WVU In a Runaway
November 16, 2003 12:32 AM | General
November 15, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Quincy Wilson ran for 208 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead West Virginia to a convincing 52-31 victory over No. 16 Pitt in the 96th edition of the Backyard Brawl Saturday night in Morgantown.
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| Quincy Wilson ran 34 times for 208 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night in West Virginia's 52-31 victory over Pitt.(All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Wilson was part of an astonishing Mountaineer rushing attack that gouged Pitt for 307 yards on 53 carries – an average of 5.3 yards per rush.
“Quincy Wilson is a tremendous football player,” said Pitt coach Walt Harris. “He’s not only fast, but he’s physical too. He may be the best running back in the league, and there’s a lot of outstanding backs in this league.”
Mountaineer quarterback Rasheed Marshall managed to keep the Pitt defense honest by completing 14 of 23 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns. In the process, WVU turned what appeared to be a first-half barnburner into a blowout.
“I’m very pleased with the big win,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “We’ve come a long way in a month in a half. We still have a long way to go though. This was a total team effort and I’m very proud of our team.”
West Virginia took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in nine plays. The Mountaineers got a key pass interference call on a third-and-eight play that resulted in a West Virginia first down at the Pitt 42.
Four plays later, Marshall hit Miquelle Henderson on a nifty flanker screen that he was able to turn into an 18-yard touchdown.
Pitt answered with a 53-yard kickoff return by Terrell Allen that put the football at the West Virginia 41. After a short run, Rutherford hit Fitzgerald for 11 yards to the WVU 30. Two plays later, Rutherford went to Fitzgerald once again and the sophomore came up with a 23-yard TD catch.
West Virginia wasn’t able to score a touchdown after Chris Henry’s 42-yard catch moved the ball to the Pitt six, but Brad Cooper was able to kick a 21-yard field goal to give the Mountaineers a 10-7 advantage.
With the Panthers back on offense, Rutherford went to the air once again. He completed three straight passes to Fitzgerald, running back Jawan Walker and Princell Brockenbrough before dialing Fitzgerald long distance. Rutherford lofted an arching pass down the near sideline that Fitzgerald out-muscled Brian King for in the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown.
After an exchange of possessions to start the second quarter, WVU got things going once again. A key seven-yard pass from Marshall to Henry on third and five moved the sticks, and two plays later Wilson broke free of the line on third and one and ran 37 yards to the Pitt five. On the next play, Wilson took a toss to his left and walked in for the first of four touchdowns.
Another Wilson got into the scoring column when Pitt tight end Kris Wilson responded with a tough, 17-yard touchdown catch in traffic. The Panthers got great field position once again when Terrell Allen returned West Virginia’s kickoff 49 yards to midfield. Rutherford then lobbed a pass down the far sideline that Fitzgerald somehow came up with for a 34-yard gain. A play later Wilson made his TD catch.
The Panthers tacked on three more with 4:10 left in the half when kicker David Abdul split the uprights from 28 yards to give Pitt a 24-17 advantage. The field goal was set up when Tutu Ferguson picked off a Marshall pass and returned it to the Panther 42.
On its next possession WVU took over at its own 18 with less than five minutes remaining in the half. A Marshall pass for 11 yards on third and six moved the football to the 33, and a Wilson 10-yard run gave West Virginia another first down near midfield. Two carries by Kay-Jay Harris for 12 yards gave the Mountaineers another first down and West Virginia eventually moved the ball to the Pitt 24 with 37 seconds left and WVU facing a fourth and four.
Instead of kicking the field goal, Rodriguez gambled and called a long pass that John Pennington somehow came down with in the back of the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown. The extra point gave West Virginia a 24-all tie at halftime.
“Pennington just made a big-time catch,” said Rodriguez. “He seems to make one of those a week in practice. We would have liked for him to have been more open, but the defensive back didn’t bite. It was a huge play obviously.”
At the start of the second half Pitt picked right up where it left off in the first half, driving all the way down to the WVU three. A short gain, a procedure penalty and an incomplete pass gave the Panthers a third and goal at the eight.
Then Rutherford made the first of his three key mistakes. The quarterback appeared to have an open receiver in the back of the end zone but West Virginia’s Grant Wiley was able to intercept the pass and keep Pitt from getting certain points.
West Virginia’s goal line stand reinvigorated the Mountaineer defense, and WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel made a series of adjustments that confused Rutherford.
“Our defensive staff did a good job at the half of making adjustments with different coverages and blitz packages,” said Rodriguez. “They did a good job of regrouping at the half and helping to slow down their passing game.”
After intercepting Rutherford a second straight time at midfield when Lawrence Audena stepped in front of a Rutherford toss, West Virginia retook the lead when Marshall crossed up the Pitt defense with a quarterback counter for a 12-yard touchdown.
After forcing Pitt to a fourth and 12 at its own 28 on the Panthers’ next offensive possession, WVU senior Lance Frazier changed the complexion of the game.
He took an Andy Lee punt at his own 25, made a quick move to his left, broke free of the initial wave and raced 72 yards to the Panther three. Two short Quincy Wilson runs resulted in a one-yard score. Cooper’s extra point gave West Virginia a 14-point lead at 38-24.
The score remained the same until Frazier put West Virginia back in business after a Quincy Wilson fumble gave Pitt the ball at its own 16.
On third and five, West Virginia flushed Rutherford out of the pocket and he threw an ill-advised pass that Frazier stepped in front of and returned to the Pitt three. Wilson needed just two cracks to cross the goal line for his third touchdown with 7:58 left in the game.
“We battled them for a little while but they kept coming back on us,” said Walt Harris. “In the end the turnovers killed us.”
Wilson put an exclamation on his fabulous night when he took a simple toss sweep, broke through the line and raced 36 yards for his fourth touchdown. Cooper’s extra point gave West Virginia an insurmountable 52-24 advantage.
The Panthers were able to tack on a late score when Rutherford hit Wilson for a five-yard touchdown before West Virginia was able to run out the clock and end a game that lasted more than four hours.
The Mountaineers are now tied with Pitt and Miami for first place in the Big East with 4-1 records. West Virginia has won five in a row after beginning the season 1-4 and is now bowl eligible with a 6-4 record.
Rutherford completed 25 of 47 passes for 419 yards and four touchdowns, but the Pittsburgh native threw three critical second-half interceptions.
Heisman Trophy hopeful Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, but he only managed to catch three passes for 55 yards in the second half.
Pitt couldn’t do anything on the ground and finished the game rushing 26 times for 10 yards.
WVU has a road game remaining at Syracuse next weekend before winding up the regular season at home against Temple. Fans wishing to see seniors Quincy Wilson, Grant Wiley and the rest of the Mountaineers can do so by stopping by a United Bank and picking up a two-for-the-price-of-one coupon. Fans can also download a coupon by logging onto MSNsportsNET.com. The Mountaineer Ticket Office will honor two-for-one coupons up until the Thursday before the Temple game.
Pitt drops to 7-3 with the loss and has games remaining against Temple and Miami.
A crowd of 67,715 – the fifth-largest crowd in Mountaineer Field history – witnessed the game.
Scoring Summary
WV – Henderson 18 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
UP – Fitzgerald 23 pass from Rutherford (Abdul kick)
WV – Cooper 21 FG
UP – Fitzgerald 45 pass from Rutherford (Abdul)
WV – Wilson 5 run (Cooper kick)
UP – Wilson 17 pass from Rutherford (Abdul kick)
UP – Abdul 28 FG
WV – Pennington 28 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Marshall 12 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Wilson 1 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Wilson 1 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Wilson 36 run (Cooper kick)
UP – Wilson 5 pass from Rutherford (Abdul kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Pitt – Polite 5-9, Walker 10-2, Team 1-0, Murphy 2-0, Rutherford 8-minus 1, Total 26-10; WV – Wilson 34-208, Harris 12-43, Marshall 8-43, Colson 3-13, Austin 1-0, Total 58-307.
Passing: Pitt – Rutherford 25-47-3-419-4; WV – Marshall 14-23-1-216-2.
Receiving: Pitt – Fitzgerald 9-185, Wilson 4-46, Lee 3-81, Brockenbrough 3-57, Polite 3-37, Walker 3-13, Total 25-419; WV – Henderson 5-63, Henry 4-75, Wilson 2-22, Pennington 1-28, Harris 1-18, Bolden 1-10, Total 14-216.
Attendance: 67,715
