The West Virginia Mountaineers have not gotten their season underway yet, but plenty of fans are already looking ahead to a Week 3 showdown with regional rival Virginia.
It's been over two decades since the two teams last met on the gridiron, but they do have a significant history against each other, and their isn't a ton of love lost between the bordering fan bases. And during a dominant Week 0 win on Saturday, the Cavaliers took what some perceived as a shot at the West Virginia Mountaineers playing "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
Why is Virginia playing Country Roads at their stadium?
— JerseyEer (@EerJersey)August 29, 2026
Virginia fans troll West Virginia over Country Roads
With many people online confused as to why the Cavaliers might be playing the song (although it's pretty easy to understand it as a shot at the Mountaineers ahead of thw upcoming game), one Virginia fan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) togive his bold takeon why the Cavaliers deserve to play the song.
Because it’s a song about Virginia and we’re taking it back where it belongs.https://t.co/AgzlPGevTn
— Elliott Harding (@Harding4VA)August 29, 2026
It's long been an argument from folks in Virginia that the song which hasbeen associated with the West Virginia Mountaineersfor decades is actually not about the Mountain State, but western Virginia. Although it's pretty well-known among college sports fans that the John Denver anthem is the unofficial theme for the Mountaineers.
And West Virginia fans took offense when it came to Virginia fans (and the Cavaliers themselves) having some fun at WVU's expense. And some fans took the time to point out that all the landmarks mentioned in the song are in West Virginia as well as western Virginia, and that John Denver once endorsed West Virginia's "ownership" of the song with a performance at Milan Puskar Stadium.
1 - Part of the Blue Ridge Mountains are in WEST VIRGINA
— The Coal Country Podcast (@coalcountrywvu)August 30, 2026
2 - Part of the Shenandoah River is in WEST VIRGINA
3 - The song says..."WEST VIRGINIA"
4 - John Denver performed the song as a tribute live at Milan Puskar Stadium's opening in Morgantown WEST VIRGINIA in 1980
5 -…https://t.co/9kOjweLKiH
Now, with multiple weeks remaining before the two rivals clash, fans are already feuding online. It should be an electric environment in Charlotte when these two teams clash in Week 3.
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