McCoy has career day as Pitt's victory clinches Big East title for Bearcats

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Pittsburgh Tops West Virginia In The Backyard Brawl

WERE YOU THERE?

Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport. Enter the games you attend, upload your photos and share your memories! I was there »

Top 25 Overview

It was over when... LeSean McCoy rumbled in from the 1 to give the Panthers the lead with 52 seconds left. Gameball goes to... McCoy, who rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns to spark Pitt past the Mountaineers. Stat of the game... 2. The Panthers have beaten the WVU in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000-01. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	13	23
Total Yards	300	346
Passing	143	156
Rushing	157	190
Penalties	5-56	5-40
3rd Down Conversions	3-14	3-9
4th Down Conversions	1-2	0-1
Turnovers	2	3
Possession	28:11	31:49

Air/Ground Leaders
West Virginia Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT White 15/28 143 0 2	Pittsburgh Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Stull 12/23 156 1 2
West Virginia Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG White 12 93 1 54 Sanders 4 37 0 29	Pittsburgh Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG McCoy 33 183 2 16 Collins 3 17 0 8
West Virginia Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Starks 4 38 0 24 Arnett 3 36 0 16	Pittsburgh Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Byham 4 69 0 28 Kinder 1 30 1 30

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	TD	12:50	Derek Kinder 30 Yd Pass From Bill Stull (Conor Lee Kick)	0	7
SECOND QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	FG	04:27	Pat McAfee 20 Yd	3	7
THIRD QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	FG	09:42	Pat McAfee 26 Yd	6	7
	TD	06:05	Pat White 54 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion Failed)	12	7
FOURTH QUARTER				WVU	PITT
	FG	11:53	Pat McAfee 40 Yd	15	7
	TD	08:07	LeSean McCoy 5 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion Failed)	15	13
	TD	00:52	LeSean McCoy 1 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion Failed)	15	19

PITTSBURGH -- First, Pitt tried deception and trickery. Finally, the No. 25 Panthers remembered how they ruined West Virginia's season last year: Give LeSean McCoy the ball and ask their defense to take away what the Mountaineers do best.

McCoy scored his second touchdown with 52 seconds left to finish off a career-high 183-yard rushing performance, and Pittsburgh beat rival West Virginia 19-15 on Friday to make Cincinnati the Big East champions.

Fast Facts

• LeSean McCoy rushed for a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 15 TDs in his last seven games and giving the Panthers consecutive wins in the Backyard Brawl for the first time since 2000-01.

• The Mountaineers fell to 7-4, their most losses in a season since going 8-4 in 2004.

• West Virginia's loss clinches the Big East title and a BCS berth for Cincinnati, both for the first time in school history.

-- ESPN research

McCoy, who failed to get the ball several times earlier on key goal-line plays that failed, carried on all but one of the 10 plays on the 59-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the closing minutes. He capped it by scoring from the 1.

"He's a great player, a great running back," West Virginia's Ellis Lankster said of McCoy, who has 331 yards in two games against the Mountaineers. "We tried to contain him, but ..."

Pitt (8-3, 4-2 in Big East) rallied from a 15-7 deficit despite Bill Stull's two interceptions, his fumble and two drives inside the West Virginia 10 that didn't produce points. Even with all the mistakes, the Panthers came back to win in the fourth quarter for the fifth time this season.

"We stepped on their throats [on the final drive] and then let the defense win the game for us," McCoy said.

Pat White scored on a 54-yard touchdown run that put West Virginia ahead 12-7 in the third quarter, but the Mountaineers (7-4, 4-2) lost their second in a row in the Backyard Brawl -- though this loss didn't hurt nearly as badly as last year's 13-9 defeat that cost them a national title game appearance.

White threw incomplete on fourth-and-1 from the Pitt 18 on the final play to end it. The leading rusher among quarterbacks in NCAA history with 4,385 yards, White ran 12 times for 93 yards and was 15-of-28 for 143 yards but also was intercepted twice. Except for his long TD run, Pitt effectively controlled White.

"After the first play where he pulled it and took off, I think they had enough of that," West Virginia offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen said.

White ran for 220 yards in each of his first two career games against the Panthers, but was held to 41 yards last season.

"We're athletic and quick enough to defend against him now," Pitt cornerback Aaron Berry said. "I think he was getting frustrated. He wanted to make that play and it wasn't there."

Also shut down was Noel Devine, who came in with 1,121 yards but was held to 17 yards on 12 carries and now has 28 yards in two games against Pitt.

"I hate losing to Pitt, I really do. I hate it," linebacker Pat Lazear said. "It was surprising to not get that last touchdown. You got to have confidence in Pat White, you really do."

To win the Big East, West Virginia needed to win its final two games and hope that No. 16 Cincinnati lost Saturday to Syracuse, but now the Bearcats' game is moot.

More bad news for the Mountaineers: McCoy, who has 1,308 yards rushing this season and 2,636 in his career, said for the second time this week he'll return to oppose them again next season. He is eligible to enter the NFL draft.

"I don't feel like we've accomplished enough here yet," said McCoy, whose 35 touchdowns are the most by any Pitt player in his first two seasons, topping Larry Fitzgerald's 34 in 2002-03. "I want to get Pittsburgh back to where it used to be."

The Panthers are assured of going to their first bowl since 2004, possibly the Sun, though they still must play Connecticut on Dec. 6.

Stull (12-of-23, 156 yards) twice cost Pitt chances to mount go-ahead or tying drives in the fourth quarter -- overthrowing Conredge Collins on a fourth-and-3 gamble from the West Virginia 34 before being intercepted by Brandon Hogan on another overthrow. That set up Pat McAfee's third field goal for West Virginia, a 40-yarder that made it 15-7.

"Billy was struggling a little bit," coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Stull said teammates kept coming up to him and saying, "Don't worry about it, we'll get it back for you."

The Panthers did that when Jovani Chappel, recently demoted from the starting lineup, stepped in front of White's poorly thrown pass and returned it to the West Virginia 16. McCoy needed only two plays to run it in, scoring from the 11 to get Pitt to within 15-13. The 2-point conversion failed with 8:07 remaining.

"That [interception] kind of gave us the spark we needed," McCoy said.

The Panthers, a running team all season, crossed up West Virginia by throwing on its opening possession -- then, perhaps unwisely, repeatedly tried doing it again. Stull needed only five plays to drive them 64 yards, finishing it with a 30-yard scoring pass -- only his seventh this season -- to Derek Kinder for a 7-0 lead 2:10 into the game.

Later, the Panthers drove to a first down at the 9 but missed a field goal. Stull's fumble led to another McAfee field goal, and Stull was intercepted in the final minute of the half after Pitt had a first down at the West Virginia 3.