Pitt Shutout in Season Opener by West Virginia, 34-0

8/31/1996

PITTSBURGH - Chad Johnston threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns and Amos Zereoue rushed for 135 yards and a score as West Virginia blanked Pittsburgh, 34-0, in the season opener for the Big East Conference schools.

West Virginia has shutouts in its last two regular-season games -- both against Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers wrapped up the 1995 season with a 21-0 blanking at home of the Panthers and has won the "Backyard Brawl" five straight games.

Zereoue, a redshirt freshman who carried the ball 12 times, put West Virginia up early as he raced 69 yards for a touchdown 5:15 into the game.

Johnston, who was 15-for-22, hooked up with Rahsaan Vanterpool from 33 yards out eight seconds into the second period and Jay Taylor added a 20-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the half for a 17-0 lead at intermission.

The Mountaineers capped their scoring in the third quarter as Johnston hooked up with Shawn Foreman on a four-yard touchdown, Taylor kicked a 25-yard field goal and Johnston found Ken Fisher from one yard away.

West Virginia shut out an opponent in a season opener for the first time since 1984 (38-0 over Ohio), and has recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since it had three in a row over Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Boston University to begin the 1962 campaign.

Pitt quarterback Matt Lytle completed 6-of-15 passes for 68 yards and an interception. Billy West rushed 14 times for 59 yards.

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        WEST VIRGINIA         7   10   17    0      34
        PITTSBURGH            0    0    0    0       0   FINAL
        SCORING SUMMARY
        1ST QTR: WVA  - TD, AMOS ZEREOUE 69 YD RUN (JAY TAYLOR KICK), 5:15
        2ND QTR: WVA  - TD, RAHSAAN VANTERPOOL 33 YD PASS FROM CHAD
                            JOHNSTON (JAY TAYLOR KICK), 0:08
                 WVA  - FG, JAY TAYLOR 20 YD, 14:41
        3RD QTR: WVA  - TD, SHAWN FOREMAN 4 YD PASS FROM CHAD JOHNSTON
                            (JAY TAYLOR KICK), 0:20
                 WVA  - FG, JAY TAYLOR 25 YD, 9:01
                 WVA  - TD, KEN FISHER 1 YD PASS FROM CHAD JOHNSTON (JAY
                            TAYLOR KICK), 12:54
        4TH QTR: NONE
        ATT: 54,612
                                                                              
                              WVA        PITT    
First downs                   18           8   
Rushed-yards              40-268       33-27   
Passing yards                193          74   
Sacked-yards lost            1-9        8-58   
Return yards                  27           8   
Passes                   16-25-0      7-18-1   
Punts                     5-39.0     10-48.1   
Fumbles-lost                 4-1         2-1   
Penalties-yards             4-27        4-35   
Time of possession         34:06       25:54   
     
Individual Statistics    
RUSHING: West Virginia-Zereoue 12-135, Mott 4-76, A Green 8-37,
Swoope 6-16, Plants 5-12, Wilbanks 1-2, Bulger 1-minus 3,
Johnston 3-minus 7. Pittsburgh-West 14-59, D Schulters 2-6, L
Williams 1-4, Schneider 4-1, Lytle 9-minus 12, Gonzalez 3-minus
31. 
PASSING: West Virginia-Johnston 15-22-0-184, Bulger 1-3-0-9.
Pittsburgh-Lytle 6-15-1-68, Gonzalez 1-2-0-6, Cochran 0-1-0-0. 
RECEIVING: West Virginia-Saunders 4-30, Foreman 3-42, Zereoue
3-21, Wable 2-41, Vanterpool 1-33, Becht 1-16, Quesenberry 1-9,
K Fisher 1-1. Pittsburgh-Anderson 2-31, Mcmullen 1-19, Ju
Williams 1-12, L Williams 1-6, Jones 1-6, West 1-0.