Curse of No. 2 strikes again
Published 11:44 pm Saturday, December 1, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The curse of No. 2 claimed another victim.
West Virginia is out of the national title race. Ohio State is in.
In a season defined by upsets, Pittsburgh came up with an enormous one, beating the second-ranked Mountaineers 13-9 Saturday night to throw another curveball at the BCS.
A win away from playing for the national championship, the Mountaineers were expected to roll over rival Pittsburgh (5-7) on their way to New Orleans for the Bowl Championship Series title game.
No way. Not in this unpredictable season, when nothing has gone according to plan and upsets have become so frequent the word itself has almost lost its meaning.
“I thought we were ready,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, speaking slowly and struggling to get through his postgame news conference. “We picked an awful time to have our worst offensive game in years.”
No. 2 had already lost six times this season, five times to unranked teams. In a year when Appalachian State beats Michigan and 41-point underdog Stanford beats Southern California, West Virginia (10-2) losing the 100th Backyard Brawl as a four-touchdown favorite shouldn’t be all that shocking.
Especially after the Mountaineers lost Heisman Trophy contender Pat White to a dislocated thumb in the second quarter. White tried to play in the fourth quarter, but he couldn’t conjure a comeback. White ran for 41 yards, and was 5-for-10 passing for 50 yards.
When Pitt punter Dave Brytus ran out of the end zone for a safety on the final clock-killing play, West Virginia, a program that has won more games then any other in major college football without winning a national title, was done.
The Mountaineers will have to be content with their second BCS bid in the last three seasons and most likely a trip to the Orange Bowl.
Their high-powered offense struggled even before White went out. They squandered two scoring opportunities in the first quarter, missing short field goals and finished with only 183 yards. West Virginia came in averaging 310 yards rushing and 42 points.
LeSean McCoy was the star on this night. The Pitt freshman ran for 148 yards on a tough 38 carries.
