Slaton (345 total yards, 4 TDs) leads No. 8 WVU past Pitt

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• Slaton Leads WVU To Backyard Brawl Win

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Pittsburgh was overwhelmed by West Virginia's playmaking speed in a scoreless second half in which the Mountaineers ran for 371 of their 438 yards rushing. Gameball goes to... Steve Slaton. The nation's No. 2 rusher was held to 7 yards on six carries in the first half but still became the first player in school history to have more than 100 yards rushing (215) and receiving (130) in a game. Stat of the game... 4. The number of touchdown each for Slaton and quarterback Pat White. White and Slaton hooked up for two touchdowns and both recorded two rushing TDs. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	24	16
Total Yards	641	340
Passing	204	341
Rushing	437	-1
Penalties	4-40	4-40
3rd Down Conversions	9-14	6-13
4th Down Conversions	0-1	0-2
Turnovers	0	0
Possession	33:55	26:05

Individual Leaders

West Virginia Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT White 11/16 204 2 0	Pittsburgh Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Palko 28/37 341 2 0
West Virginia Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG White 22 220 2 64 Slaton 23 215 2 55 Schmitt 1 3 0 3	Pittsburgh Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Stephens... 9 35 0 24 Collins 1 4 0 4 Palko 9 -40 0 5
West Virginia Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Slaton 6 130 2 67 Reynaud 4 62 0 25 Myles 1 12 0 12	Pittsburgh Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Turner 6 95 1 35 Kinder 6 89 0 44 Collins 5 44 0 16 Pestano 4 44 0 15

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	TD	11:08	NATE BYHAM 23 YD PASS FROM TYLER PALKO (CONOR LEE KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 81 yards.	0	7
	TD	6:25	STEVE SLATON 15 YD RUN (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 80 yards.	7	7
	TD	0:00	STEVE SLATON 11 YD PASS FROM PAT WHITE (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 71 yards.	14	7
SECOND QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	TD	11:25	ODERICK TURNER 15 YD PASS FROM TYLER PALKO (CONOR LEE KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 84 yards.	14	14
	FG	7:29	PAT MCAFEE 51 YD FG Drive info: 8 plays, 43 yards.	17	14
	FG	4:26	CONOR LEE 43 YD FG Drive info: 8 plays, 39 yards.	17	17
	TD	2:18	DARRELLE REVIS 73 YD PUNT RETURN (CONOR LEE KICK)	17	24
	TD	0:59	STEVE SLATON 67 YD PASS FROM PAT WHITE (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 3 plays, 74 yards.	24	24
	FG	0:03	CONOR LEE 39 YD FG Drive info: 4 plays, 61 yards.	24	27
THIRD QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	TD	14:12	PAT WHITE 64 YD RUN (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 2 plays, 74 yards.	31	27
	TD	5:03	PAT WHITE 19 YD RUN (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 97 yards.	38	27
FOURTH QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	TD	11:05	STEVE SLATON 55 YD RUN (PAT MCAFEE KICK) Drive info: 3 plays, 68 yards.	45	27

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Two stars, two exceptional games. Pittsburgh has already seen enough of West Virginia's Pat White and Steve Slaton to last a lifetime, and the Panthers still might oppose them two more times.

White and Slaton crossed up Pitt by teaming as a passing combination in a high-scoring first half, then put away the Panthers for the second season in a row with a string of long runs in a comeback second half to lead No. 8 West Virginia's 45-27 victory Thursday night.

Slaton streaking
Slaton Running back Steve Slaton become the first player in West Virginia history to record 100-plus yards in rushing and receiving against Pittsburgh Thursday night. Slaton caught six passes for 130 yards and rushed for 215 yards for his six consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game, tying the school record.
Player	Games	Rushing streak
Steve Slaton	6	Oct. 7, 2006-present
Avon Cobourne	6	Sept. 14-Oct. 26, 2003
Amos Zereoue	6	Oct. 24-Nov. 27, 1998
Robert Walker	6	Oct. 9-Nov. 20, 1993

The Mountaineers (9-1, 4-1 Big East) beat their biggest rival for the fourth time in five seasons, though not quite as easily as in last year's 45-13 romp in Morgantown in which White and Slaton combined for 399 of West Virginia's 451 yards rushing.

Pittsburgh (6-5, 2-4) led 27-24 at the half before being overwhelmed by West Virginia's playmaking speed in a scoreless second half in which the Mountaineers had 371 of their 438 yards rushing. West Virginia finished with a 641-295 edge in total yardage, outgaining Pitt 373-30 in the second half.

White, the sophomore option quarterback whose quickness again was too much for Pitt to handle, threw for 204 yards and hit Slaton on the running back's first two touchdown receptions this season.

"We knew we had to set the tone from the beginning," White said.

White ran for touchdowns of 64 and 19 yards on the Mountaineers' first two possessions of the second half. He finished with 220 yards rushing against Pitt for the second season in a row as West Virginia's two stars again turned the rivalry very one-sided.

"I've been coaching college ball for a long time, and that's as good a performance as I've seen a quarterback play," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.

Slaton, the nation's No. 2 rusher, was held to 7 yards on six carries in the first half, but still became the first player in school history to have more than 100 yards rushing (215) and receiving (130) in a game. He had scoring catches of 11 and 67 yards, as well as another 43-yard catch as a slot receiver, and touchdown runs of 15 and 55 yards.

"I was open a lot (as a receiver) and we wanted to get mismatches in the open field," said Slaton, who, like White, is a sophomore. "We're a great combination."

And Pitt might have to face these guys again in 2007 and 2008?

"Pat White is the best quarterback in college football," Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades said. "And Steve Slaton, he does pretty much everything."

Their two-season totals against Pitt: White has 440 yards and four touchdowns rushing and 245 yards and three touchdowns passing. Slaton has 394 yards and four touchdowns rushing and seven catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns as a receiver.

"We're just showing our talent," Slaton said.

Pitt must beat No. 10 Louisville on Nov. 25 to avoid a season-ending five-game losing streak after starting 6-1. The Panthers already are assured of their first losing record in the Big East since 1999. West Virginia remains in contention for a BCS bowl despite losing to Louisville two weeks ago, with games remaining against South Florida and Rutgers.

Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko tried to keep the Panthers in the game with two touchdown passes, but was sacked eight times and got nothing going in the second half.

"We were pretty pleased at halftime," Palko said. "We were feeling pretty good. But we couldn't come and out and execute what we wanted to do in the second half."

The 99th edition of the game now known as the Backyard Brawl kicked off one of college football's most awaited weekends, the rivalry week that features No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan on Saturday.

West Virginia's offense was everything it expected to be in the first half, except for its reliance on throwing rather than running. The major surprise was that Pitt, held to 10 points by Rutgers in its last home game, not only kept up but led 27-24 at halftime as Palko threw touchdown passes of 23 yards to Nate Byham and 15 yards to Oderick Turner.

The play that Pitt fans will most remember is Darrelle Revis' adventuresome 73-yard punt return down the Panthers sideline that put Pitt up 24-17 with 2:18 remaining in the half. Revis took off after a thunderous block by wide receiver Derek Kinder so leveled West Virginia's Ridwan Malik that Malik took out one of his own teammates.

The only problem was Revis' return left West Virginia with plenty enough time to score, with White hitting Slaton for 67 yards on their second pass play touchdown of the half.

After West Virginia was held to 67 yards rushing in the first half, White got outside on the second play from scrimmage of the second half for a 64-yard scoring run that give the Mountaineers a 31-27 lead. On West Virginia's next possession, White needed only four plays to drive them 97 yards for a touchdown.