Coming into the season, it was thought by many that West Virginia had a mediocre defense.  On Saturday, the West Virginia defense proved to the nation that it could suffocate opposing offenses.  The defense only allowed 7 points, which came late in the fourth quarter as West Virginia beat the Pirates of East Carolina up and down the field for a 48-7 win.

The Mountaineers had 27 points at halftime, matching their point total of a year ago against East Carolina.  The Pirates had been a team that was able to shut down the Mountaineer offense and keep the game close.  Not this time. 

West Virginia rolled up nearly 600 yards of offense, rushing for nearly 400 yards and throwing for 200 more.  Steve Slaton tied a school record for touchdowns at 42, shared by past Mountaineer greats Ira Erret Rodgers and Avon Cobourne.  Slaton leads all active division 1-A players with 47 career touchdowns.  Slaton took the ball in to the end zone after a 62-yard reverse by Darius Reynaud to give the Mountaineers a 10-0 lead.  That is all the scoring the Mountaineers would need.  But that didn’t stop them from putting points on the board.

After a Pat White rushing touchdown, the Mountaineers took the ball downfield again and Reynaud scored a 13-yard touchdown off of a Pat White screen pass.  Pat McAfee would add a field goal to give the Mountaineers a comfortable 27 point lead at halftime.

The Mountaineers would add three more second half touchdowns to go up 48-0.  East Carolina finally got on the board late in the fourth quarter with a touchdown run by Chris Johnson.  West Virginia’s defense was stellar as it only allowed 106 yards rushing and only 56 yards passing.  A much maligned secondary was suffocating, and the defense was on fire, only allowing ECU to gain over 100 total yards in their final drive of the game.

East Carolina finished with 160 total yards and only 13 first downs.  They were 2 of 10 on third downs and came up short on their only fourth down attempt.  The defense wasn’t much better allowing West Virginia to run all over them giving up nearly 400 yards on the ground.  Pat White and back-up quarterback Jarrett Brown couldn’t miss through the air.  White went 18 of 20 for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while Jarrett Brown was 4 of 5 for 21 yards to go along with 81 yards rushing.  The two talented quarterbacks threw to eight different receivers including freshman Brandon Hogan from Manassas, Virginia, who caught 6 passes for 44 yards.

West Virginia had a nearly 10 minute advantage in time of possession and only punted once.  East Carolina had nearly triple the amount of punting yards as they did offensively.  Punter Matt Dodge punted 7 times for 327 yards, giving him an average of nearly 47 yards per kick.  West Virginia punter Pat McAfee punted once for 42 yards and a touchback.

The Mountaineers played their most complete game of the year on Saturday dominating East Carolina from start to finish.  On a day when fellow Big East powerhouse Louisville lost to lowly Syracuse, the Mountaineers made a statement as the best team in the conference.  However, the crown will likely be battled for next week when the Mountaineers take on South Florida on Friday night.

South Florida beat North Carolina 37-10 on Saturday and both teams will be going in to Friday night’s matchup undefeated and ranked in the top 25.  The game is scheduled for 8 P.M., Friday September 28^th.