MORGANTOWN - If it was a statement West Virginia was trying to make heading into the make-or-break portion of its schedule, well, this probably wasn't what the Mountaineers wanted to say:

"We're good enough to beat Louisville,'' it might have gone. "But just barely.''

Still, a win is a win is a win, and it sure beats the alternative.

Besides, there were still positives that came out of West Virginia's 17-9 victory over the Cardinals Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field. A crowd of 55,334 on a sunny, warm afternoon saw a pretty terrific defensive effort. For the first time in more than a year, the Mountaineers did not give up a touchdown. When the game was on the line and Louisville had the ball in WVU territory with 90 seconds to play and a chance to tie, the Cardinals went 14 yards in the wrong direction.

That came from a defense that was being held together with tape and bandages.

But with defining contests approaching with No. 4 Cincinnati this Friday night and No. 14 Pitt two weeks after that, West Virginia apparently has a lot of improving to do in order to play on the same level with those two.

Not that that was a concern in the aftermath of Saturday's win over the Cardinals (3-6, 0-4 Big East). In fact, almost to a man, the Mountaineers (7-2, 3-1) were defensive about it.

"We found a way to win. I love a Big East win,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "End of story.''

Or this:

"You'd like to put up more points and make a bigger statement,'' said linebacker Reed Williams. "But it's a win. You can't argue with a win.''

It was a win accomplished with trainers keeping as busy as coaches and players. By game's end, the nose guard was 250-pound Larry Ford, who had started the game in place of tackle/backup nose guard Josh Taylor (back) and then moved to the middle when nose guard Chris Neild (shoulder) left the game in the first half. Scooter Berry, he of the bad shoulder and recent suspension, played for the first time in three weeks, Williams (shoulder) was in and out of the game and safety Sidney Glover sprained a shoulder.

Still, that defense held Louisville to three field goals. The Cardinals did gain 201 yards rushing thanks to the 33 carries and 164 yards of Darius Ashley, a 5-foot-8, 184-pound redshirt freshman listed third on the depth chart. For the record, his career totals going into the game were virtually the same - 31 carries and 164 yards.

But the Mountaineers also harassed little redshirt freshman quarterback Will Stein into an awful day. He was sacked five times - twice by Julian Miller on back-to-back plays during that last-ditch attempt to tie the score - and completed only 14-of-26 passes for 100 yards.

The biggest play made by any of Louisville's receivers wasn't even a catch. That was the 53-yard run by Trent Guy on an end-around that set up the first of three Chris Philpott field goals.

MORGANTOWN - If it was a statement West Virginia was trying to make heading into the make-or-break portion of its schedule, well, this probably wasn't what the Mountaineers wanted to say:

"We're good enough to beat Louisville,'' it might have gone. "But just barely.''

Still, a win is a win is a win, and it sure beats the alternative.

Besides, there were still positives that came out of West Virginia's 17-9 victory over the Cardinals Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field. A crowd of 55,334 on a sunny, warm afternoon saw a pretty terrific defensive effort. For the first time in more than a year, the Mountaineers did not give up a touchdown. When the game was on the line and Louisville had the ball in WVU territory with 90 seconds to play and a chance to tie, the Cardinals went 14 yards in the wrong direction.

That came from a defense that was being held together with tape and bandages.

But with defining contests approaching with No. 4 Cincinnati this Friday night and No. 14 Pitt two weeks after that, West Virginia apparently has a lot of improving to do in order to play on the same level with those two.

Not that that was a concern in the aftermath of Saturday's win over the Cardinals (3-6, 0-4 Big East). In fact, almost to a man, the Mountaineers (7-2, 3-1) were defensive about it.

"We found a way to win. I love a Big East win,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. "End of story.''

Or this:

"You'd like to put up more points and make a bigger statement,'' said linebacker Reed Williams. "But it's a win. You can't argue with a win.''

It was a win accomplished with trainers keeping as busy as coaches and players. By game's end, the nose guard was 250-pound Larry Ford, who had started the game in place of tackle/backup nose guard Josh Taylor (back) and then moved to the middle when nose guard Chris Neild (shoulder) left the game in the first half. Scooter Berry, he of the bad shoulder and recent suspension, played for the first time in three weeks, Williams (shoulder) was in and out of the game and safety Sidney Glover sprained a shoulder.

Still, that defense held Louisville to three field goals. The Cardinals did gain 201 yards rushing thanks to the 33 carries and 164 yards of Darius Ashley, a 5-foot-8, 184-pound redshirt freshman listed third on the depth chart. For the record, his career totals going into the game were virtually the same - 31 carries and 164 yards.

But the Mountaineers also harassed little redshirt freshman quarterback Will Stein into an awful day. He was sacked five times - twice by Julian Miller on back-to-back plays during that last-ditch attempt to tie the score - and completed only 14-of-26 passes for 100 yards.

The biggest play made by any of Louisville's receivers wasn't even a catch. That was the 53-yard run by Trent Guy on an end-around that set up the first of three Chris Philpott field goals.

This from the same defense that a week ago, in a 30-19 loss at South Florida, gave up more yards to a single player, Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels (336), than its entire offense produced (323).

"It helps when you're not chasing down B.J. Daniels,'' Williams said. "But still, Louisville had a great game plan. They controlled the ball and kept it away from our offense.''

When the West Virginia offense had the ball, it was not pretty. The Mountaineers produced just 273 total yards, by far the lowest total of the season. Jarrett Brown completed just 10-of-18 passes for 100 yards and was picked off in the end zone to stop a scoring drive. West Virginia rushed for 173 yards.

But that, too, was with an asterisk. Tailback Noel Devine was tackled hard at the end of a 20-yard run that set up West Virginia's first touchdown and touched the ball only once after that. He finished his day with 13 carries for 56 yards - 12 for just 36 before the play on which he was injured.

In his stead came slot receiver Jock Sanders. Rather than go with backup Mark Rodgers or true freshman Tavon Austin or big back Ryan Clark, Stewart gave the ball to the one player who most closely resembles Devine in style and substance. Sanders carried 12 times for 66 yards.

Throw in an offensive line that at times couldn't seem to get out of its own way - back-to-back procedure penalties in the red zone on one drive, a bad snap that resulted in a turnover on another - and it all added up to 14 possessions and just three scores. The first was an 8-yard bubble screen to Sanders late in the first half, then a 9-yard Austin run on an end-around to start the second and a 42-yard Tyler Bitancurt field goal.

Because of that offensive ineptitude, Louisville was never out of the game. A team that has lost 10 of its last 11 Big East games was more than one score down for less than nine minutes Saturday, when WVU stretched a 7-6 halftime edge to 17-6 with two third-quarter scores.

"You let guys stick around and they think they can beat you,'' Sanders said.

Louisville didn't, of course, but a 17-point underdog stayed close and made life miserable for the Mountaineers, who have now won seven of nine games, but precious few of them by anything approaching comfortable or impressive.

To which Stewart's retort is simple.

"If people don't like it,'' he said, "don't bet on us.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.