MORGANTOWN - Reed Williams has plenty of motivation heading into Friday's Backyard Brawl with Pitt. Separating the facets of that motivation is no problem because they are so closely tied.

It's his last game at Mountaineer Field.

And it's a chance for the Mountaineers to begin redeeming themselves for what they - and others - consider a season of lost opportunities.

West Virginia (7-3, 3-2 Big East) faces Pitt (9-1, 5-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in the 102nd edition of one of college football's longest rivalries. The Mountaineers are trying to snap a two-game losing streak to the Panthers, who on their last trip to Morgantown pulled a shocking 13-9 upset to knock WVU out of the 2007 national championship game.

West Virginia can't do any damage to Pitt along those lines this season, even on a smaller scale. The Panthers will play Cincinnati on Dec. 5 for the Big East championship and the league's automatic BCS bowl berth regardless of the outcome of Friday's Brawl. The Mountaineers can, though, frustrate the Panthers on the eve of that league showdown and reclaim some of their swagger after a season of lost opportunities.

Which is why the game is so important to Williams.

"It's more about us than it is about [derailing] Pitt. We need this game for ourselves,'' Williams said. "We haven't been able to find our identity all season long. We keep waiting for that game where everything's put together and I haven't seen it yet. With only two games left, it's got to happen soon. Maybe Friday will be the night.''

Indeed, with games to play against Pitt and a week later at 7-2 Rutgers, the Mountaineers still have a chance to come out of this season feeling good about themselves, albeit without a Big East title to show for it. Wins in the final two games and in a subsequent bowl would give West Virginia a 10-win season for the fourth time in the past five years.

What bothers Williams is that with a play or two here or there, West Virginia could already be there - perhaps one or two fewer turnovers at Auburn, a defensive stop or two at South Florida and maybe a fumble instead of a replay-decided touchdown at Cincinnati.

MORGANTOWN - Reed Williams has plenty of motivation heading into Friday's Backyard Brawl with Pitt. Separating the facets of that motivation is no problem because they are so closely tied.

It's his last game at Mountaineer Field.

And it's a chance for the Mountaineers to begin redeeming themselves for what they - and others - consider a season of lost opportunities.

West Virginia (7-3, 3-2 Big East) faces Pitt (9-1, 5-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in the 102nd edition of one of college football's longest rivalries. The Mountaineers are trying to snap a two-game losing streak to the Panthers, who on their last trip to Morgantown pulled a shocking 13-9 upset to knock WVU out of the 2007 national championship game.

West Virginia can't do any damage to Pitt along those lines this season, even on a smaller scale. The Panthers will play Cincinnati on Dec. 5 for the Big East championship and the league's automatic BCS bowl berth regardless of the outcome of Friday's Brawl. The Mountaineers can, though, frustrate the Panthers on the eve of that league showdown and reclaim some of their swagger after a season of lost opportunities.

Which is why the game is so important to Williams.

"It's more about us than it is about [derailing] Pitt. We need this game for ourselves,'' Williams said. "We haven't been able to find our identity all season long. We keep waiting for that game where everything's put together and I haven't seen it yet. With only two games left, it's got to happen soon. Maybe Friday will be the night.''

Indeed, with games to play against Pitt and a week later at 7-2 Rutgers, the Mountaineers still have a chance to come out of this season feeling good about themselves, albeit without a Big East title to show for it. Wins in the final two games and in a subsequent bowl would give West Virginia a 10-win season for the fourth time in the past five years.

What bothers Williams is that with a play or two here or there, West Virginia could already be there - perhaps one or two fewer turnovers at Auburn, a defensive stop or two at South Florida and maybe a fumble instead of a replay-decided touchdown at Cincinnati.

"I think there are about three or four plays a game that define your season. You could be 7-3, 10-0, 9-1, whatever it may be [because of] those three plays,'' Williams said. "We didn't hit when we needed to hit or make a play when we had a chance to. We just let the opportunity slip through our hands.''

None of those missed opportunities have come at Mountaineer Field, however. There, West Virginia is 6-0. Over the course of Williams' nearly five seasons at WVU, the Mountaineers are 28-4 at home. In two of those four losses - 2005 to Virginia Tech and 2008 to Cincinnati - Williams was either a bit player on special teams or was sidelined with last year's medical redshirt.

That this is his last opportunity to play in Morgantown has snuck up on him.

"I haven't really thought about it. I try not to,'' Williams said. "You never think it's going to come, but it's here. You can't push it away anymore.''

Now that it's here - not only his last home game, but the last three games period - Williams doesn't want to let it slip by the way this season has done just that.

"We've got two [regular-season] games. We can lay down or we can finish strong,'' Williams said. "We're really going to test the character of our football team the next two games.''

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