Top: Matt Freed/Post-Gazette Above: Andy Lyons/Getty Images Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pitt still prime target for WVU, Rodriguez THE GAME When: Nov. 24 Where: Morgantown, W.Va. TV/Radio: ESPN/WPGB-FM (104.7), WBGG-AM (970)

The Pitt Panthers are 5-5 and have one game remaining in their season.

Winning that game means more than earning a winning record. A win would help erase the bad memories of an early season loss to Ohio University and that the Panthers did not live up to the lofty expectations of coach Dave Wannstedt's first season.

The Panthers took care of business Saturday, beating Connecticut, 24-0. Now their focus turns to the Backyard Brawl against their biggest rivals, the West Virginia Mountaineers. The teams will meet Thanksgiving night at Mountaineer Field, and, for Pitt, postseason eligibility is riding on the outcome.

"Beating West Virginia, that would change a lot about our season, no doubt," said linebacker H.B. Blades. "It is going to be just like every other West Virginia-Pitt game -- a dirty, physical game. There is no finesse about it. You better come ready to play in this one.

"I experienced that atmosphere my freshman year. It is totally different. I can talk all I want to about the rivalry with West Virginia and what it is like, but until some of the guys get down there and experience it for themselves, they won't know what it is all about."

Cornerback Josh Lay added: "A win over West Virginia would make a big difference for us. That's the Backyard Brawl, that's our rival game. A win over them is all about bragging rights. It doesn't matter how our season went, if we beat them it is always going to be big for us."

If West Virginia (8-1, 5-0) wins, the Mountaineers would clinch at least a first-place tie in the Big East and set up a showdown for the BCS berth with South Florida the following week.

Blades said next to clinching a bowl bid for the Panthers (5-5, 4-2), ruining the Mountaineers' chances at a BCS berth is his No. 1 goal and doing so would make the win a little extra sweet.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Josh Lay intercepts a pass intended for Connecticut's Jason Williams Saturday. Tez Morris also defends on the play. Click photo for larger image.

"That would be great. That's West Virginia, they are our rivals," Blades said. "So to knock them out of that high chair of going to the BCS game and whatnot, it would make that much more satisfying. This is all or nothing for us, I love this pressure.

"There is no place that we'd rather be than playing in a game like this. It is at 8 at night, national television on Thanksgiving, so you know everybody is home and everybody is watching. It is time for us to step up and show the nation what we are about."

By beating Connecticut, the Panthers kept alive their chances to finish with a winning record and get to a bowl game. The Panthers were workmanlike against the Huskies, as they used great defense and special teams -- and did not turn the ball over -- to win the game.

Wannstedt said one of the things that impressed him the most about the Panthers the past two weeks is that they did not look ahead to West Virginia and realized a win against the Mountaineers would be meaningless if they didn't first take care of the Huskies.

"It was good our guys bounced back from losing the Louisville game and nobody really talked about [West Virginia]," Wannstedt said. "We got focused on winning against Connecticut right after that game and took nothing for granted. It is a big game for us down in Morgantown. It will be exciting, but by winning [against Connecticut] it gives us something extra to target -- to end up with a winning season.

"If we have an archrival, it is West Virginia. And this one will be on national television, so there is not a more exciting way to end the regular season."