By DAVE MORRISON
MORGANTOWN — There are defensive struggles. And then there was West Virginia’s 17-9 game of survival against Louisville Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Never mind the odious offensive statistics, Mountaineer coach Bill Stewart will take the win.
“That was a Big East win and we’re very proud of that Big East win,” he said. “We found a way to win. I love a Big East win. I’ll take it any day of the week. End of story.”
For that, Stewart can thank a WVU defense that held the Cardinals to three Chris Philpott field goals on a day the WVU offense wasn’t clicking.
Tailback Noel Devine left the game late in the first half and never returned with an ankle injury.
Nose tackle Chris Neild injured a tricep and missed nearly three quarters.
“I was proud of the way our defense set the tone the entire day,” Stewart said. “I can’t say enough good about (defensive coordinator) Jeff Casteel, the defensive staff and most importantly the defensive players. They played their hearts out. They kept great field position most of the day.”
Only, WVU rarely took advantage.
An early scoring drive was snuffed out when QB Jarrett Brown was intercepted in the end zone.
Twice, Louisville punter Cory Goettsche shanked punts. But WVU turned the ball back over with a fumble once and the Cardinals held WVU to a 42-yard Tyler Bitancurt field goal.
An Louisville’s defense wasn’t bad itself.
Devine had 54 yards when he left late in the first half. Jock Sanders had 66 yards in his stead and Brown added 43 yards.
But WVU was outrushed 201-173 and both teams had exactly 100 yards passing.
“We never really let Devine or Sanders get going,” Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said. “The biggest thing was trying to get them out of rhythm.”
Neither team had any semblance of rhythm until late in the second quarter when Louisville sandwiched a pair of field goals around a 8-yard touchdown strike from Brown to Sanders.
The late score by Louisville upset Stewart.
“I was pleased with the way our kickoff (coverage) went,” Stewart said. “The one that came out, I told Trent Guy if you need a recommendation for the NFL, tell them to call me.”
On the kickoff following WVU’s TD with 0:36 left in the half , Guy returned the ball 33 yards to set up Philpott’s 44-yard field goal and make the score 7-6 at the half.
That seemed to sap some of the momentum WVU had gained when it responded to Philpott’s first field goal with an 8-play, 72-yard drive.
Devine broke off a 20-yard run on second-and-19 and Brown and Alric Arnett hooked up for 29 yards to the Louisville 10 to key the drive. Brown then hit Sanders on third-and-9 on a middle screen.
WVU’s most important score came early in the third when Tavon Austin, a true freshman, scored on a reverse.
“When I came around the corner, it was (open),” Austin said. “I realized I had to turn the speed on, rely on one block and it was there. I just ducked my head and got it in.”
Two series later, Goettsche’s 13-yard punt and a pass interference call on Louisville set up Bitancurt’s 42-yard field goal with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Several times, Louisville had opportunities that were snuffed out by the Mountaineer defense.
Still, Philpott’s 29-yard field goal with 5:26 left made it an eight-point game.
The Cardinals got the ball back with a chance to tie the game late, but Julian Miller, who had three sacks, earned two of them to put the capper on the win.
West Virginia (7-2, 3-1) has a short week before getting back in action Friday at undefeated Cincinnati.
That game kicks off at 8 p.m.
