MORGANTOWN - When Dave Wannstedt was hired at Pitt five years ago, he made no secret of what he wanted to do with the Panthers.

He wanted to make them tougher and more basic on both sides of the football.

Run the ball. Stop the run. Throw the football not because it was in vogue, but because strong running teams with great fundamentals are able to do just that.

It's Football 101, really.

While that approach was not always popular during Wannstedt's first three seasons - when the Panthers never won more than six games or qualified for a bowl - it is paying off now. The Pitt team that comes to Mountaineer Field to face West Virginia Friday night in the 102nd Backyard Brawl is all of the things Wannstedt envisioned.

Oh, and it's also 9-1 overall, 5-0 in the Big East and ranked No. 8 in the country.

"I compare them to the type of teams that [Wannstedt helped coach] with Emmitt Smith,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said, referring to Wannstedt's tenure as a defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys 20 years ago. "They control the ball, they throw the deep ball when they have to, they run the tailback, they get the quarterback that doesn't make mistakes and their defense and kicking game have just been awesome, as well.''

Indeed, take a look at the Big East statistics and Pitt shows up well in all of the areas of basic football. The Panthers are either first or second in the league in rushing offense and defense and total offense and defense. Quarterback Bill Stull, who was just as maligned as Wannstedt at times in the past, is fourth in the country in passing efficiency and freshman Dion Lewis is fourth in the nation in rushing.

None of it is because of a lot of fancy bells and whistles.

"They've got a heck of a big, tough line that's really playing well. Bill Stull is staying within the framework of the offense. Their receivers are players. And then in Dion and [fellow freshman Ray] Graham you have two great running backs,'' Stewart said. "This offense is very, very good. This offense scored 31 points in their only loss [38-31 vs. North Carolina State]. This is a good football team.''

MORGANTOWN - When Dave Wannstedt was hired at Pitt five years ago, he made no secret of what he wanted to do with the Panthers.

He wanted to make them tougher and more basic on both sides of the football.

Run the ball. Stop the run. Throw the football not because it was in vogue, but because strong running teams with great fundamentals are able to do just that.

It's Football 101, really.

While that approach was not always popular during Wannstedt's first three seasons - when the Panthers never won more than six games or qualified for a bowl - it is paying off now. The Pitt team that comes to Mountaineer Field to face West Virginia Friday night in the 102nd Backyard Brawl is all of the things Wannstedt envisioned.

Oh, and it's also 9-1 overall, 5-0 in the Big East and ranked No. 8 in the country.

"I compare them to the type of teams that [Wannstedt helped coach] with Emmitt Smith,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said, referring to Wannstedt's tenure as a defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys 20 years ago. "They control the ball, they throw the deep ball when they have to, they run the tailback, they get the quarterback that doesn't make mistakes and their defense and kicking game have just been awesome, as well.''

Indeed, take a look at the Big East statistics and Pitt shows up well in all of the areas of basic football. The Panthers are either first or second in the league in rushing offense and defense and total offense and defense. Quarterback Bill Stull, who was just as maligned as Wannstedt at times in the past, is fourth in the country in passing efficiency and freshman Dion Lewis is fourth in the nation in rushing.

None of it is because of a lot of fancy bells and whistles.

"They've got a heck of a big, tough line that's really playing well. Bill Stull is staying within the framework of the offense. Their receivers are players. And then in Dion and [fellow freshman Ray] Graham you have two great running backs,'' Stewart said. "This offense is very, very good. This offense scored 31 points in their only loss [38-31 vs. North Carolina State]. This is a good football team.''

The last two years, though, West Virginia has handled that offense as well as anyone. Pitt scored just 13 points in 2007 and only 19 a year ago. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, their offense did squat and WVU lost both games, including that infamous 13-9 defeat the last time the teams were at Mountaineer Field and West Virginia was playing for a spot in the national championship game.

Defensively, Pitt is first in the Big East in total defense and allows just over 100 yards per game rushing. In a 27-22 win over Notre Dame the last time the Panthers played, the Irish gained just 66 yards rushing, and when they had to throw the ball at the end they were overwhelmed by Pitt's defensive line.

It's a defense that is strong from front to back, but that line, especially defensive end Greg Romeus, is superb.

Stewart said West Virginia will likely approach stopping Romeus and the other pass rushers the same way they did against South Florida and Cincinnati, two others with great pass rushers and front lines, using a tight end and running backs to help.

"But you cannot spend your whole time just worrying about the two defensive ends,'' Stewart said. "If you do that they'll take you right out of your game plan.''

That, of course, is what Pitt wants to do. It is the basis for what Wannstedt has tried to build at Pitt - a team that does all of the basic well and forces other teams to make mistakes.

"It's the ninth-rated team in the country,'' Stewart said, referring to the USA Today coaches' poll. "You're not in the Top 10 just because voters like you. They've got a good football team. We're up against it. We're going to have a whale of a challenge.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.