Containing Marshall is key for Pittsburgh

Two Pitt victories, and a little luck, could give the team a BCS bid.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Maybe Pittsburgh has finally discovered how to wear down playmaking West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall: Tire him out before the game.
Marshall's elusiveness and creativity have confounded the Panthers for two seasons, so maybe that's why they're making him scramble before tonight's edition of the Backyard Brawl.
"I'm still working on tickets," said Marshall, a Pittsburgh native who attended Pitt's summer camp while in high school but wound up playing for the Panthers' biggest rival. "Trying to get tickets? The game is easy in comparison. My phone rings off the hook. I can't get enough."
It doesn't help that Marshall has relatives who work at Heinz Field on game days.
"I guess they could just grab 'em, but I don't want [them] to lose their jobs," he said.
Coach on the hot seat
Funny Marshall should bring up job security, since that's the side issue of the week at Pittsburgh (6-3, 3-2 in Big East), which has lost the last two and nine of 12 to the Mountaineers.
Coach Walt Harris has the best three-year record (23-12) of any Pitt coach since Jackie Sherrill went 33-3 from 1979-81, but is signed only through 2006 and has heard nothing about a contract extension.
Pitt's silence led sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko to lobby for a new contract, saying Harris has the full support of his players.
"I'm tired of him getting battered," Palko said.
It might be hard for Pitt to justify firing Harris should the Panthers upset the No. 21 Mountaineers (8-2, 4-1), especially with Pitt coming off a last-second, 41-38, surprise win at Notre Dame that saw Palko threw five touchdowns passes.
If the Panthers then beat South Florida on Dec. 4, an 8-3 record should get them a Gator Bowl bid and, if Syracuse upsets Big East leader Boston College on Saturday, might even land them the conference's guaranteed BCS bid.
The Mountaineers were the BCS frontrunner until they allowed two punt return scores in a 36-17 upset loss to Boston College on Nov. 13. Now, unless BC loses to Syracuse, the best the Mountaineers can hope for is a return trip to the Gator Bowl, where they lost to Maryland 41-7 last season.
Bitter rivalry
Still, the Backyard Brawl normally is motivation enough for the rivals, who recruit in the same areas and are separated by only 70 miles of interstate highway.
Even that distance isn't nearly long enough for Pitt offensive tackle Rob Petitti, who said he hates West Virginia so much he won't even drive through the state -- remarks West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez called "ignorant."
Petitti's anti-West Virginia attitude might be the result of the Mountaineers' ability to easily drive through Pitt's defense of late. Pitt was the higher-ranked team the last two seasons only to lose both times, 24-17 in Pittsburgh in 2002 and 52-31 last season in Morgantown.
Marshall was the catalyst of both victories. He threw for a score, ran for another and made a key pass reception two years ago, then started a 35-0 West Virginia midgame run last season with a 28-yard touchdown pass and a 12-yard touchdown run.
"He makes all the plays when he plays against the Panthers," Harris said.
Marshall will be without his top receiver, Chris Henry, who was suspended for violating team rules despite his school single-season record 12 touchdown catches. Henry's absence puts more of the burden on Marshall to manufacture offense, just as Pitt's season-long lack of a running game has pressured Palko to carry his offense.
"We need to protect the football and get positive yardage on first down -- it's no secret what we've got to do," Palko said. "Whether it's nationally recognized or not, this is a big, big game. There's not too many games like this. They're almost right down the street ... and there's a chance for a big-money bowl game."
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