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• Pitt addressed its confusion in the secondary by moving defensive coordinator Phil Bennett from the sideline to the press box against Cincinnati last Saturday, and Bennett will once again serve as the eyes in the sky when the Panthers play West Virginia on Friday in the Backyard Brawl. "We talked about it when he first came here, and I just felt like with the way we were structured on defense that we could get more out of Phil with him seeing everything and making decisions from the box," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "That was really the main reason. I felt like he had more to offer than what we were getting, and this would be a way to maximize it." Linebackers coach Joe Tumpkin replaced Bennett in calling defensive signals from the sideline. Wannstedt, a long-time defensive coordinator, watched several games from the press box after knee surgery last season. "In 18 years of calling defenses, I was always in the box," Wannstedt said. "I always felt like you could see better up there. I know you can. A lot of them don't do it that way, but it's something I'm partial to, I guess."

• Pitt is playing an endless loop of clips from past Backyard Brawls on flat-screen televisions at the Duratz Athletic Complex on the South Side to give Panthers players an idea of the players and history involved in the rivalry."We're just rotating games," Wannstedt said. "The game is really insignificant. It's just that West Virginia is on their minds. Our players, they're interested in some of the past players on both teams that have played in this game, just seeing them out there in action. Some of these guys have never seen them play before. To see Larry Fitzgerald playing in a Pitt uniform is interesting to them."

Digits

5 -- Number of Pitt victories over West Virginia, in 15 games, since both schools joined the Big East Conference in 1993.

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