Pitt stuns West Virginia again
The Panthers scored in the final minute to post a 19-15 victory.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — First, Pitt tried deception and trickery. Finally, the Panthers remembered how they ruined West Virginia’s season last year: Give LeSean McCoy the ball and ask their defense to take away what the Mountaineers do best.
McCoy scored his second touchdown with 52 seconds left to finish off a career-high 183-yard rushing performance, and Pittsburgh beat rival West Virginia 19-15 on Friday to make Cincinnati the Big East champions.
McCoy, who failed to get the ball several times earlier on key goal-line plays that failed, carried on all but one of the 10 plays on the 59-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the closing minutes. He capped it by scoring from the 1.
“He’s a great player, a great running back,” West Virginia’s Ellis Lankster said of McCoy, who has 331 yards in two games against the Mountaineers. “We tried to contain him, but ...”
Pitt (8-3, 4-2 in Big East) rallied from a 15-7 deficit despite Bill Stull’s two interceptions, his fumble and two drives inside the West Virginia 10 that didn’t produce points.
Even with all the mistakes, the Panthers came back to win in the fourth quarter for the fifth time this season.
“We stepped on their throats [on the final drive] and then let the defense win the game for us,” McCoy said.
Pat White scored on a 54-yard touchdown run that put West Virginia ahead 12-7 in the third quarter, but the Mountaineers (7-4, 4-2) lost their second in a row in the Backyard Brawl — though this loss didn’t hurt nearly as badly as last year’s 13-9 defeat that cost them a national title game appearance.
White threw incomplete on fourth-and-1 from the Pitt 18 on the final play to end it. The leading rusher among quarterbacks in NCAA history with 4,385 yards, White ran 12 times for 93 yards and was 15-of-28 for 143 yards but also was intercepted twice. Except for his long TD run, Pitt effectively controlled White.
“After the first play where he pulled it and took off, I think they had enough of that,” West Virginia offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen said.
White ran for 220 yards in each of his first two career games against the Panthers, but was held to 41 yards last season.
“We’re athletic and quick enough to defend against him now,” Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry said. “I think he was getting frustrated. He wanted to make that play and it wasn’t there.”
Also shut down was Noel Devine, who came in with 1,121 yards but was held to 17 yards on 12 carries and now has 28 yards in two games against Pitt.