There they were, on national television, stunning the No. 2 college football team in the nation. West Virginia had the lead and Miami pinned to a fourth-and-13 from its own 25. All it needed was one stop, one play from anybody, and the biggest upset of the year would be complete.

But it never came.

Miami, with the help of a leaping fourth-down reception by tight end Kellen Winslow, marched down the field to escape with a 22-20 victory.

West Virginia had the win in its grasp and let it slip away.

Instead of a stunning upset and a 2-3 record, the Mountaineers stood at 1-4, sullen and left without even dreaming of a bowl game, never mind a Big East title.

Now, after five straight unimaginable wins, it’s not if they’ll go bowling, but where.

After a second-half drubbing of No. 16 Pittsburgh gave the Mountaineers a 52-31 victory Saturday night in Morgantown, W. Va., No. 25 West Virginia stands at 6-4 overall and, more importantly, 4-1 in the Big East.

Its five-game winning streak has moved it into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh and Miami, unfathomable considering where the Mountaineers were just five weeks ago.

And what should have been a heartbreaking and season-ending loss to Miami? That was merely motivation to turn the season around.

‘We played our best game (against Miami),’ said Quincy Wilson, West Virginia’s starting running back, who’s third in the Big East with 1,226 rushing yards. ‘From that point on it was more motivation.’

Said WVU quarterback Rasheed Marshall: ‘It was more of a confidence thing. Miami was No. 2 at the time and we thought we should have won.’

After seeing his players in the locker room following the loss, WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez knew his team wouldn’t give up. His players sat dejected in front of their lockers. The loss wasn’t a moral victory, it was a missed opportunity.

‘I knew right then that we had some competitive athletes and that they wanted to go out and prove themselves,’ Rodriguez said.

Marshall felt that the 34-7 loss West Virginia suffered at Maryland the week before was the turning point, setting the stage for Miami and the weeks after.

‘Against Miami, we felt we should have won,’ he said. ‘We knew we could play with any team after that.’

The results speak for themselves.

Despite the setback to Miami, West Virginia pulled off two huge home upsets, defeating Pittsburgh this past weekend and then-No. 3 Virginia Tech, 28-7, on Oct. 22.

In between, the Mountaineer’s spread offense averaged 35 points in wins against Central Florida, Boston College and Rutgers.

It all adds up to one fact: With just two games left, West Virginia still has a legitimate chance at not only a Big East title, but the Bowl Championship Series bid that comes with it.

And that has all of West Virginia excited.

‘Our fans play a big part in our home games, contributing, just playing a part of what we do,’ Marshall said. ‘They help us stay in the game and we feed a lot off of them.

‘I think people are realizing we have a pretty good football team. Football is a pretty big thing around here – students, teachers, everybody.’

Without any professional teams to go nuts over, West Virginians rabidly follow the Mountaineers. After their midseason resurgence, fans have been so rabid the school had to buy retractable goal posts that could be taken down in eight seconds.

‘On home game Saturdays, the entire town revolves around the game, whether it’s a big game or not,’ said Liz Delp, a sophomore season-ticket holder at WVU. ‘I think the state is behind it since West Virginia doesn’t have a professional team and people come from all over the state for games.’

Now, especially with the recent night upsets at home over Pitt and Virginia Tech, the excitement over West Virginia football has grown to exponential levels.

‘It’s been tremendous,’ Wilson said. ‘We’re starting a tradition, maybe, with all these night games here. The fans get really riled up and it gets the opponents really riled up, too.’

After the game against Virginia Tech, fans stormed the field, took down the goal posts and then started numerous fires all over Morgantown.

‘Virginia Tech was craziest of them all because Morgantown was out of control after the game,’ Delp said. ‘We had thousands storming the field, getting pepper sprayed and burning furniture in the street.’

And now, with the possibility of a home game against Temple on Nov. 29 meaning a Big East title and a major bowl? That has everyone salivating at the once-faint chance.

‘Oh man, I think it will be probably one of the most intense games,’ Delp said. ‘We might see a crowd here like we’ve never seen before.’

Said Wilson: ‘You always think about it. Well, maybe we could eek something out … but now, we really have to seize the moment.’

Published on November 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm