Six feet under

Two yards separated Pitt from a victory over Navy Wednesday night at Heinz Field.

In a… Two yards separated Pitt from a victory over Navy Wednesday night at Heinz Field.

In a game where both teams combined for 558 total rushing yards, two more meant sending home the soggy Pitt crowd with something to be happy about.

Two incomplete passes later, Navy’s defenders sprinted toward the middle of the field with their helmets raised high above their heads.

The four-point underdogs handed Pitt (2-4) its fourth consecutive loss, 48-45, in double overtime on national television.

“We were on the 2-yard line and we felt good about the play,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said of Pitt’s second pass attempt from the 2-yard line in the second overtime. “We figured we would have one-on-one coverage.”

On the third-down play before the game’s deciding incompletion, Bostick found tight end Jon Pelusi open in the end zone, but his pass slipped through the hands of the redshirt sophomore.

The incompletion didn’t matter. Navy declined an illegal shift penalty on the play, which would’ve pushed Pitt back 5 yards, and forced the Panthers to make the decision to either kick the game-tying field goal or go for the game-winning touchdown.

Stepping out of his usually conservative play calling Wannstedt elected to go for the touchdown and the win.

It could be one of the most remembered coaching decisions Wannstedt has made in his short career at Pitt.

From the 2-yard line, Bostick lofted a pass to tight end Darrell Strong in the right corner of the end zone.

As the ball sailed through the air, it became increasingly evident that Strong could not separate from his defender.

Navy cornerback Rashawn King batted the pass away.

It never had a chance of finding Strong.

“That’s our 2-point conversion play,” Wannstedt said. “We do it all the time in practice. If I had the same situation, I would do it again.”

Still, the decision came at a critical point in Pitt’s 2007 season.

The Panthers, riding a four-game losing skid, now face a daunting Big East schedule that features three nationally ranked teams, two previously highly rated programs and six teams with a combined record of 23-11.

When asked how Pitt can recover from the loss, fullback Conredge Collins said, “The same way we always do. Go out and practice, and act like it never happened.

This one might be harder to forget.

Freshman running back LeSean McCoy ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

Collins displayed his versatility in the backfield, rushing nine times for 52 yards and a touchdown.

And, in a game featuring two rushing attacks going blow for blow, the Panthers passed on two plays in a row to finish the game, leaving Pitt stunned on the sidelines and a confused crowd wondering where the team’s running game had gone for the last two downs.

“I guess people wanted to go home or something,” Collins said. “It just didn’t go the way we wanted it to go. Do I wish we could have run the ball with me or LeSean? Most definitely, but you’ve got to respect the play call and that’s our coach.”

Before the overtime periods even came into the picture, another problem surfaced: Pitt could not stop the option.

The nation’s second-best rushing attack hammered Pitt’s defense all game, churning out 331 yards and four touchdowns.

On nearly every play, the ball carrier could not be deciphered until the piles cleared up.

But the running game wasn’t what caught Wannstedt’s eye.

“We knew they were going to run the ball,” Wannstedt said. “What they did running is what they did against everybody for the last five years. We gave up big plays against the pass. That was the difference in my mind.”

On Navy’s first offensive play, quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhana bombed a 49-yard, play-action pass to receiver O.J. Washington.

It was a surprise play out of the gate, but after that, the Midshipmen rarely split from their three-back, triple-option set that produced so many yards.

When they did, like Wannstedt said, it yielded big results.

Kaheaku-Enhana threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

The statistics don’t seem like much, but the passing came as such a big surprise every time Kaheaku-Enhana reared back, even Pitt’s secondary seemed shocked.

In the first overtime, with Pitt leading 45-38, Pitt safety Mike Phillips thought Navy receiver Reggie Campbell was going to block him for a running play to Phillips’ side of the field.

Instead, Phillips jumped toward the line of scrimmage, and Kaheaku-Enhana delivered a perfect touchdown pass to Campbell.

“He just ran right by him,” Wannstedt said.