MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- On a brilliant, postcard day at Mountaineer Field, West Virginia overcame a leisurely start against a Louisville team that has struggled this season to eventually wrangle control and earn a 17-9 victory in front of 55,334 fans.

With a momentous game waiting on Friday night at Cincinnati, West Virginia -- with a tepid performance -- advanced its record to 6-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big East Conference; Louisville fell to 3-6, 0-4 in conference play.

Up by just a point at the half, the Mountaineers got a 9-yard touchdown on a reverse from receiver Tavon Austin early in the third quarter, then a 42-yard field goal from Tyler Bitancurt late in the quarter to give themselves a little breathing room, going up, 17-6.

Louisville kicker Chris Philpott kicked a 29-yard field goal with 10:22 remaining to slice it to 17-9.

That was as close as the Cardinals would get.

Louisville scored first in a game that was difficult to watch over the first 25 minutes, as it featured no continuity and was extremely fractured and choppy. But, Louisville broke the scoreless tie with 4:16 before halftime when Philpott hammered through a 37-yard field goal to put his team ahead, 3-0.

That awoke the Mountaineers.

West Virginia hit three big plays on the next drive, a 22-yard pass to tight end Tyler Urban, a 20-yard run by Noel Devine and a 29-yard pass play to Alric Arnett to drive deep into Louisville territory.

That all meshed together to put the Mountaineers in a position to go up 7-3 on a neat little inside, comeback slant route to Jock Sanders that went for an 8-yard touchdown.

The Cardinals had one counterpunch left in the first half, marching quickly down the field before the gun and getting a 44-yard field goal from Philpott with .5 seconds left to cut their halftime disadvantage to 7-6.

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