by Alan Robinson

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Maybe No. 8 Pitt will shake off the disappointment of its first Backyard Brawl loss to West Virginia since 2006, beat No. 5 Cincinnati, win the Big East Conference and play in a BCS bowl.

Maybe a loss that will drop the Panthers out of the top 10 won’t hurt as badly if they end Cincinnati’s perfect season.

TOUGH LOSS—West Virginia’s Wes Lyons, right, dives for yardage while being held by Pitt’s Jarred Holley, lower left, during the first quarter Nov. 27, in Morgantown, W. Va.

Maybe. And that’s a big maybe.

A big loss before the Panthers’ biggest regular season game in decades means they could be asking themselves “What if...” after the season ends, just as they have so many times since their top 10 run of the late 1970s and early 1980s ended.

The new wave is here. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the time has come to make way for the new generation of WPIAL’s finest running backs. Woodland Hills’ Dom Timbers is a Syracuse recruit, Clairton’s Deontae Howard has rushed for more than 4,000 career yards. Greensburg Central Catholic’s David Miller and West Allegheny’s Mike Caputo both have rushed for over 2,000 yards this season.

2009 QUAD A CHAMPS— Woodland Hills players celebrate at Heinz Field after shutting out Gateway 10-0 for the WPIAL AAAA championship.

Hopewell super sophomore Rushel Shell, arguably the greatest back in WPIAL history, has rushed for over 2,700 in 2009 and has 4,300 yards in only two seasons.

Clairton, Greensburg Central Catholic, West Allegheny and Woodland Hills all entered Heinz Field Nov. 27 as underdogs, but all were able to pull off the upset with their running style.

To win the war you have to win the battles.

With their top two quarterbacks out with injuries, it was supposed to be an easy win for the Baltimore Ravens. All the experts picked them, even Bill Cowher, but Dennis Dixon showed the world he can play football as the Steelers nearly upset the world before losing 20-17 in overtime.

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT— Steeler quarterback Dennis Dixon outruns Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Trevor Pryce (90) for a touchdown during the second half, Nov. 29, in Baltimore.

Starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in the last game, however, he practiced all week thinking he was going to play. Second string quarterback Charlie Batch broke his hand in the last game and will miss the next three to four games. This moved Dennis Dixon up to second string. Well, after practice on Friday, Roethlisberger started having headaches so the doctors did not clear him for the game. That led to Dennis Dixon starting.

The Pitt women’s basketball team registered their third 5-0 start since Agnus Berenato took over as the head coach in the 2003-04 season. In the process, she notched the 400th win of her 26-year career with a 75-70 win over St. Francis.

“I’m very into statistics, but I’m not into those statistics,” said Berenato. “Someone once told me that if you’re in it long enough those statistics happen and you get wins, but I guess that I’ve been in it so long that you’re either going to get 400 wins or 400 losses.”

DOUBLE-DOUBLE —Pitt’s Chelsea Cole throws in two of her 11 points during the Panthers 80-58 win over Appalachian State Nov. 27. Cole also had 11 rebounds.

Junior guard Taneisha Harrison matched a career-high 25 points that she set Nov. 20 in an 81-58 victory against Florida. Guard Jania Sims also posted an all-time high 23 points over the winless Red Flash. It was just her third game after a series of injuries that kept her off the court since last November in the 08-09 season opener against Texas A&M.