchdown passes to receiver Darius Reynaud.

Brohm would answer the call for Louisville by tossing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Gary Barnidge.

Slaton runs in the next touchdown for West Virginia.

Brohm leads the Cardinals back down the field and scores on a quarterback sneak from a yard out. He had cut the deficit to 21-14 heading into halftime.

WVU opens up the second half with a 28-yard field goal by Pat McAfee.

The Mountaineer defense stepped up big for the next score. Eric Wicks recovered a fumble by Brohm and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. WVU was up 31-14 and appeared would coast to another victory.

UL responded with Brock Bolen’s two yard touchdown run in the final minute of the third quarter.

Brohm found Urrutia in the back corner of the endzone on a 12-yard pass that cut the deficit to just three.

Cardinal place kicker Arthur Carmody split the uprights with his 37-yard field goal attempt. The game was tied 31-31.

White would answer the call for the Mountaineers. His 50-yard touchdown run with 1:36 to go in the game put WVU back up 38-31.

When WVU’s defense took the field, the student section stomped the bleachers to the beat of “We Will Rock You.” The energy was intense. We yelled until our throats were sore and our voices became hoarse. The fans were the 12th man on the field on this night. As I exited the stands, I saw one row where the bleacher had been kicked so violently that it sat broken and sagging.

Brohm’s ensuing hail mary heave was intercepted by WVU as time expired. The Mountaineer fired his rifle again, this time to sound victory. The team met at midfield for a prayer and then “Country Roads” sounded throughout the stadium. Fans were arm in arm singing along and swaying to the timeless, traditional hit about the home state.

Walking back to my apartment, my friends and I participated in the “Let’s Go Mountaineers” chant and slapped hands with other fans. The Morgantown community and the whole state of West Virginia rallies behind this team and there is a genuine sense of unity and pride.

WVU was plagued with penalties and a few costly turnovers, but hung on the secure the win against their newest rival. The blows delivered by both teams sent the momentum back and forth for much of the contest. White proved to be the game’s most valuable player throwing for 181 yards and two touchdowns while running for 147 yards, including the game winning 50-yard scoring dash.

West Virginia improved to 8-1 (3-1 Big East). Louisville fell to 5-5 (2-3 Big East). WVU owns bragging rights over UL for a year and kept its Big East and national title hopes alive. As Tony Caridi, the voice of the Mountaineers says, “It is a great night to be Mountaineer, wherever you may be.”