Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 by Adam Wagner
Steve Pederson looks like a genius tonight
Wow. That is maybe the only word that can sum up Pitt’s 13-9 defeat
of West Virginia Saturday night, happily ending a two day whirlwind for the university that also included hiring Steve Pederson as AD and giving Dave Wannstedt a contract extension through 2012. The win, along with Oklahoma’s win over Missouri, also threw the BCS into even greater turmoil than it already was.
Pitt won the game for two reasons: its excellent defense and the presence of LeSean
“Shady” McCoy, aka the next Barry Sanders (sorry for being a fanboy, but he just almost single-handedly beat the #2 team in the nation). This was Shady’s coming out party as the shifty back went for 148 yards on 38 carries, with one certain touchdown called back on an awful holding call. He made plays where there weren’t any, sidestepped tackles, got positive yardage on natural running downs, and everything else that Pitt fans have seen him do this year. This time, however, Shady was able to put on his performance on ESPN’s stage in front of a national audience.
Sure, some of that national audience may blame Pitt’s victory on the loss of Pat White with five minutes to go in the second quarter or on Pat McAfee’s inability to kick two easy field 
goals. White, however, was replaced with Jarrett Brown, a very similar quarterback who can take advantage of all of West Virginia’s typical offensive packages. Furthermore, if West Virginia was supposed to win by five touchdowns as Lee Corso predicted, then the loss of one player, even the quarterback, should not have caused them to lose the game. The Panthers completely shut down Steve Slaton and Noel Devine, who each had 11 yards on nine and seven carries, respectively. As for McAfee, Conor Lee was able to make his field goals (well, two of them) and it’s not Pitt’s fault that WVU could not deal with the pressure of the cursed number two spot.
The story tonight should not be WVU’s losing or even Pat White’s losing his opportunity at the Heisman trophy. No, it should be that Dave Wannstedt has at last steered Pitt to the program defining victory that it has needed for three years now (Were you watching,
Terrelle Pryor? Do you still want to go to West Virginia? That’s what I thought.). The win not only saw Shady’s coming out party, but also Pat Bostick’s ability to engineer a victory. The quarterback showed that he has that “play just well enough not to lose” ability that all quarterbacks have to demonstrate at some point and that is vital in the development of every young signal caller (see: Jay Cutler with the Broncos last season). Tonight, Bostick cemented himself as Pitt quarterback for the next three years (tough luck, Bill Stull . . . you got Wally Pipped because Kevan Smith is an awful quarterback) and gave himself a spot in the annals of Pitt history as the quarterback that kept WVU from the national championship game.
The defense may have been the most important factor in the game, stifling an offense that had scored 66 points and rushed for 517 yards in Connecticut the week before. Pitt held that same team to a measly 104 yards on the ground en route to a disappointing nine 
points. Junior Scott McKillop now leads the nation in tackles, also, picking up where H.B. Blades left off and continuing the solid defensive legacy of Pitt. The defense was intense throughout the game, keeping WVU out of the end zone and mauling any player that got his hands on the football, be it Steve Slaton, or Noel Devine, who was supposed to be the superfrosh of the Big East instead of Shady, or even Pat White (who had the most success with 14 carries for 41 yards). The defense simply prevented WVU from maintaining momentum for any extended period of time, a vital development in a back-and-forth game like tonight’s.
The Panthers have just played better football the last three weeks and have been
positioned to win games against Louisville, Rutgers, and South Florida, finally breaking through tonight for a win against West Virginia. That win was, of course, not aided by the officials who made not one but two very questionable holding calls. It is worth noting that it would have been in the best interests of the Big East to have West Virginia win the game, but such conspiracy theories are are purely speculation (even though it seems to make a decent amount of sense). Nevertheless, Pitt overcame the awful officiating and won the game, despite Dave Wannstedt breaking his crutches at one point and somehow being able to jump up and down on a healing Achilles tendon.
Tonight, couches may not be burning in Morgantown (even though those hideous yellow uniforms might be), but The O is probably seeing a spike in sales of alcohol.
Leave a Reply