WVU wins sixth straight, keeps BCS hopes alive

Chris Henry and the Mountaineers now need Pittsburgh to knock off Miami in order to win the Big East title. AP

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Quincy Wilson knows all about Chris Henry. Now, so do the Syracuse Orangemen.

Henry caught touchdown passes of 24 and 67 yards in the fourth quarter Saturday and No. 25 West Virginia held on to beat the Orangemen 34-23 for its sixth straight victory.

Last week, Wilson was the star, gaining 208 yards and scoring four touchdowns in a crucial 52-31 victory over No. 21 Pittsburgh. But Wilson suffered a sprained right ankle and the 6-foot-4 Henry rose to the challenge, catching six passes for a school-record 209 yards.

"We needed to do something to take the momentum off them," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We thought we could get behind the secondary, and it's hard to overthrow Henry."

Henry beat 5-9 strong safety Troy Swittenburg in the right corner of the end zone with 9:25 remaining to give West Virginia a 27-17 lead. Henry then secured the victory with a 67-yard TD pass from Rasheed Marshall only seconds after Walter Reyes had scored for Syracuse on a 67-yard dash off a screen pass from R.J. Anderson.

"He was playing me close up, so before the play I told coach I could get a step on him," Henry said.

Both touchdowns came in a span of just over four minutes and both were on third down.

"He's too good to guard one-on-one," said Wilson, who gained 105 yards on 19 carries despite the injury, which sidelined him for nearly half the game. "He adds another dimension to the team. The other team can't put eight men in the box and let a safety cover him."

It was the first victory in the Carrier Dome in a decade for West Virginia (7-4, 5-1 Big East), which remained tied for the conference lead. Syracuse (5-5, 2-4) still needs one victory to qualify for the postseason with only two games left.

"We're very disappointed," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "But we have to be able to put it behind us and get ready to play, which is going to be very tough."

Marshall threw for three scores despite suffering an injury to the index finger on his throwing hand during the week of practice before the game.

"It took me a while to get loosened up," said Marshall, who was 14-for-25 for 271 yards passing. "I told the coaches in the first half to just get me in a rhythm."

That rhythm arrived with the game was on the line and the hometown crowd in a frenzy.

"We just had to keep grinding and grinding," Rodriguez said. "It's a tough place to play. It was hard to get into a rhythm."

West Virginia gained 467 yards on 73 plays, and Syracuse had 499 on 75 plays in the tense contest.

Reyes, who injured his left knee late in the first quarter and didn't return until the second half, finished with 63 yards on 14 carries and had 80 yards on three receptions. Anderson finished 23-for-36 for 336 yards passing.

Syracuse stunned the Mountaineers with two big plays to take a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter.

Johnnie Morant, who had seven receptions for 151 yards, made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch with his left hand between two defenders and scored on a 75-yard pass play less than three minutes into the game.

Then, after a 54-yard punt by Brendan Carney pinned the Mountaineers at their own 4-yard line, they went three-and-out and Marcus Clayton returned the ensuing punt 56 yards down the left side for a touchdown.

The Mountaineers came right back with an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive to take a 17-14 lead. Wilson keyed the drive with 46 yards rushing on five carries to set up a 4-yard TD pass from Marshall to Tory Johnson at 9:29.

Syracuse made it 17-all at halftime on a 25-yard field goal with 11 seconds left by Barber, who also missed a 25-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter.

"At times, we played really well," Pasqualoni said. "At other times, we missed a communication, and we gave up a big play. It's hard to put the blame on one individual. It happens."

Cooper kicked a 25-yard field goal and Travis Garvin scored on a 20-yard end-around to give West Virginia a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter.