ESPN College Football

CINCINNATI -- Unbeaten? Check.

Invincible? Maybe not.

No. 5 Cincinnati became the first team to get to 10 wins this season and the first team in school history to start 10-0 with Friday night's 24-21 win over West Virginia. These are heady times for a program that has never been in the national title discussion this late in the year, if at all.

But is the book out on how to beat these Bearcats?

After steamrolling through their first eight opponents, they have needed to recover onside kicks in the final minute at home the last two weeks to stay unblemished. A week ago, Connecticut nearly knocked them off in a 47-45 shootout. This time, West Virginia made them slug it out to the wire.

Both the Huskies and the Mountaineers tried similar tactics against the Bearcats: pound the ball in between the tackles, wear down the Cincinnati defensive line and keep Brian Kelly's potent offense on the sidelines. UConn and West Virginia each rushed for more than 200 yards in the narrow losses.

If that is indeed the way to beat the Bearcats, one team left on their schedule fits that strategy perfectly: Pittsburgh, with its power running game behind Dion Lewis. And the Dec. 5 Pitt-Cincinnati game at Heinz Field will serve as the Big East championship game now that West Virginia has been eliminated from contention.

Kelly scoffed at the notion that opponents have found any sort of secret to his team.

"We've got 10 wins," he said. "So they're not doing such a good job."

It's true that even if everything goes according to plan, beating the Bearcats still isn't easy. On Friday night, they lost a fumble for the first time all season, threw just their fifth interception of the year, botched a field goal and were held to a season-low point total. They coughed up another fumble before replay officials overturned a call at the goal line and instead ruled that Isaiah Pead had scored a touchdown first, a call that will be debated from Morgantown to Fort Worth all weekend.

Still, they managed to win for the 16th straight time in the regular season.

"We don't get caught up looking at stats or what they run," linebacker Andre Revels said. "All we need to know is we came out with a win."

How many other teams can plug in a backup running back and have him explode for 175 yards, as Pead did? Or have their injured former Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback (Tony Pike) come in for just four plays, all inside the West Virginia 10, and throw two touchdown passes? And have the record-setting former backup quarterback (Zach Collaros) be totally happy with that arrangement?

"I was joking, because we play basketball together, that I had an assist," said Collaros, who was seen hugging Pike in a hallway after a game. "He says it's like Steve Nash to Amare Stoudemire, but it's more like Derrick Rose to Joakim Noah."

Kelly seemingly has answers for every situation and makes up new ones when the moment strikes him.

"I don't know if anybody's ever done that before," he said of the quarterback-as-closer toggling. "That was kind of crazy."

Maybe it's crazy to think somebody will beat Cincinnati this season. But expect the remaining opponents to go for the UConn/West Virginia plan.

Sure, the Mountaineers are known for running the ball, but they had more success inside the tackles than on the perimeter. This was more of a grind-it-out attack than the old quick-strike West Virginia; Noel Devine's longest run went just 11 yards, and the biggest Mountaineers gainer on the ground came on a 37-yard touchdown rumble by bruising fullback Ryan Clarke. Dave Wannstedt has to have taken notes.

Cincinnati's dominance has disappeared the last two weeks, but Kelly said he doesn't care about that.

"[West Virginia] is a Top 25 team," he said. "We're nicked up, banged up, we're playing two quarterbacks out there. We're just trying to fight every day to win football games."

The Bearcats may not be invincible. They'll settle for being unbeaten.

CINCINNATI -- Isaiah Pead very nearly earned himself a dubious place in Cincinnati football history.

Late in the first half, Pead lost a fumble while stretching the ball out toward the West Virginia goal line and with his team trailing 14-7. It would have been the first lost fumble by a Bearcats running back all season.

But Pead got a reprieve, as replay officials overturned the call and awarded Cincinnati a touchdown in the night's most controversial moment. It saved not only Pead's backside but perhaps the season for the No. 5 Bearcats, who survived 24-21.

"[Teammate] John Goebel came up to me on the sideline and said, 'You just went from zero to hero,'" Pead said.

The reversal helped the sophomore secure a much better legacy, as the player who most helped his team notch its first 10-0 start in school history. Making his second career start in place of the injured Jacob Ramsey, Pead ran for a career-best 175 yards on 18 carries.

It was that last stat that most surprised him. Cincinnati doesn't hand the ball off much, and when it does the pigskin usually gets spread around. No Bearcats back had carried it 18 times since Ramsey did so last year against Pitt. Pead's previous high was 16 this season.

Head coach Brian Kelly even broke out some option Friday night, with quarterback Zach Collaros making quick pitches to Pead on the edge. Kelly said that was a way to counter West Virginia's defense, which double-teamed receivers Mardy Gilyard and Armon Binns but left its three-man front open to the running game.

Pead's biggest play came after West Virginia was stopped on 4th-and-8 from the Cincinnati 24 with 5:23 left. He went left and darted through tacklers for 43 yards, setting the Bearcats up for what turned out to be the winning field goal. He also had a 52-yard run earlier in the game before tripping up.

"I have a tendency to fall," he said. "I'm still trying to get my feet moving with my brain."

As Friday showed, he is close to putting everything together and becoming Kelly's latest backup-turned-superstar. Pead grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and rooted hard for Ohio State all his life. But when he felt the Buckeyes didn't recruit him with enough zeal, he opted to go south and play for Kelly. Here he may build quite a lasting place in Cincinnati football history.

"You've got great backs in this league, and finally we can show our league and the country we've got one, too," Kelly said. "We knew what we had with Isaiah. He's just getting more featured."

CINCINNATI -- Instant analysis from No. 5 Cincinnati's 24-21 win over No. 25 West Virginia:

How the game was won: West Virginia had a good game plan: Run the ball between the tackles, move the chains and keep Cincinnati's offense off the field. The Bearcats had just 21 points with under three minutes left, so the defense did its job. The Mountaineers simply couldn't come up with key plays at the end of drives and were held scoreless in the second half until a final-minute touchdown.

Turning point: West Virginia trailed 21-14 with about seven minutes to go and drove the ball to the Cincinnati 25. But Noel Devine was on the sidelines getting his ankle re-taped, and the Mountaineers decided to hand off to Jock Sanders on 3rd-and-9. After that netted just one yard, West Virginia went for it on fourth down but was stopped as the Bearcats harassed Jarrett Brown into an incompletion with heavy pressure. Cincinnati then went the other way for a clinching field goal.

Player of the game: Sophomore running back Isaiah Pead took on a bigger workload since Jacob Ramsey was unavailable with a foot sprain. Pead was ready for the opportunity. He made the most of it, rushing for a career-best 175 yards, a touchdown and a crucial 43-yarder late in the fourth quarter.

What it means: The Big East is now officially a two-team race, with one game that will decide everything. West Virginia was eliminated from title contention from the loss, and the winner of Dec. 5 game between Pitt and Cincinnati will be the de facto Big East championship game, no matter what happens before then.

Unsung hero of the game: Tony Pike had only four plays in the game, but the senior quarterback made the most of them. He came in the game twice, both with Cincinnati inside the West Virginia 10, and threw two touchdown passes.

CINCINNATI -- Quick halftime analysis from Nippert Stadium, where No. 5 Cincinnati is tied 14-14 with No 25 West Virginia.

Turning point: Cincinnati's Isaiah Pead fumbled at the goal line with a little more than five minutes left in the half, and West Virginia recovered. But the call was overturned by replay officials, who ruled Pead had broken the plane of the goal line before fumbling. It looked like a very close call -- certainly not indisputable -- and the Bearcats went from being down 14-7 and losing possession to being tied 14-14. May be the call that saves Cincinnati's season.

Stat of the half: The Bearcats entered this game having committed the fewest turnovers of any team in the country, with four interceptions and no lost fumbles. They turned it over twice in the first half, including a fumble. And, of course, they could have easily had three.

What Cincinnati needs to do: Stop making mistakes. In addition to the penalties, Cincinnati has been a little off in its offense and has failed to make key tackles. The Bearcats are usually very precise. They'll need to be in the second half to save their BCS title hopes.

What West Virginia needs to do: The Mountaineers are doing a good job of controlling the clock and keeping Cincinnati's offense under wraps. They'll need to do more of that in the second half and let Jarrett Brown loose to make a few big plays. If so, they might just score the upset and stay alive in the Big East title hunt.

CINCINNATI -- A few BCS title contenders have been bailed out by favorable calls this year.

Count Cincinnati in that group now.

Isaiah Pead fumbled at the goal line, and West Virginia recovered in a huge play. But replay officials ruled that Pead broke the plane with the ball in his hand before the fumble.

It was really, really close. And as Pat Forde says, tie goes to the undefeated team.

That seems to be the theme of the season so far. I think we could hear about that overturn for quite a while.