WVU stayed in the hunt for a BCS berth by beating lowly Rutgers 35-14 on Saturday in Morgantown. Ryan Clarke had three touchdowns for the Mountaineers and Geno Smith threw for 352 yards. Tavon Austin also had three touchdowns for the Mountaineers, one through the air and one on the ground, and picked up 121 yards receiving.
The Mountaineers appeared much more athletic than the Scarlet Knights, who struggled to get anything going offensively. Chas Dodd had 139 yards passing with two touch downs.
The Mountaineers will now turn their eyes toward UConn’s game tonight against the South Florida Bulls. If the Bulls can beat South Florida – and they’re slightly favored – WVU will head to a BCS bowl game despite an imperfect 5-2 conference record. If not, WVU will head to a lesser poll. Either way, the Mountaineers will probably move up a few spots in the polls with the win today, perhaps to around No. 20.
Pitt also won today, defeating the Bearcats 28-10 in snowy conditions in Cincinnati, but were eliminated from BCS contention with WVU's win.