MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- In some ways, the West Virginia football team should forget about the opponent.

If the Mountaineers could ever get out of their own way, they might turn out to be very good.

Until then, the folks who follow this team are going to keep biting their fingernails and pacing until their soles are sore.

But, just like last week, West Virginia (2-0) yesterday gritted it out, rode a brilliant performance from its quarterback, pulled together defensively and earned a 35-20 victory in a non-conference game against visiting East Carolina (1-1) at Mountaineer Field in front of 59,216.

The statistics suggested a Mountaineers runaway.

West Virginia gained 509 yards total yards, 334 through the air. The Mountaineers had 25 first downs to the Pirates' 13. And, in a measure of just how stout the defense was, West Virginia limited the East Carolina rushing attack to 62 yards on 27 attempts -- and no Pirates runner gained more than 37 yards.

West Virginia also vexed East Carolina's potent quarterback, sixth-year man Pat Pinkney, who came in with a lot of scuttlebutt around him but left completing just 16 of 39 passes and was sacked four times.

That said, West Virginia could point directly to its own chest when asked who its worst enemy was against East Carolina.

The Mountaineers fumbled away two punt returns, fell behind by 10 points early, accumulated 11 penalties for 104 yards and turned what could have been a dominant performance into a tight game in which they just could not shake the Pirates.

And get this: On its four scoring drives, East Carolina traveled 31, 26, 0 and 18 yards -- not exactly the stuff of a legendary, yard-churning offense.

"We've got a long way to go," West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "We're not close enough to being a good football team, but I'm happier [now] to be where we are than where we were a year ago."

Where Stewart was a year ago after playing East Carolina was on what seemed like the longest homeward plane flight of his life. Never mind that the distance from East Carolina's campus to Morgantown is about 470 miles.

The victory yesterday atoned for one of the most disheartening losses in recent West Virginia vintage, a 24-3 defeat at East Carolina last season when the Mountaineers -- then led by quarterback Pat White -- were ranked No. 8 in the country.

"Today was about playing Mountaineer football on our home turf," Stewart said.

"We have been living with something for 365 days, and it has not been pleasant. I don't like getting whipped. I never liked getting whipped when I was a kid, and we were lucky we had a chance to get back at them and play them."

They did more than play them, they beat them -- and make no mistake, West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown largely was the reason why.

He constructed his second consecutive spectacular start, going 24 for 31 for 334 yards and four touchdowns.

Everyone noticed.

"At the end of the day, I think Brown made all of the difference," East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said.

"He played special today, and I told him that after the game. I made a point to go and grab him. I told him I was impressed with the way he handled himself."

Truth is, Brown needed to do that much.

West Virginia went into halftime with a 21-20 lead after shrugging off a 10-0 first quarter deficit because Brown was able to hit Alric Arnett late in the first quarter on a 46-yard touchdown pass, Will Johnson on a 4-yard screen for a score midway through the second quarter and Arnett again, late in the second quarter, for an 11-yard touchdown.

But West Virginia needed a big offensive play in the second half because its defense was stuffing the Pirates time and again.

Brown made that play.

On West Virginia's fifth play of the third quarter, Brown hit swift freshman Tavon Austin with a 58-yard pass that pushed the lead to 28-20 and, coupled with a 4-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown run from Noel Devine, put the Pirates away.

"The credit goes to West Virginia," Holtz said. "They got the job done."

Now, if the Mountaineers could just get out of their own way, who knows how good they might become?

NOTES -- There was a flip-flop in the Mountaineers' starting offensive line: Joe Madsen moved from center to right guard; Eric Jobe did the opposite. ... Defensive tackle Scooter Berry (shoulder) and linebacker Reed Williams (foot) left the game in the first half with injuries and did not return. Stewart said both are day to day and will be reevaluated today.