Just a brief listing. I’ll give more tomorrow when a couple more West Virginia papers publish again (I’m not kidding, the Charleston Daily Mail and Charleston Gazette both lack Sunday news on their sites).

The Dominion Post has the story as a “mauling,” and a Nyah-Nyah story of sure Fitzgerald is amazing, but WVU won.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh. The focus was on the failure to run and stop the run. Rather than a mauling, it was a “rout” or a “pounding.” A lot of credit was given to WVU’s final drive in the 2nd quarter to tie the game. Specifically the 4th and 4 touchdown pass.

Finally the notebook reports. Pitt still leads the all-time series with WVU, but has lost 9 of the last 12. Fitzgerald continued to set records in the NCAA, Pitt, and Big East.

WVU is denying rumors that it is looking into joining the SEC.

I’ve stayed away from SportsCenter in the morning, the computer to this point, and the radio. I haven’t read any other accounts of the game yet, aside from Lee’s observations. For some reason, Lee felt like bragging that he picked the Hoopies to win, unlike me. In my defense, I also picked the final score, and was right, as far as the points Pitt put on the board. This was going to be the first time I had seen Pitt on TV all season. I was grateful for ESPN2, because I was just damn sick of Big 11 games all day — I mean, talk about ridiculous, one of the local channels showed the thrilling Indiana-Penn St. thriller rather than old episodes of Quincy. Just sick.

Lee even called me up as he was driving back from Morgantown to bitch about the game. It was a spectacular second half collapse, and yet another example of Pitt taking two steps back after taking a step forward. I still feel bitter, and the game helped cost me a decent night’s sleep. Woke up around 3 am, because the daughter was fussing, and it took over an hour to get back to sleep because my mind started thinking about the game and all the things Pitt did wrong or was incapable of doing. Just not right.

Back to the game. I took notes, and I am supplementing with the box score and the play-by-play info to keep the facts straight.

The game kicked off about 7:05 with Dave Barnett calling the game, Bill Curry with analysis, and Rob Stone on the sidelines. ON the first drive they flash the numbers on WVU QB Rasheed Marshall along with his major — “Coaching Education.” Uhhhh, yeah. That’s just too easy. Skip it.

WVU marches right down the field. Running well, and screen passes are working well against the Pitt Defense. Looks like Pitt is still overpursuing. Especially on the screens and short passes that are going for big yards. The other thing though, the officials are calling a tight game. Pitt got called for pass interference, that was questionable since the replays looked like the ball was uncatchable. Of course on the very next play WVU was called for holding. WVU scored on the 9th play with a screen that went 18 yards for a TD — untouched by the defense. The drive took 4:03. Looks like the WVU coaching staff was well prepared on offense.

Pitt takes the kick-off and Allen has a 53 yard return. Nearly longer, possibly to the endzone, but a foot stepped out of bounds. Pitt starts at the WVU 41. Pass to Fitzgerald for a first down. Jawan Walker carries the ball twice for 7 yards. Walker actually looks halfway decent, when he doesn’t dance waiting for a bigger hole and just drives forward. 23 yard TD pass to Fitzgerald. Beauty. 7-7.

During the drive, Bill Curry mentioned that Pitt hasn’t used TE Kris Wilson much because of Fitzgerald. Said that Wilson will be in the NFL next year. No doubt.

WVU and Pitt swap 3 and outs. Watch Walker run forward for 8 then dance backwards to lose 6 on the next play. Idiot. During this time, Stone on the sidelines says that they have doubled the number of state troopers at the game to over 80.

Rasheed Marshall is looking good as he runs for 19 yards on a fake, when Pitt overpursues. Then hits Chris Henry with a 42 yard pass to the Pitt 6 yard line. Shawntae Spencer was beat again. Marshall is now 6 for 6 passing. He looks very sharp. Ooops, first incomplete. WVU settles for a field goal. 10-7.

Pitt takes the ball and scores on a 45 yard TD pass from Rutherford to Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was interfered with, but he still made the catch — though the interference wasn’t much, and would not have been called in last week’s game. The refs are definitely calling a tighter game — though it may just be the camera angle, it seems that WVU defenders are lining up in the neutral zone, I mean it looks like their hands are on the other side of the ball at times. Also saw Jawan Walker get a screen pass, where if he fell forward immediately he could have picked up 5 yards. Instead, he stood his ground trying to juke and dance, and got 1 yard. Not good. He is regressing in the first quarter, again. 14-10.

On the next series Quincy Wilson proceeds to gash the Pitt Defense for a 36 yard gain amidst missed tackles. The only plus, was that he was slow getting up. Aside from the big run, there was no gain. Marshall threw 3 straight incompletions. The last one hung up, and allowed Tez Morris to recover (after he let himself be beat) to knock it down.

Pitt goes 3 and out, luckily. Adam “Pac-Man” Jones should have intercepted a pass.

WVU goes 3 and out, as the Mountaineers are trying to pass a lot more. This benefits Pitt, if they aren’t running the ball.

Princell “Blockhands” Brockenbrough lets a perfectly thrown ball go through his hands on 1st and 10 from the Pitt 16, at 13:45 in the 2nd quarter. He was wide open some 15 yards down the field on the left and would have been able to run it all the way for a touchdown. As he often does, though, he looked upfield and let the ball fall through. About a minute later, he makes a 15 yard reception for a first down, and even play-by-play guy sounds vaguely contemptuous when he says, “He hangs on… this time.” Pitt ends up punting, and Andy Lee doesn’t kick a good one. WVU takes over in decent field position, and I get my first sinking feeling about a missed opportunity to take an 11 point lead.

Sure enough. Quincy Wilson rips off another big run for 37 yards where tackles were missed because the defense was trying to hit more than tackle. Wilson then runs in with ease on the left side for 5 yards and the TD. 17-14.

Just before WVU kicks the ball to Pitt, they show that Wilson has 12 carries and 101 yards. This is at the 9:21 mark in the 2nd quarter. He is just gashing the Pitt defense. I am now very worried.

Terrell Allen has another big kick-off return for 49 yards. Where has he been all season? or is WVU’s kick coverage that bad?

Fitzgerald makes an outstanding catch in double coverage with what appeared to be pass interference (though they picked up the flag) for 34 yards. He now has 5 catches for 124 yards and 2 TDs. He is completely amazing. A TD pass to Kris Wilson. Pitt 21-17.

This game has moved quickly to this point, I haven’t had much of chance to breakdown the game.

Pac-Man Jones of WVU takes the kick-off 50 yards and a 5 yard face mask penalty added. Replays showed, that both sides committed face masks.

Marshall hangs another pass while trying a fake reverse, and this time it is intercepted by William “Tutu” Ferguson.

Rutherford throws a perfect pass and great catch to Greg Lee with 3 defenders around him for 32 yards. Rutherford is just on his game right now. He is throwing with precision. Wow. On a 4th and 1 from the WVU 17 Rutherford throws to Fitzgerald for 6 yards. WVU didn’t see that coming.

Oooh. Rutherford nearly gave it right back to the Mountaineers with what should have been an interception. Pitt settles for a field goal. 24-17. This worries me that Pitt didn’t get the touchdown — again missing a chance to go up by double digits.

A good WVU kick return comes back. They start at their own 18 with about 4 minutes left in the half. WVU proceeds to march down the field with great ease. Just using runs, screens and the short passes to shred the Pitt defense. Only thing I note that could be positive for Pitt is that when the defense actually manages to pressure Rasheed Marshall he tends to hang his passes.

4th and 4 from the Pitt 28, and WVU is going for it with 37 seconds left. Oh my god! How do you let a receiver get behind you in the endzone? It was a beautiful catch, on another hanging pass, but dammit. Piss poor coverage by the secondary. 24-24

Halftime comes and they talk to Walt Harris as he jogs off the field. He says that Pitt hasn’t been able to stop the run and Pitt hasn’t been able to run. Says that needs to change. No s**t.

I’m still thinking about Blockhands dropping a sure touchdown. Pitt didn’t play a bad 1st half, but they missed some big opportunities. The game is tied and it will all come down to second half adjustments.

Second Half, and Pitt starts out with the ball. Hey, on the very first play, WVU whistled for being offside. Maybe Walt said something before the kick-off. Pitt quickly marches down the field via the pass. Another beautiful catch by Fitzgerald for 37 yards in double coverage to the WVU 5. Augh! Intercepted in the endzone. Rutherford was trying to throw to Brockenbrough who had 3 defenders around him. A bad decision by Rutherford. A big miss on the opening drive.

WVU goes 3 and out. Pitt moves backward 22 yards on penalties on 3 straight penalties. Still looks like WVU is lining up in the neutral zone. Another interception when Rutherford tried to throw to Wilson who was double covered. Looks like WVU’s secondary has made some big adjustments. Not a good sign.

WVU has a short field and runs another screen for big yardage.

Hmm. Halfway through the 3rd quarter and they just showed a comparison of rushing yards WVU 160. Pitt 36. Ewww.

Marshall just ran 12 yards for a TD. It looked like there was a fair amount of holding on that run. Descent into pathetic homerism? Maybe. Instead, Pitt commits a personal foul. WVU 31-24.

Jeez. Pitt’s losing its composure against WVU just like Virginia Tech did against WVU. Pitt penalized 10 times for 86 yards in this game.

Pitt does nothing with the ball. Instead, on the punt it is returned for 72 yards to the Pitt 3.

At this point, WVU has all the momentum and Pitt is imploding in all phases of its game. It is becoming abundantly clear who made second half adjustments, and who doesn’t seem to have a clue.

It takes Quincy Wilson two tries to run 3 yards for the touchdown. WVU 38-24.

Still more than 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. This is the first time all year that Pitt has been behind by this many points. The previous time was against Notre Dame and that was only 6 points in losing 20-14. Given the way the defense has rapidly worn down this half and the way WVU’s secondary has adjusted to play their zones properly, it doesn’t look good for a Pitt comeback. Especially if Pitt can’t answer.

Pitt’s next possession is a mess. They go 3 and out. WVU returns the favor, but Pitt has another 3 and out. WVU gets the ball with a few seconds left in the third quarter. WVU after a complete pass to end the quarter, goes with Quincy Wilson for 8 consecutive carries for 45 yards. WVU takes a time out. (I think you can officially declare without a doubt that Wilson has helped kill Pitt at this point.) The back-up RB then runs for 9 yards. Surprisingly Pitt’s defense stops the run 2 times in a row for no gain, then Quincy Wilson fumbles.

It could be the big break Pitt needed, as WVU was sure to score on that possession. Still, they ran 5:30 off the clock on that possession.

Nope. Rutherford is now totally off his game. Intercepted at midfield and returned to the 2.

Touchdown, Wilson. WVU 45-24.

The game is unofficially over. I stopped taking any notes on the actual game.

Final score, WVU 52, Pitt 31. It wasn’t even that close.

The game came down to second half adjustments. Specifically, Pitt made none.

WVU stayed the course on offense, which made sense. Pitt’s defense was being worn down by a superior offensive line and good running back. Quarterback Rasheed Marshall played a very smart game. He was a respectable 14-23, 216 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 rushing TD. He was only sacked once and ran for 40+ yards. Marshall didn’t try to do too much in the second half. WVU wisely kept the ball on the ground and used short passes. Running Back Quincy Wilson ran for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns, along with an additional 22 yards receiving. WVU ran for a total of 307 yards.

WVU made adjustments on defense in the second half. They stopped worrying about the run and concentrated on getting pressure on Rutherford. At the same time, their secondary got more disciplined and stayed in their positions, rather than trying to show they could go one-on-one with Larry Fitzgerald. The pressure on Rutherford helped throw off the timing and led to throws being off, just enough that the secondary could make plays on the ball. Pitt had no answer because their inability to run the ball caught up with them once again.

On offense, Pitt could do nothing on the ground. They had to rely completely on passing. So Rutherford had 419 yards on 25-47 passing and 4 TDs, but also 3 INT — all in the second half — to kill any chance of staying with the Mountaineers. Arguably, Pitt was in no position to make offensive adjustments, but that’s why Pitt couldn’t afford to miss the opportunities it did have. Especially in the first half.

On defense, we’ve been worried all week about the defense and defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads public front that there were no real problems (look at the bottom of the post). Yes, Pitt once again failed to tackle and tried to hit. Once again, overpursued and got burned. The defense has been an Achilles heel. Especially against the run. This can’t be emphasized enough. This was the 3rd game where Pitt allowed a single back to run for more than 200 yards in a game in the season. Pathetic.

WVU outplayed and outcoached Pitt.

Unlike Chas, I actually picked the West Virginia Mountaineers to upset us last week (see the comment after the post). Although I never foresaw us getting absolutely dominated like we did, I’m not surprised in retrospect.

I said that because West Virginia had a solid running back and an offensive line that was even stronger than Virginia Tech’s, our defensive front would have to genuinely step it up or the Mountaineers would run all over us. Our defensive front didn’t, and the Mountaineers buried us alive for 307 freakin’ yards on the ground. To be fair, I’m not sure if our defensive line could have ever handled that offensive line anyways. We are simply too weak physically.

But fire Paul Rhoads anyways.

I said that our offensive line would have to genuinely step it up or Rod Rutherford would get pressured and start to panic just like he did against Notre Dame. Our offensive line didn’t, and our finesse passing game (while still piling up 419 yards) came apart and quickly fell behind the Hoopies’s powerful ground game. Of course, our easy-to-defend-completely-one-dimensional offense and the roaring Mountaineer faithful were hell on our aerial attack too.

I said that West Virginia would have a clear advantage on special teams. And boy, did they ever. Adam “Pac Man” Jones damn near took it to the house every time he touched it.

Here’s a few more random thoughts while I try to put last night’s train wreck together in my head…

–Mountaineer Field is still one of the most comfortable on-campus stadiums in college football. Plenty of leg room, plenty of bathrooms, and good sight lines. But it sure ain’t no Heinz Field. I had forgotten how much I appreciate arm rests and seat backs (yeah, I’ve admittedly gone soft in a pro stadium).

–However, Mountaineer Field’s security was an absolute joke. At kickoff, probably 10,000 fans (including me) were still standing in long lines outside waiting to get in. When I finally did get up to gates, there were only two guards frisking the approximately 25,000 fans that had to sit on the press box side of Mountaineer Field. After waiting for a half hour in one frisking line, I just walked behind the security guard in the other while he was frisking somebody else. I didn’t even show my ticket. All that security, and they never even checked to see if I had paid to be there.

–John, who most of you know teaches at WVU, gave me a great tour of the campus yesterday afternoon. And you know, I genuinely liked the place. A bunch of neat old buildings piled on a steep hillside overlooking the Monongahela. And as much as it may be a Robert Byrd-sponsored pork barrel waste of taxpayers money, the PRT lines give that campus a look unlike anywhere else in the country. I really think that I could have gone to WVU and liked it. Too bad the academics absolutely suck. (Besides, the Cathedral of Learning trumps all the buildings of Morgantown put together.)

–Even though they hate me, I do like Mountaineer fans. They are much louder, drunker, and more supportive of their team than us Pitt fans often are. And I like the “WAAAAAAAAAH… WOOF, WOOF, WOOF, (clap), FIRST DOWN!” chant too. It’s a lot cooler than the “YELL, YELL, YELL… OOP!” crap that Texas A&M does. And it certainly beats “LET’S GO PITT! LET’S GO PITT!” ad naseum.

–Speaking of alcohol, I’ve never seen so much public drinking or empty glass bottles scattered on the ground anywhere in my life (and keep in mind that I went to grad school at Ohio State). If WVU really is serious about curbing its image as a hard-drinking party school, they got a lot of work to do.

–WVU’s Marching Band is the best in the Big East, period.

— I-68 from Cumberland, Maryland to Morgantown, West Virginia is perhaps the most fun-to-drive Interstate in America. It goes up, down, left, and right like any good Appalacian road. However, it does so at Interstate highway geometry standards with (usually) six lanes. Thus, you can easily handle it at 80-plus MPH… not that I did, mind you…

Incidentally, I got one win (WVU beat Pitt), one loss (did anybody foresee Penn State just getting off on Indiana like that?), and one push (Ohio State beat Purdue by a field goal) on my picks for the week. This takes my season-long record against the spread to 20-22-1.

Hail to the Hoopies. They certainly deserved to win that one as well as the Big East Conference. Hail to Firing Paul Rhoads. And Hail to Walt Harris’s realizing that he has to recruit good linemen as well as good quarterbacks and receivers if Pitt is going to win.