SCHEDULE

SE Missouri State 59-3

Oregon State 34-3

at Miami (OH) 47-10

Marshall 40-14

at San Diego State 52-23

at Rutgers 28-23

Louisville 24-28

at Pittsburgh 17-24

at South Florida 38-33

Connecticut 27-3

West Virginia -

at Syracuse -

8-2 Overall; 3-2 Big East

TEAM STATS
Category / Natl. Rank / Average

Total offense / 31 / 428.5

Scoring offense / 18 / 36.6

Total defense / 44 /  360

Scoring defense  / 8 / 16.4

Turnover margin  / 3 / 1.6

LEADERS
Passing: Ben Mauk- 2,033 yards; 21 tdsReceiving yards: Dominick Goodman- 49 catches; 612 yards

Receiving tds: Marcus Barnett- 8

Rushing yards: Butler Benton- 434

Rushing tds: Bradley Glatthaar- 6

Interceptions: DeAngelo Smith- 5, 1 returned for td; Mike Mickens- 5, 2 returned for td; 22 team total

Fumbles: 13 recovered team total

WVU vs. UC HEAD-TO-HEAD

WVU is 13-1-1 against UC. 7-1-1 at home. 6-0 away. In 2006, WVU won in Morgantown, 42-24. The only UC win was in 2003, 15-13, in Morgantown.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Cincinnati thrives on creating turnovers. Their defense has a habit of stripping the ball and getting interceptions. West Virginia has lost 10 fumbles this season. Patrick White and Jarrett Brown have been picked off two times each. WVU has struggled with coughing up the ball in its bigger games- South Florida and Louisville. If the Mountaineers are to come away with a victory, they must not turn the ball over. Louisville’s high octane offense went into Nippert Stadium and beat the then-unbeaten Bearcats, 28-24. Brian Brohm threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Pitt edged UC 24-17 with the help of two one hundred yard rushers- LeSean McCoy rushed for 137 yards and LaRod Stephens-Howling ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries. The point is, UC has struggled with their defense in each of its two losses. West Virginia has as high-powered an offense the Bearcats will face.

The Bearcat offense has quarterback Ben Mauk at the controls. He is an accurate and efficient thrower and can get out of the pocket and run as well. WVU has gone up against a dual threat quarterback earlier this season in South Florida’s Matt Grothe. The Mountaineer defense is pretty solid at stopping the run. They got some good preparation against a traditional drop-back passer last week against Brohm. Mauk will get his team on the board, just not as often as White will for West Virginia.

The Bearcats are in uncharted territory. First year coach Brian Kelly has done an excellent job taking his team to eight wins and national top 25 rankings. However, they haven’t been consistent all year and haven’t ever seriously contended for the Big East championship. West Virginia has been in many big games. They’ve won Big East titles. They’ve won a BCS bowl. Steve Slaton, White, Darius Reynaud and Owen Schmitt know what it takes to get the job done in these instances. Nippert Stadium will be loud and the Bearcats know they can slide into first place in the conference and secure the auto-bid to a BCS bowl, if they win. As long as the Mountaineers don’t turn the ball over too much, while avoiding injuries to key players, especially White, they should be able to win. WVU hopes to improve to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big East. UC vies for 9-2 overall and 4-2 Big East.