WVU Football is a few hours out from its game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mountaineers will face the Virginia Cavaliers in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. Read more: WVU fans arrive in Charlotte: Tailgates, Duke’s Mayo Fanfest, and a shovel.
Even in the early afternoon, fans already had tailgates set up ahead of the 7:30 p.m. kick.
Some fans were ready to grab drinks and food with friends. Others had TVs set up to watch other college football games across the nation. One fan even brought a shovel.
Additionally, Bank of America Stadium set up the Duke’s Mayo Fanfest outside of the stadium. The event brought music, games, and giveaway items to gameday for both Mountaineer and Cavaliers fans.
Related: Setting the Scene: WVU, Virginia meet again with Charlotte setting the stage
The Wishing Shovel
Many fans have their own game day rituals and traditions. I’d like to think in my endeavors of interviewing fans, I found one of the best the Mountaineer faithful have to offer.
At approximately 11:45 a.m. I stumbled upon Alan Searles and friends, where their tailgate was the home of The Wishing Shovel.
The story of the shovel begins years ago when WVU was doing construction on its concourse. The friends found the shovel, picked it up, took it to a bar, and began making up stories of the shovel’s origin.
“People were like, what’s the deal with the shovel?” Searles said. “Somebody would say, ah, we’re sponsoring call before you dig. Or, for first responders. And then, someone threw a chicken wing and said “Who wants to eat the chicken wing off the shovel?”
Someone did, in fact, eat the chicken wing off the shovel. Soon after, the friends began drinking beverages off the shovel.
In its original state, the shovel was just a plain old rusty spade. Searles and friends have painted it Mountaineer Blue with the WVU logo placed on the back.
The front of the shovel is used to honor the Mountaineers’ victory total with the shovel in attendance.
“For every win that it’s in attendance for it gets a helmet sticker,” Searles said. We gotta put two more on today. The Mountaineers put one on once for us.”
While Charlotte is the only planned road game for The Wishing Shovel this season, Searles said the shovel could be found in the Blue Lot at every Mountaineer home game.
After the tailgate fun wraps up, Searles and company will travel to Bank of America Stadium for kickoff.
“Last two games we played here, we won, right? Tennessee, Mayo Bowl, so we might as well make it a perfect 3-0,” Searles said.
You can find more of The Wishing Shovel’s story @thewishingshovel on Instagram.
More tailgates
In addition to The Wishing Shovel tailgate, other Mountaineer fans were out and about early today.
Mountaineer fans Zack Weaver and Mark Bartholomew, along with other friends and family, were set up early, ready to play some tailgate games and hang out ahead of the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
“We’re expecting a win tonight,” Bartholomew said. “I think we’re going to surprise [Beau] Pribula. We haven’t shown him everything yet. He’s been hiding in his pocket.”
Bartholomew did acknowledge that Virginia would be a tough opponent for the Mountaineers. He said they were a good team that snuck up late last year and no one saw it coming.
Weaver also has high expectations for the Mountaineers.
“Hopefully, Rich Rod turns it up again,” Weaver said. “Expectation for tonight is to cover the 10-point spread. We play well, play hard. If defense shows something, I’ll be confident.”
The Mountaineer faithful has overall been very present in downtown Charlotte. Weaver acknowledged the great turnout from the fans.
“Crowd turnouts really good. Virginia fans, not showing up as much.” Weaver said. “I think we’re doing good.”
Duke’s Mayo Fest
Weaver’s statement was not necessarily incorrect. I did my best to find Virginia fans to talk to ahead of today’s game, but they were hard to come by.
I found my way to the Duke’s Mayo Fest outside of Bank of America Stadium in the afternoon, where I finally found two Cavalier fans to speak to.
Josh and Pat Barger traveled to Charlotte from Lynchburg, Virginia, to watch the Cavaliers face the Mountaineers.
The Bargers’ trip to Charlotte is their fifth to watch UVA play.
“We’re trying to get the bad taste out of our mouth from our last trip against Duke last year,” Pat said. “Hopefully we can turn it around and win the game against West Virginia today.”
“We’re trying to reinvent a win that Virginia got against WVU in the Continental Tire Bowl in 2002,” Josh said.
While the Cavaliers are 10-point favorites tonight, the Barger’s weren’t afraid to admit they’re expecting a tough game.
“It’s scary in a neutral site environment, you know,” Josh said. “Everybody’s figuring everything out about themselves.”
The Duke’s Mayo Fanfest gave fans a free game day experience filled with performances, food trucks, and sponsor vendors. The Bargers enjoyed the experience.
“Everything is great! The people here are wonderful,” Pat said. “All the sponsors that are here with the tents are doing a great job.”
Kickoff from Bank of America Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Follow along @_wvsportsnation on X for live updates of the game.
Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WVU Athletics coverage by downloading the WV Sports Nation app. You can also check out The Mountaineer Tailgate pregame show across the John Fredericks Media Network and affiliate radio stations of The Torch. Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m.
