EAST ROUNDUP : West Virginia Blows 25-Point Lead but Rallies to Beat Pitt, 47-41

Chad Johnston threw two touchdown passes in the final 1:32 after West Virginia had blown a 25-point lead, rallying the Mountaineers to a 47-41 victory over Pittsburgh in a Big East game Saturday at Pittsburgh.

In another wild game in the 100-year-old rivalry, Johnston threw to walk-on Zach Abraham on a decisive 60-yard touchdown pass play with 15 seconds left.

Only 23 seconds before, Pitt backup John Ryan’s touchdown pass and quarterback sneak on a two-point conversion appeared to have climaxed a dramatic rally by the Panthers from a 31-6 deficit.

A rare two-point defensive conversion gave West Virginia (3-4, 1-2) a 33-12 lead, but the Mountaineers didn’t score again until Johnston, who threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns, teamed with Rahsaan Vanterpool on an 81-yard touchdown pass play with 1:32 remaining. That gave West Virginia a 40-33 lead.

Ryan, who replaced ineffective starter Sean Fitzgerald, threw for 433 yards and four touchdowns in barely 2 1/2 quarters, but also was intercepted three times--one for a touchdown--and lost a fumble for Pitt (1-6, 0-3).

Pitt’s rally was reminiscent of similar comebacks against West Virginia in 1970, when the Panthers trailed, 35-8, before winning, 36-35, and 1989, when they trailed, 31-10, with 10 minutes remaining before gaining a 31-31 tie. West Virginia also beat Pitt, 63-48, in 1965 in what was then the highest-scoring Division I game.

No. 24 Boston College 45, Temple 28--The Eagles (3-2) overwhelmed the Owls (2-4) in the first half behind quarterback Mark Hertsell, then survived a second-half collapse to win at Boston.

Boston College, coming off a 30-11 upset of Notre Dame, cruised to a 35-0 halftime lead. But Henry Burris ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Temple cut the lead to 38-28 with 5:17 left in the game. However, Temple’s hopes died when Burris threw his third interception, and Eric Shorter returned it 35 yards for a touchdown with 2:04 remaining.

Rutgers 14, Cincinnati 9--Ray Lucas, after missing last week’s game against Army because of a dislocated shoulder, returned to the lineup and threw two touchdown passes and safety Mark Washington stopped two late drives with interceptions as the Scarlet Knights (4-3) defeated the Bearcats (0-5-1) at Piscataway, N.J.

Cincinnati proved to be a much tougher homecoming opponent than expected for Rutgers, drawing within five points on Eric Vibberts’ 49-yard touchdown pass play to James Scott with 1:12 to play. After a two-point conversion pass failed, Rutgers linebacker Alcides Catanho recovered the ensuing kickoff and the Scarlet Knights ran out the clock.

Army 30, Louisville 29--Joe Ross caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Ronnie McAda with 3:17 left at West Point, N.Y., and Kurt Heiss kicked the first three field goals of his career as the Cadets finally won a close one.

Army (2-4) ended a four-game losing streak, but not before being stunned by two Louisville touchdowns and two two-point conversions in a 34-second span in the fourth quarter that wiped out a 23-13 lead. The Cardinals fell to 3-3.

Navy 7, Lafayette 0--The Midshipmen (1-4) ended a 10-game losing streak, using an uncharacteristic strong defensive effort and an early touchdown run by Patrick McGrew to beat winless Lafayette (0-6) at Annapolis, Md.

The 10-game losing streak matched Houston’s as the longest in the nation among major colleges. Navy’s last previous victory was also against a Division I-AA school, 31-3 over Colgate last season.

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Andy Glockner kicked four field goals as Penn wore down stubborn Columbia, 12-3, in an Ivy League game at Philadelphia. Glockner’s kicks of 32, 28, 21, 37 yards tied a school record as the Quakers (4-0, 2-0) extended Division 1-AA football’s longest winning streak to 15 games. Columbia fell to 2-2-1, 0-2. . . . Jerry Singleton’s 22-yard scoring pass to David Shearer and Pete Oberle’s two-point conversion run with 3:01 remaining lifted Dartmouth (3-2, 1-1) to a 14-13 Ivy League victory over Yale (3-2, 0-2) at Hanover, N.H. Singleton, from Escondido, and Oberle are transfers from Colorado State. Singleton became the starting quarterback after Ren Riley broke his wrist last week. . . . Backup quarterback Steve Kezirian ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Harvard (3-2) rallied for a 35-27 victory over Colgate (1-5) at Boston. Kezirian took over after Vin Ferrara was shaken up late in the third quarter. Kezirian carried seven times for 69 yards and completed five of seven passes for 45 yards. . . . Bill Jordan, who rushed for 119 yards in 20 carries, scored on a two-yard run with 9:08 remaining to give Princeton (4-1) a 27-20 victory over Fordham (0-4) at New York. . . . Jason McCullough threw three touchdown passes and Paul Fichiera rushed for 199 yards in 31 carries as Brown (3-2) kept Holy Cross (0-6) winless with a 20-18 victory at Providence, R.I. Fichiera, playing in place of the injured Marquis Jessie, had his second 100-yard game in three weeks. . . . John Rodin’s 41-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining lifted unbeaten Cornell (5-0) to a 29-28 victory over Bucknell at Lewisburg, Pa. Cornell is off to its best start since 1971.