Tandem torches Pitt

West Virginia’s high-powered rushing attack came into Heinz Field last night for the 99th… West Virginia’s high-powered rushing attack came into Heinz Field last night for the 99th edition of the Backyard Brawl. And it performed as advertised, even after waiting until the second half to get going.

Pitt’s defense held the Mountaineers – who entered the game averaging 318.2 yards per game rushing – to 67 yards on the ground after two quarters and took a 27-24 lead into halftime.

The second half, however, was another story.

West Virginia (9-1, 4-1 Big East) finished the game with 437 yards total on the ground as Pat White and Steve Slaton combined for 435 yards and four touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 45-27 win over the Panthers.

“When you play a great team like that, they’re going to make plays,” Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said afterwards. “I said earlier in the week that Pat White was the fastest quarterback in the country.

“So if you give him a crease and some open space, he’s going to beat you.”

Four of West Virginia’s touchdown drives were of four plays or less, including two that were capped off by White and Slaton rushing from more than 50 yards out.

Running wasn’t all the West Virginia offense was able to do on the Panthers. White also threw for 204 yards on 11-of-16 passing for two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

As a whole, West Virginia finished with a total of 641 yards of offense with 565 of the yards coming from White and Slaton alone.

Slaton’s performance moved him into the West Virginia record books as the first player to register at least 100 yards receiving and rushing in the same game.

“We knew we were going to have to score points to win,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said after the game. “And we wanted to try and take away the run. I thought we did that fairly well in the first half.

“But they beat us with three or four passes.”

Pitt (6-5, 2-4 Big East) opened up the game scoring on its first drive. Quarterback Tyler Palko drove the offense 81 yards in nine plays, capping it off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Nate Byham.

The catch, which was Byham’s first touchdown reception of his career, put the Panthers on top 7-0.

Palko finished the game 28-for-37 with 341 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in the loss. The fifth-year senior quarterback credited much of the offense to the no huddle it ran and thinks it can continue to use that against Louisville next week.

“It’s something that [offensive coordinator] coach [Matt] Cavanaugh is confident that I can run,” he said. “I thought we executed our plan well early on, but we just came up a little short offensively today.”

The Mountaineers, however, wasted little time in getting themselves on the board. On the ensuing drive, West Virginia marched 80 yards on nine plays for its first touchdown of the game – a 15-yard run by Slaton.

West Virginia added another as time expired in the first quarter when White found Slaton open in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the second quarter with the game tied at 17, Pitt’s Darrelle Revis took a Pat McAfee punt on the left side of the field. A block by Derek Kinder took out two Mountaineer defenders and freed up the right sideline for Revis.

Two blocks, a spin move and 73 yards later, Revis walked into the end zone and put the Panthers back on top at 24-17.

Again, though, the Mountaineers didn’t wait long to answer.

Three plays later, White found Slaton for a second time as he streaked down the right side of the field past Pitt’s Tommie Campbell. Slaton gathered in the pass and finished off a 67-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Pitt took a three-point lead into the half though after the offense set up Conor Lee for a 39-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.

The second half belonged to the Mountaineers. More specifically, to White.

On the second play of the second half, White slipped through the Pitt defense and ran 64 yards downfield to regain the lead for West Virginia. Two drives later, White found another hole and took it in for six from 19 yards out for a 38-27 advantage and an eventual 45-27 win.

“We have to find a way to close games out, whether it’s the last seven minutes, as last week, or it’s the second half,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got to become a tougher team mentally. We’ve got to grow up on defense.”

The Panthers finish their season next Saturday at home against the Louisville Cardinals. A kickoff time for the game has yet to be determined.

“We’ll regroup tomorrow, and we’ll coach them as hard as we can coach them, and they’ll prepare as hard as they can prepare,” Wannstedt said. “We’ll come out of the gates for Louisville. You can bet that.”