Associated Press
PITTSBURGH ó 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 ó though this loss didn’t hurt nearly as badly as last year’s 13-9 defeat that cost them a national title game appearance.