Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

On a short-yardage play in last week's game at South Florida, West Virginia nose tackle Chris Neild found himself in the middle of a four-man assault.

Knowing he was the Mountaineers' best run-stuffer, the Bulls sent as many people as they could gather at Neild, who did his best to hold his ground while almost getting split in half.

"My back got bent pretty far," Neild said. "I was hurt for a little bit, but I was able to come back in."

	Charles LeClaire/Getty Images
	Chris Neild and the Mountaineers are eyeing a strong finish to the season.

West Virginia hopes it can follow the lead of its defensive anchor. The 30-19 loss to South Florida bent back the team's Big East title hopes, but its goals are still within reach.

The Mountaineers (6-2, 2-1 Big East) trail Pitt and Cincinnati in the conference standings and know they basically have to win out -- and beat the two league leaders along the way -- in order to return to the BCS.

"It's about finishing up strong," Neild said. "We know what's in front of us with these four Big East games, and we're trying to win this conference. We know if we take care of business, we'll be in good shape."

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said his team was bruised from its trip to Tampa and understandably upset. But he said he has confidence that the players will bounce back.

"I don’t know if they like me, and I don’t really care," he said. "These are great guys. All you have to do is look them dead in the eye and tell them the truth. Tell them what is to be expected and then go to work.

"All my life I have been in tough situations. You just jut your jaw, bow your back, you shut your mouth and go to play as hard as you can play. If you do that in life, be it in your daily walk, your job, your marriage or whatever phase of your life, you will be OK."

The first order of business for the Mountaineers is shoring up their pass defense after getting burned for long plays in the South Florida game. Cornerback Keith Tandy had a rough game as the Bulls' Carlton Mitchell repeatedly flew by him. Stewart insisted, though, that the coverage problems weren't all Tandy's fault, and the sophomore is still in the starting lineup on this week's depth chart.

“Coach doesn’t want us to come down on each other and say it was [Keith] Tandy’s fault because it wasn’t just one person’s fault," safety Robert Sands said. "There were other people on that field and we didn’t put enough pressure on the quarterback for that happen to Tandy.

"He doesn’t want us to be pointers, he wants us to be ‘I’ guys and that’s what we’re going to be. We just need to come together and win the rest of these games.”

The four-game spring begins this week at home against Louisville, a former fierce rival that has fallen on hard times. West Virginia is heavily favored to dispatch the Cardinals and move ahead to next Friday's clash at No. 5 Cincinnati.

The Mountaineers would love to have that South Florida loss back. Now, like Neild, they hope they can bend but not break.

"All we can do is just look forward," Neild said.