West Virginia Mountaineers Will Suit Up Against Pittsburgh in Sharp New Uniforms

When the West Virginia Mountaineers take to the field this November to play the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 103rd "Backyard Brawl," they will be sporting some new gear.

Nike has introduced it's Pro Combat uniform with a commemoration to West Virginia and Pittsburgh by designing a scheme that fits each region's industrial power. 

For those of you that have not been to West Virginia, that would be coal mining.

Pittsburgh, they made steel.

The uniforms are made of lighter, more flexible material, which may give a little more explosive energy to the Mountaineer running game when they take the field November 26 in Pittsburgh.

The actual design of the uniform is intended to reflect on the hard work of West Virginia's coal miners and the accident at Upper Big Branch mine which took the lives of 29 miners in April of 2009.

A light grey shading covers the entire uniform, which is intended to represent a thin layer of coal dust.

The uniform is also outlined with a thin yellow line throughout and on the helmet, placed there to represent a coal miner's head lamp beam.

Pittsburgh's jersey, on the other hand, is a very dark, almost purple, blue outlined with black and two gold stripes down the middle of the helmet.

Even though the Mountaineers are only one of 10 other teams that will wear special uniforms this year, West Virginia's gear was by far the most striking when it was initially released at a media event in New York City on Wednesday.

I just can't wait to see them in action.

This year the Mountaineers will also wear a No. 29 sticker on the back of their helmets to commemorate the lives lost in the Upper Big Branch mine accident.