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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oh these Backyard Brawls sure have a way of creating its heroes. For the graybeards it was Bill McKenzie’s kick in 1975 that beat the 20th-ranked Panthers 17-14 on the game’s final play.

	Tyler Bitancurt celebrates his game-winning field goal after West Virginia's 19-16 victory over Pitt at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

For those from the younger generation, it was Zach Abraham’s 60-yard touchdown catch that gave West Virginia a come-from-behind 47-41 victory over the Panthers in Pittsburgh in 1994.

Now, 15 years later, you can add Tyler Bitancurt to the list. It was his 43-yard field goal on the last play of the game that gave West Virginia a 19-16 victory over the eighth-ranked Panthers.

Thank God they still give scholarships to kickers.

"That was a heck of a football game," said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart.

It sure was, coach.

Bitancurt also made field goals of 20, 43 and 39 yards to give West Virginia its first victory over a Top 10-ranked team since beating third-ranked Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. It was also the highest ranked Pitt team the Mountaineers have ever beaten, and the first Top 10-ranked regular season victim since a 28-7 triumph over No. 3-ranked Virginia Tech on Oct. 22, 2003.

Bitancurt’s four field goals tonight matched his season-high made in the season opener against Liberty.

"I'm real proud of our field goal team," said Stewart, who handles West Virginia's special teams. "I am proud of (long snapper) Cody Nutter and Jeremy Kash, who holds the ball. Kash was benched last season and I am proud of the way he came back tonight.

"Most importantly, I'm proud of Tyler Bitancurt," Stewart added. "I personally recruited him and that is special."

Despite the loss, Pitt (9-2, 5-1) still has a chance of winning the Big East regular season title and capturing its BCS bowl berth with a victory over Cincinnati next Saturday in Pittsburgh.

"We have high character kids that are highly motivated," said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt. "We'll turn the page on this one in a hurry and get ready for Cincinnati. Every game has its own meaning. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the Big East championship, and we can accomplish that next week.

West Virginia (8-4, 4-2) remains in contention for the Gator Bowl with one regular season game left at Rutgers, a 34-14 winner at Louisville earlier today.

"I'm real proud of the coaching staff - I thought they did a nice job," said Stewart.

Against Pitt, West Virginia relied on a stout defense that picked off the nation’s fourth-most proficient passer, Bill Stull, twice, and limited the Panthers to 325 total yards.

"I'm proud of the way the defense kept us in the game," said Stewart.

After a first half that more closely resembled a siege, the game finally opened up in the third quarter when the Mountaineers scored the game’s first touchdown on a Noel Devine 88-yard run.

As it has done for the last three years, Pitt stacked the box against Devine and he was able to break free of the line of scrimmage, angling to the near sideline where he out-raced the Panther defense to the end zone. It was Devine’s first TD run since the UConn game on Oct. 24, and it was the second-longest touchdown run of his career (92 yards against Syracuse last season from roughly the same area of the field).

It was also just the second play of 50 yards or longer from the line of scrimmage for WVU since the Colorado win back on Oct. 1.

West Virginia made it a two-score game with 10:05 remaining when Bitancurt made his third field goal of the game. That score was set up by Robert Sands’ interception at the Pitt 46.

Then Pitt’s offense came alive, driving 33 yards in seven plays to the West Virginia 19 where Dan Hutchins made a 36-yard field goal.

After getting one first down, West Virginia was forced to punt at its own 40 when Jarrett Brown’s third-and-12 pass to Tyler Urban netted just four yards.

Pitt got the football back at its own 25 with 4:08 left in the game. Stull hit Jonathan Baldwin for 15 yards to the 40 and then 10 yards to Mike Shanahan for 10 to the 50. Stull’s third pass down the near sideline was a beauty to Baldwin, who was two steps behind safety Sidney Glover for a 50-yard touchdown. Hutchins’ PAT tied the game at 16 with 2:54 left on the clock.

Mark Rodgers’ 29-yard kickoff return gave West Virginia good field position at its own 32.

Two Brown runs gave the Mountaineers 12 yards to the 44, and an 11-yard Brown-to-Alric Arnett pass to the near sideline gave WVU possession at the Pitt 45.

After a pair of incomplete passes, Brown scrambled for nine yards on third and 10 to the Pitt 36. On fourth and 1 with the clock reading 56.6 seconds, Stewart chose to go for it with 238-pound Ryan Clarke.

Clarke was stopped right at the 35 and the measurement confirmed a first down by inches. Devine got seven yards to the Pitt 28 and a two-yard run by Clarke got West Virginia into position for Bitancurt’s game-winning kick.

"We didn't execute the way we needed to against a good football team on the road to win," said Wannstedt.

Bitancurt actually could have had a fifth field goal but Stewart eschewed a short field goal try midway through the third quarter to go for it on fourth and goal at the 1. But Brown was sacked for a 10-yard loss while attempting to throw the ball out in the flat.

Brown completed 19 of 31 passes for 164 yards and also added 21 yards on 13 carries.

Devine had 134 yards on 17 carries while Clarke added 29 on 10 tries. West Virginia’s running game netted 205 yards against a Pitt defense ranked 16th in the country against the run allowing just 102.7 yards per game.

West Virginia’s 369 yards of offense were the most against Pitt since the 2006 game.

Stull finished the game 16 of 30 for 179 yards and a touchdown. Baldwin caught eight passes for 127 yards and freshman running back Dion Lewis ran 26 times for 155 yards - the fourth straight game the Mountaineer defense has allowed a 100-yard rusher.

The victory gives West Virginia’s its first undefeated season at home since 1993.

"I've been coaching here for 10 years and I can't remember that happening so that's a pretty good accomplishment," said Stewart. "I know a lot of them were not signature wins, but they were wins. I know our season ticket holders will be proud of that."

Stewart is now 1-1 against the Panthers and snaps Pitt’s two-game winning streak against the Mountaineers. Pitt was gunning for its third straight victory over West Virginia for the first time since 1982.

	Posted by Ron Loy Salem College 1978 on 11/27/09 at 11:46 PM Coach Stewart, Congratulations to you ,your staff,and team for an outstanding performance. You make the Mountaineer Nation PROUD! Take it to Rutgers, be like Sam Huff "play every play like it's your last."
	Posted by BW on 11/27/09 at 11:50 PM Great job guys! How wonderful to see you play with such enthusiasm. Tremendous TEAM effort.
	Posted by Joe on 11/27/09 at 11:57 PM Nothing better than beating Pitt !
	Posted by Mountaineer Rob on 11/27/09 at 11:59 PM The team played GREAT! Being more balanced and being able to pass the ball down field definitely helps against teams like Pitt. The staff was prepared and coached great. I thought we were very aggressive which is what we lacked at times this year in some of our losses. Let's finish strong against Rutgers!
	Posted by GH in Elkins on 11/28/09 at 12:10 AM Great win! I am glad for the team...they played with a lot more fire tonight. Let's take that same intensity to Rutgers next week!!!
	Posted by Dirk Diggler on 11/28/09 at 12:25 AM Nice win boyssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	Posted by texas transplant on 11/28/09 at 12:30 AM Amazing win! If not for the replay booth ruling in the Cincinnati game, would the Big East championship be ours?
	Posted by atlantamountie on 11/28/09 at 12:45 AM That was a great win - not the prettiest win in the world, but it sure felt good to watch our D playing the way it did... I really don't care what people say about the offensive play calling - if Mullen can make Wake Forest viable in the ACC he is bound to shake things up over the next few years with WVUs young and talented recruits... On to Rutgers and hopefully the Gator...
	Posted by Donrph65 on 11/28/09 at 12:45 AM The game was not pretty but the outcome was beautiful. Go eers
	Posted by TDB4WVU on 11/28/09 at 3:32 AM Great win and congrats to the whole team for getting it together enough to pull out the win over Pitt. It was great seeing the emotions from the seniors after the game as well as seeing us win every home game.. Now, with that being said, let's not pat ourselves on the backs too much. We have Rutgers next week and the offensive play calling as well as our kickoff coverage HAS to improve. Also, please stay agressive on defense like you did the entire game against Pitt. Finally our CBs weren't giving the opposing teams 7-9 yard cushions and we were really attacking the QB from all angles. Way to go! Let's GOOOOOOOO...Mountaineers!!
	Posted by WVUgirl2003 on 11/28/09 at 4:39 AM Awesome game!!!! Great preparation..... great energy..... great effort...... great outcome!! Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOO Mountaineers!!!!
	Posted by TJ71WVU on 11/28/09 at 5:57 AM Awesome!! Good guys do finish first!! Congrats to all the team; especially Coach Stew and Tyler. It is a great day to be a Mountaineer!!!!!!!! Take care of Rutgers and go to Jacksonville!!
	Posted by virginiamountaineer on 11/28/09 at 7:49 AM It was great to see another victory over Pitt by a group of hard working young men and a true "gentleman" head coach and staff. Keep it strong for Rutgers and on to the Gator!
	Posted by David Utterback on 11/28/09 at 7:50 AM Thank you from the WVU Myrtle Beach contingent!!! Thank you Bitancurt, Nutter, Kash, Brown, Devine, Thomas, Williams, Devine, et al!!! Thank you the die hard and loyal Mountaineer family that braved the cold!!! But most of thank the gentleman coach, Bill Stewart, and staff!!! Our hearts are with a true winner!!! Goooooooo Mountaineers!!!
	Posted by gmosko on 11/28/09 at 8:17 AM i would have liked to have had those 6 points that we didnt get because we went for it on 4th down....still proud..........................i
	Posted by Richard Smith on 11/28/09 at 8:58 AM I liked the 4th and goal call by coach Stewart. I knew we were playing to win instead of playing not to lose.
	Posted by amysueran on 11/28/09 at 9:19 AM The season is a success. WVU beat PITT!!!!
	Posted by ga-eer fan on 11/28/09 at 9:24 AM Now that was Mountaineer Defense! The whole defense hustled and hit hard. The best part of the 3-3-5 stack is when the safeties play lights out. The way Robert Sands was playing all out on every play had me jumping off the couch. Sydney and Nate had great games also. Way to go team!
	Posted by MountieDog on 11/28/09 at 9:25 AM Great game! Great Win! The team's effort and intensity was great. The defensive game plan was great and the players syayed the course the whole game. Hats off to them. Offensive play calling is way to predictable as seen every time Clarke picked up good yardage on first down everyone knew he was going to run it up the gut again. The bubble screens did not work at all and did not open up the middle. The short pasing game was working but not used enough. Nevertheless, it was awesome to take down Pitt. Go Mounties
	Posted by mountaincodger on 11/28/09 at 9:53 AM What an exciting game!!!! Lets lay the wood to Rutgers!!!! Great job Stew and Crew!!!! Defense was world class.
	Posted by Dylan on 11/28/09 at 9:59 AM Nothing better than beating pit.
	Posted by Rosemary Carpino RIley on 11/28/09 at 10:07 AM Awesome game Mountaineers! Take the same spirit and will to win to NJ and show Rutgers who rules the Bige East!!!!!
	Posted by WV Lee in Fla on 11/28/09 at 10:09 AM This game solidified and justified everything I thought about this team and the coaching staff. They are winners! By Mountaineer standards a mediocre season without this win. This makes it a GREAT season! College football has changed. Competition is stiff across the board, but I think the BigEast has a legitimate argument as one of the top 3 competitive conferences. The records of non-conference and bowl games bear this out. I think recruiting is only going to grow and keep getting better. We still have the program of the BigEast. A Cincinnati will jump up every year, but year in and year out, we will be there competing for the BCS. (Not that it matters now, but Coach Rod made the biggest mistake of his successful young life going to Michigan). But I'm glad we have the coaching staff we have. There is character, honor and fight being built into this program. Great Job Mountaineers! You reclaimed the field and made WV a place you dont want to bring your top 10 rating into again! Lets finish strong against Rutgers and Im excited about where we'll play in a bowl. If its in Fla, I'll be there!
	Posted by BlueDon1982 on 11/28/09 at 10:19 AM Very nice win. I liked the "jumbo package" with Clarke at TB and Johnson lined up at FB. Good change of pace.
	Posted by MG on 11/28/09 at 10:33 AM Way to go Coach Stew. THAT'S a SIGNATURE Win.
	Posted by JP8907 on 11/28/09 at 10:35 AM Our team is 8-3 (4-2) with a chance to go to the Gator Bowl....
	Posted by Southern WV Girl on 11/28/09 at 10:41 AM Congrats on a GREAT win! Thanks to Tyler and Noel....and the most AMAZING defense I've ever witnessed.....AWESOME job! It was nice to finally see Ryan Clarke being used more, too. Still not understanding all the offensive play calling, but this win we'll take....any way we can get it! Looking forward to a solid win over Rutgers and a Gator Bowl berth. Let's GOOOOO Mountaineers!!
	Posted by christacoma on 11/28/09 at 10:56 AM you know as soon as the critics started to say stew couldnt coach an we were going to latter part of the big east we pulled together an played a great game. I want to thank every mountie on the field tonight great effort an we showed the big east and nation were still a force in the big east Letssss Goooo Mountaineeerrrrs!!!
	Posted by Lynne on 11/28/09 at 11:02 AM I'm proudly one of the "graybeards". Attended my first Mountaineer game that day in 1975. Walked into the stadium a Pitt fan, and walked out a Mountaineer. I haven't looked back since. Living in southwest PA...this gives me the bragging rights for the next year and hopefully many to follow. Great job guys and keep up the good work.
	Posted by hotrod on 11/28/09 at 12:44 PM I am also a "graybeard" who was in the stands when John Denver sang at new Mountaineer field; have followed the football team to Oklahoma, to Gator Bowls, to Insight bowl, to Atlanta Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, I am very proud to be an alumnus. As a business person running multi-million dollar business units, I have one question for Coach Stew going forward; "do you play to not lose the game or do you play to win the game"; this can a tough and conflicting statement; good luck and GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!
	Posted by lilly pad on 11/28/09 at 12:45 PM what a pull together win go eers...................................
	Posted by WVU81 on 11/28/09 at 12:59 PM Great Team effort where everyone did something to help WVU Win. A turning point for WVU to step the program up to better things to come. WVU beat a really GOOD Pitt team. WVU will have to beat a very good Rutgers team next at Rutgers. DEFENSE, Devine, Tandy, Sands, Tyler B, JB and the list goes on just keep playing with the intensity. Very Nice Win for Stew and The Seniors, Lets Kick every Field Goal we can there is so much parity in the game.
	Posted by Bobby Roberts on 11/28/09 at 3:01 PM That was the most inspired defensive effort I've seen in a long, long time! And of course let's not forget our gamebreaker, Noel Devine. Who always seems to bust loose when we need him. I am so happy for Jarrett Brown. What a big win for him and the rest of the senior class. How bout them Parkersburg boys? Lindamood is a beast on special teams, Jenkins on the O-line and of course my buddy Cody Nutter who was absolutely clutch in a pressure packed situation to help Tyler boot a game winner! This was my son's first "Brawl" and it is one we will never forget!
	Posted by Err-In-NC on 11/28/09 at 3:37 PM Great win for all Mountaineers!! Critics crawl back in your holes where you belong. This coaching staff will have us in the elite of football soon. It takes time and as another poster said, take away the bad call in Cinn and we are there again. Lets get Rutgers and set up for a bowl win. Go Errs!!!!
	Posted by pa 'eers fan on 11/28/09 at 5:20 PM why can't we stop the other team on kick offs near the 20? this has gone on all year. our kick off team makes the kick off the most exciting play every time we kick. WHY? while coach stew gets all the pats on the back for a great win vs pitt lets not forget he also coaches the kick off team.
	Posted by WVMojo on 11/28/09 at 5:33 PM Thank you sir, may I have another??!!!!!
	Posted by MountieDog on 11/28/09 at 7:27 PM This was a great win for the team. It was a true team effort and shows what this team is capable of. JB made the plays he had to and the defense played solid the whole game. Tandy stepped upand played a great game. Any win against Pitt if great but this one was even sweeter. Still have big concerns with the offensive play calling and special teams. There is no excuse for the consistantly bad coverage on kickoffs. Coach Stewart is a great mountaineer fan but we need a leader on the fieldduring the game that is confident and is not lost half the time.
	Posted by EddieWVU1976 on 11/28/09 at 7:49 PM Great win!! I was a student at the 1975 victory, when we stormed the field and took the goal posts. Where the State Boys holding everybody back ? Go 'Eers !!
	Posted by krazyWVUfan28 on 11/28/09 at 11:54 PM It sure felt good to win this one. I hate losing to Pitt. It wasnt always pretty in this game, but we came out with a W. Good Job 'Eeers!!!!!
	Posted by charles on 11/29/09 at 5:47 AM Everyone needs to stop criticizing the coaches decisions. They are going with the play calling that they think is going to help the team win. I am tired of hearing you people put down the coaches and their play calling. These guys get paid big money because they know what they are doing. If the athletic director thought that you could do a better job than Stewart they would have hired you, but they didn't. So you guys just need to sit back and let the real coaches do their job.
	Posted by wayne in nyc on 11/29/09 at 9:03 AM Only one negative out of this GREAT, GREAT WIN. Why do we have sooo many formation penalties? This was game 11 and we are still lining up on offense wrong. Besides that, the defense reminded me of some of the defenses Nehlen had. Just plain mean. 10-3 is sounding pretty darn good. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
	Posted by mom2too on 11/29/09 at 4:38 PM It was my first WVU game ever and what a game it was. I'm sure it won't be my last. And what fans, WVU has the best. I'm glad my family is now a part of it. GO MOUNTAINEERS
	Posted by WVUCrazeefan on 11/29/09 at 6:41 PM Isn't WVU 8-3 overall ?? NOT 8-4 ??? By the way.. GREAT JOB MOUNTAINEERS !!!!!!!
	Posted by Zac on 11/30/09 at 10:44 PM I won't lie. There were lots of things to complain about in this game. BUT, there's one fact that erases them all: THEY WON!!! Despite the miscues, despite the mistakes, despite the missed assignments on both sides of the ball, despite poor kick-off coverage, despite some questionable decision making, and despite some even more questionable play calling, nobody can deny how hard these kids worked for this win. It would have been a shame had it gone the other way. That said, the team plays at Piscataway next. That will be no walk in the park. If anybody's thinking they won't have to work as hard for that win, then they might just as well not make the trip. Just think, guys, win that one; win the Gator Bowl, and defy the odds. Cause nobody thought you'd do it, but I know ya can. GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!

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