Jeff Gentner/Associated PressWest Virginia's Bill Stewart celebrates after defeating Rutgers Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.

Ask him why and he'll tell you as much in his Dan Rather-on-Election Night way of speaking.

"Guys that are supposed to win don't, and guys that are supposed to lose don't either. This is a black-and-blue league," Stewart said during the Big East weekly teleconference call Monday. "Dag-gum, it's a physical league now. It's getting tougher and tougher."

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerRutgers receiver Kenny Britt eyes a pass against West Virginia Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.

The news, Britt said, was delivered to him when he spoke to his girlfriend on the phone -- and then only after she'd found out about the historic achievement from her father.

Kim Klement/US PresswirePitt linebacker Scott McKillop (40) tackles South Florida running back Benjamin Williams Thursday night.

WHOSE STOCK IS UP?

Rutgers WR Kenny Britt
There were moments on Saturday when he reminded us of a young Terrell Owens.

Pittsburgh LB Scott McKillop
No getting around it, this guy is a tackling machine.

Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt
Deserves credit for going on the road, on a short week, to upset a ranked opponent.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated PressOklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford

Star-Ledger Rutgers football beat writer Tom Luicci takes a look at the college football scene across the country:

5 QUESTIONS

Q. How good is No. 1 Oklahoma?

A. We're finally going to get a chance to find out. The Sooners face Texas on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl in their annual Red River Shootout, with the winner becoming the pack leader for the national championship -- and the winning quarterback likely moving to the top of most Heisman Trophy lists. It's must-see TV for all college football fans (even those of us forced to watch Rutgers-Cincinnati, which kicks off at the same time).

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerGreg Schiano is looking for answers to many questions.

For the first time this season, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano took a long, hard look at his 1-4 team.

And he was very candid about what he saw.

"Probably, maybe I overestimated a little bit," Schiano said of the current team's talent level, compared to those of seasons past. "Probably we haven't played at some veteran positions as well as we're capable of.

``And probably we haven't coached as well as we've needed to. So when you add those three things up -- maybe one area on one day and one area on another play -- the result is where we are."

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerThe fans in red are not happy.

RUNNING IS THE DEVIL

Why, oh why, is Rutgers trying to run the ball late in the second half of a game in which they are trailing by two scores? And why is Rutgers running the football when its quarterback finally seemed to be developing a rapport with his top receiver? It's head-scratching moves like those that have Rutgers at 1-4. Running the football wasn't too successful Saturday. (The Scarlet Knights averaged 2.8 yards.) So again, we ask, why was Greg Schiano trying to pound the ball down the Mountaineers' throats?

NO TIME FOR CHANGE

Schiano made a number of starting lineup changes Saturday. The offensive line got switched around; Tiquan Underwood didn't start at WR; linebackers and defensive linemen were moved around, too. We understand that moving guys in and out depending on situations and players is part of the game, but Schiano might have done it too often. The offensive line especially had really started to move the ball on the ground, but didn't do it Saturday.

Jeff Gentner/Associated PressJarrett Brown

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- When the opposing team's starting quarterback leaves a close game, late in the third quarter, generally that's regarded as a good thing.

Not for Rutgers. And not when they're playing West Virginia.

And especially not when Jarrett Brown is the backup quarterback.

"I felt loose," Brown said after the Mountaineers beat Rutgers, 24-17, Saturday. "Had a pretty good feeling that we had a good game plan going into this game. It was a long, hard-fought game."

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerKenny Britt became the focus of West Virginia's defensive attention for good reason.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Kenny Britt finally had the game he was waiting for all season and all offseason.

Unfortunately, it didn't come with the result he would have liked.

He caught a game-high 12 passes but wasn't able to get the extra yardage that his team needed in order to keep its rallying drive alive.

"That was definitely the moment we needed," Britt said. "We knew we could drive the ball down the field, punch it in there and send it to overtime."

Jeff Gentner/The Associated PressRutgers coach Greg Schiano said Mike Teel played well against West Virginia and it isn't his fault the Scarlet Knights lost.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Though QB Mike Teel failed to deliver in the two-minute drill for the fourth straight time over the past two seasons -- and the second time in the past three games -- coach Greg Schiano vigorously defended his fifth-year senior.

Teel nearly ended the West Virginia game the way he did the 23-21 loss at Navy -- by throwing an interception between the numbers of a defensive player. The difference was that Navy's Ross Pospisil held on for the interception. Mountaineers' defensive lineman Scooter Berry dropped his -- but since it was fourth down it didn't matter.

NOTEBOOK
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Art Forst hadn't played guard since high school, and then not much of it, and hadn't been tried there as a college player until last Wednesday's practice. But there was the massive (6-8, 310) true freshman playing right guard for several snaps off the bench in Rutgers' Big East opener at West Virginia Saturday -- part of the first major shake-up by the coaching staff.

Judging by the shuffling throughout the offensive line during the 24-17 loss to the Mountaineers, the unit has been targeted by head coach Greg Schiano as one of the problem areas during the 1-4 start.

The only two starters to hold their positions were Anthony Davis at left tackle and center Ryan Blaszczyk.

Jeff Gentner/Associated PressWest Virginia coach Bill Stewart tried to give Rutgers a chance to earn their second straight win. Rutgers wasn't good enough to take it.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Bill Stewart sure did his part, didn't he? Stewart is the first-year head coach at West Virginia and, apparently, a very nice man. He saw how Rutgers has struggled this season, looked at its 13-game losing streak in this rivalry, and offered CPR.

He practically begged the Scarlet Knights to win here for the first time ever with a decision late in the game that was dumb on so many levels, it is hard to figure out exactly where to start.

His team was facing a fourth down on the Rutgers 46-yard line with two minutes left, leading 24-17. The distance to get the first down was an inch or two, but it could have been a blade of grass.

Rutgers had one timeout. A good punt would have forced the Scarlet Knights to go 80 or 90 yards, on the road with a struggling quarterback, just to tie. A good coach punts the ball and trusts his defense.

Something strange happened on Oct. 30, 2004, at Rutgers Stadium. For the first time in a number of years, Rutgers was competitive against West Virginia.

Sure, the Scarlet Knights lost to the Mountaineers like they always did, but this time it was by a respectable margin.

It became ... a rivalry.

But is it really?

After saying earlier in the week that tailback Kordell Young might be done for the season because of lingering problems in his surgically repaired left knee, head coach Greg Schiano left open the possibility after practice yesterday that Young may play Saturday.

"Kordell practiced two days in a row, so we'll see what role, if any, he plays Saturday," Schiano said. "I'm not sure yet."

Asked if he liked what he saw of the third-year sophomore in practice, Schiano said he did.

"He looked pretty good, yeah," he said.

After starting the opener and rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown, Young has missed the past three games. Schiano said the injury is not to the repair in Young's knee and that it's an entirely different injury. He has declined to elaborate.

APThe Mountaineers are just 2-2 this season, but members of the Rutgers football team remember how West Virginia celebrated two years ago in an epic, 41-39 triple-overtime defeat of the Scarlet Knights in Morgantown.

They're one and the same.

Two years ago, early December, at Morgantown, W.Va., with the Big East title and a BCS bowl berth at stake.

"We lost that game (41-39 in triple overtime), but the thing is we had peace of mind after it," Malast said. "We had prepared so hard. I've never felt -- if this makes any sense -- so good about a loss. It was a tough loss, no doubt. But we did everything we could to win that game. It was a great game to play in, a lot of fun. We just came up short."

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerKenny Britt hung his head following Rutgers' 23-20 loss to Navy last month.

The best way to summarize Kenny Britt's season so far, after his breakout sophomore year last fall, is probably to put it this way: Rutgers' star wide receiver is catching more passes but enjoying them less.

Part of that is because the Knights are 1-3 heading into their Big East opener at West Virginia on Saturday. And part of the reason they are 1-3 is that Britt is averaging just 12.5 yards per catch.

A year ago after four games he was averaging 23.3 per catch en route a 19.8-yard average for the season.

"I'm a little frustrated, yeah. You have to be," he said. "I know if I was doing more we wouldn't be in the position we're in now."