After Brawl, McCoy should weigh options

Thanks to Pitt tailback LeSean McCoy, the day was saved. The season will continue, and for the… Thanks to Pitt tailback LeSean McCoy, the day was saved. The season will continue, and for the time being, so will offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s job (although U-Haul should probably keep Cavanaugh’s contact information on file). McCoy led Pitt to its second consecutive victory over bitter rival West Virginia in the 101st installation of the Backyard Brawl 19-15. Perhaps McCoy should have been honored with the seniors at Heinz Field on Friday for senior day. After a rousing 33-carry, career-high 183-yard rushing performance, in which McCoy eclipsed Larry Fitzgerald’s Pitt record for touchdowns as freshman and sophomore (34), nobody would blame Shady if he decided to moon walk on the statement he made earlier in the week. McCoy’s dominating performance came on the heels of media speculation that Pitt’s star running back was a lock to leave school and enter his name in the NFL Draft next year. McCoy abruptly ended the hearsay. ‘ ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘ After his career-best performance, who could blame McCoy if he reneges on his standing? Maybe he should. McCoy’s performance on Friday reaffirmed what everyone already knows: He’s the type of player who comes around once in a lifetime. Too bad Cavanaugh almost forgot. Against West Virginia, McCoy repeatedly faced eight-man fronts. But he continued to churn out yards, especially when Pitt needed them the most. Despite his 33 carries, which might seem high from the outside, McCoy was ignored in several key situations. Maybe the most notable of those situations was during a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line late in the second half. The Pitt coaching staff called Stull to throw a fade to the right side of the end zone ‘mdash; remember the disaster against Navy last season ‘mdash; instead of turning around and handing the ball to the best player on the field. Bill Stull’s pass toward Jonathan Baldwin was intercepted, and West Virginia trailed just 7-3 despite finding no continuity offensively in the first half. Later, in the second half, after Jovani Chappel intercepted a pass from West Virginia quarterback Pat White, McCoy pranced in on two carries. Needing the two-point conversion to draw even with 8:07 left in the game, a false start moved Pitt back to the 7-yard line. In another play Cavanaugh drew up a quarterback draw for Stull. At the time, nobody on the field was playing worse than Stull. Stull had just thrown an atrocious interception to nobody in particular and looked to have lost his confidence. Yet with a chance to tie the game, the Pitt coaches put the ball in Stull’s hands instead of McCoy’s. Needless to say, the play went nowhere, and Pitt trailed 15-13. It looked like Pitt might fold. Instead, the Pitt coaches took their smart pills, and McCoy took over the game. As the Panthers embarked on their final drive, they faced a second-and-12 with the game hanging in the balance. McCoy treated Panther fans to a little art in motion, taking the misdirection pitch of the right edge and slashing up-field when there appeared to be no room to operate. But McCoy picked up the first down that ultimately sealed back-to-back Backyard Brawl victories. Two plays later, McCoy set a career-high in rushing yards. ‘We kind of wanted it more,’ said McCoy. ‘In that huddle, man, in a game like this, you don’t have to say too much. You look in everybody’s eyes, they’re like fire.’ Perhaps a potential disaster could have been averted if the Pitt coaching staff had discussed the game plan with McCoy. ‘I think any player in my situation wants [the ball],’ he said. ‘In a game like this, you kind of want it. The more carries I get, I get stronger. When you got the horses up there, blocking the way they were blocking, you want the ball.’ West Virginia might have been well-suited to give White, its best player and the NCAA’s all-time leader in rushing as a quarterback, the ball more than the 12 times that he carried it.’ Regardless of what anyone says, a performance like the one McCoy turned in on Friday is going to make it tough for him to elude the NFL Draft. And you certainly won’t hear any complaints from the West Virginia fans if McCoy decides to make the leap. In two years against the Mountaineers, the man they call Shady has run the ball 71 times for 331 yards and two touchdowns. The shelf life of a running back in the NFL is far shorter than the star positions in other sports. And injuries are always a threat. No one knows this more than McCoy. As a ballyhooed running back at Bishop McDevitt High in Harrisburg, Pa., McCoy was on pace to break the state rushing record before he suffered a compound fracture in his right ankle. Although Pitt has suited him just fine, McCoy’s injury caused big programs to lose interest. If he stays in college and something similar happens, the ramifications this time around would be far greater. If, indeed, Shady tore up the tack at Heinz Field for the last time as a collegian, the stage was advantageous. For the first time since Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt’s first game against Notre Dame in 2005, there was an announced sellout for a Pitt game. McCoy set a career-high in rushing yards, rescued Pitt from obscurity and, most importantly, beat Pitt’s bitter rival for the second straight year, severely damaging the Mountaineers’ national standing. ‘For me, I’m 2-0 against West Virginia,’ said McCoy. ‘I know how big this rivalry is. We beat them last year [and] did a lot of damage to their program.’ McCoy and Pitt did it again on Friday.