West Virginia Mountaineers Football - Sunset - Standard Frame

This panorama captures the West Virginia Mountaineers competing against a Big 12 conference opponent in a mid-season matchup. Game day festivities began with a relatively new tradition unveiled in 2011, the Mountaineer Mantrip. The ritual occurs two hours before the game and coach Dana Holgorsen leads his coaching staff and team on a 300-yard walk through a sea of gold-clad fans into the stadium. It is a salute to the state's coal mining heritage, as the Mantrip is a shuttle that transports miners down into an underground mine. At the end of the walk and upon entering the stadium, the players touch a 350-pound piece of coal from the Upper Big Branch mine in Whitesville, West Virginia.