Orange crush hopes

Damien Rhodes scored on a 2-yard run in the second overtime, then Syracuse's defense stopped Pittsburgh on fourth and 1, sending the Orange to a 38-31 victory yesterday in Syracuse, N.Y.

Pitt (5-3, 3-2) was looking to stay in the hunt for the Big East title and a BCS bowl berth. Instead, the Orange (5-4, 3-1) moved into second place behind No. 15 West Virginia (8-1, 4-0) and kept alive their hopes of making a bowl game for the first time in three years.

In the first overtime, Tyler Palko hit Joe DelSardo with a 9-yard scoring pass for Pitt, but Perry Patterson tied it for Syracuse with a 3-yard run.

The Orange had the ball first in the second extra period and Rhodes ran six times in seven plays, including a 17-yard gain to set up his scoring run. Rhodes finished with 103 yards on 23 carries.

Pitt gained only 4 yards on its first two downs before DelSardo made a great diving catch on third down, coming up just shy of the first-down marker. Linebacker Kellen Pruitt and safety Diamond Ferri then stopped Raymond Kirkley for no gain off left tackle.

W. Virginia 42, Temple 21 -- At Morgantown, W.Va., Kay-Jay Harris caught two scoring passes and ran for two other touchdowns to power the 15th-ranked Mountaineers. Rasheed Marshall had first-half TD tosses of 5 and 29 yards to Harris, who had scoring runs of 2 and 4 yards. Harris tied his personal best for TDs, set earlier this season against East Carolina. West Virginia struggled again on defense, allowing an opponent to surpass 400 yards of offense for the second straight game.