MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Dan Mozes was one of several West Virginia players who resented the praise heaped upon Big East newcomer Louisville before the season.
That's one reason why Mozes and his mates took so much satisfaction from their miraculous 46-44 victory over the 19th-ranked Cardinals on Saturday in Morgantown.
To say it looked hopeless would be a radical understatement, as the pass-challenged Mountaineers trailed 24-7 and faced a fourth-and-10 at the Louisville 28 with the clock winding toward the 9-minute mark in regulation.
A little more than an hour and three overtimes later, Mountaineer fans were freed from the torture of that stunning Elite Eight loss to Louisville in the 2005 NCAA men's basketball tournament, when Louisville wiped out a 20-point deficit in Albuquerque.
The fourth-quarter comeback Saturday was the second-best in school history, behind only WVU's rally from a 19-point deficit to beat Maryland in 1992. It also left the Mountaineers alone atop the Big East with a 3-0 record (6-1 overall) and a 2005 newcomer to The Associated Press Top 25 at No. 20.
Louisville -- a prohibitive preseason favorite -- dropped to 0-2 in the conference, 4-2 overall.
"They're a good team; don't get me wrong," said Mozes, a junior center. "They're a great team, but they come in the conference and they get all the glory and the praise. That kind of gave us a little extra motivation. It was something we had in the back of our minds. I think we came out and showed that the Big East championship goes through Morgantown -- and we're going to keep that title."
Actually, as Mozes well knows, the Mountaineers have merely shared the Big East title each of the past two years. This year, they'd like to have it for themselves. They begin a four-game stretch drive with a toughie Saturday at South Florida, the same place where Louisville was ambushed last month.
"It's kind of funny that nobody ever gives us any credit for being co-champions," Mozes said. "That's just the way it is. We've always been underdogs, and we take pride in that, too. But when you're co-champions, it doesn't say much. Whenever you win it outright, it says a lot."
Nobody has to remind fifth-year coach Rich Rodriguez or his players that WVU started 4-0 in the conference last season only to implode with three straight losses to end the season (at home against Boston College, at Pitt and against Florida State in the Gator Bowl).
Aside from Mozes' confident words, you didn't hear much bravado in the Mountaineers' locker room. You did hear a lot of similar answers to the question: "Are you guys in the driver's seat now?"
"I don't want to say that, ever," said junior linebacker Kevin "Boo" McLee, who had 10 tackles.
"We control our destiny as long as we work hard," added defensive back Eric Wicks, who stopped Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm's scramble on a two-point conversion attempt to end the game. "If we start slacking, there's no tellin'. We have to keep working as hard as we've been and stay humble."
After South Florida, the Mountaineers play at home against UConn, at Cincinnati and at home against Pitt. Any slips could result in another co-championship or worse, but WVU appears to have the talent and toughness to finish strong.
It also appears to have a new star running back in true freshman Steve Slaton, who scored a school-record six touchdowns Saturday -- five rushing and one receiving -- and rushed for 188 yards on 31 carries. He was nowhere to be found on the preseason depth chart but has emerged with 417 yards rushing in the past three games.
"We weren't able to tackle Slaton," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "He's very fast and runs really hard."
WVU also might have a new starting quarterback, or at least one who has earned a bunch more playing time in redshirt freshman Pat White. He and Adam Bednarik have shared the quarterbacking duties all season, with Bednarik taking the bulk of the snaps. But when Bednarik injured a foot in the fourth quarter, White stepped in and led three fourth-quarter scoring drives and three more in overtime. He converted the aforementioned fourth-and-10 with a 17-yard scramble and finished with 69 yards rushing, plus the game-winning pass on a two-point conversion in the third overtime.
"Hopefully, it'll give me a little more playing time," White said.
On the game-tying drive, White converted on fourth-and-1 with a scramble from the shotgun. Asked if he welcomes such dire situations, the soft-spoken White said, "It shows a real football player, I guess."
Louisville could probably use a few more of those. The Cardinals haven't shown much moxie in their two losses. They got down early at South Florida and crumbled in a 45-14 loss.
On Saturday, they wilted under the pressure. Mozes noticed as much after WVU recovered a disputed onsides kick after cutting the deficit to 24-14.
"They kept their heads down," Mozes said. "Nobody on their defense took charge of their team."
That included the nation's sacks leader, Elvis Dumervil, who was held to half-as-sack by WVU's stellar offensive line.
On defense, the Mountaineers played without nose tackle Ernest Hunter but made up for it with a team effort that included several bone-rattling hits from a vicious secondary. Senior safety Mike Lorello led the charge with a spectacular effort that included a team-leading 11 tackles, an interception and three passes defended.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Lorello epitomizes WVU's fighting spirit.
"I've never been in a fight where I haven't swung back," Lorello said. "We obviously got hit in the face, as a metaphor, in the first half. But we came out in the second half swinging."
Well, the fourth quarter, anyway. And if that performance carries over, the Mountaineers will finally be able to strike the "co" from champion.
Joe Starkey covers the Big East for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.