Nov 14, 2003 By Associated Press 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Pitt coach Walt Harris knows there is no disguising the problem, as much as he wishes he could make it disappear. Give an opposing running back the ball these days, and he’s almost certain to gain 100 yards against the Panthers. Two hundred yards? That’s being done with regularity, too.

So, when Harris was asked if he is concerned about the No. 16 Panthers’ leaky run defense heading in Saturday night’s rivalry game against West Virginia and its 1,000-yard rusher, Quincy Wilson, he couldn’t help but be candid.

“Yes, we’ve been concerned the entire season,” Harris said. “Some games we improve and some we don’t.”

Harris has reason to fret, especially considering Pitt’s troubles last season in defending against West Virginia’s no-huddle spread offense – which, to most coaches, is a passing offense and not a running offense.

“When you can run the ball the way they do, you can always be good,” Harris said.

Avon Cobourne ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, Wilson had 67 yards on only 10 carries and quarterback Rasheed Marshall ran for a 19-yard touchdown in the Mountaineers’ 24-17 upset victory in Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers ran 53 times for 231 yards in rallying from a 7-0 deficit to take a 24-10 lead.

“It really puts the wear and tear on your defense and when things are rolling, they really get you on the run,” Harris said. “And Rich (Rodriguez, the West Virginia coach) does an outstanding job on the sidelines calling the plays.”

It’s gotten even worse this season. The Panthers have faced a skilled running back in four of their last five games, and all but one gained more than 100 yards.

“It seems like every week we go up against a great back,” cornerback William “Tutu” Ferguson said. “The running game is always a concern for the University of Pittsburgh defense, especially this year. You want to make a team play one-handed, make them throw the ball to beat you … but we’ve got to put it behind us, learn from our mistakes.”

That might not be easy. Notre Dame’s Julius Jones ran for a school-record 262 yards and two touchdowns, Boston College’s Derrick Knight ran for 119 yards, Syracuse’s Walter Reyes gained 97 yards and Virginia Tech’s Kevin Jones had a school-record 241 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 8 yards per carry.

Add them up, and the four had 719 yards, six touchdowns and a 7.87 yards per carry average, or only 372 fewer yards rushing than Pitt (7-2) has in nine games. The Panthers’ running game problems extend to both sides of the ball, as they haven’t had a 100-yard game since Brandon Miree ran for 113 yards in their opener against Kent State. Miree has missed the last six games with a stress fracture.

Up next for Pitt is Wilson, who has rushed for 1,018 yards, eight touchdowns and a 4.7 yards-per-carry average.

The 5-foot-9, 210-pound Wilson lacks Kevin Jones’ speed – most running backs do – but the son of former Chicago Bears linebacker Otis Wilson is a powerful runner adept at slipping through holes. He also slipped away from Pittsburgh despite growing up only 40 minutes away in Weirton, W.Va.

Of course, that’s been a season-long trend for the Panthers, having star runners elude them.

“We have to do an excellent job of preparing to stop the run,” Ferguson said. “They have an excellent running back, they have an excellent quarterback (Marshall), they have a big offensive line and they’re fast paced with that no-huddle.”