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MORGANTOWN-Veteran football coach Bill Stewart probably could write a book about all the happenings his has witnessed during his tenure at West Virginia University. The second-year head coach could add a chapter or two following Saturday's 28-24 come-from-behind win over Big East rival Connecticut.

"That was one heck of a college football game," said Stewart. "Someone mentioned to me this morning that it reminded him of the old back-and- forth WVU-Boston College games. I don't know about that, but I'm sure it was."

The contest began with the visiting Huskies receiving a standing ovation from the 58,000 fans in attendance. Connecticut players entered the stadium carrying the jersey of slain defensive back Jasper Howard, who was stabbed to death following a school-sponsored dance after UConn's win over Louisville the previous weekend.

"I'm so proud of the people of West Virginia-those people that were at the game and the tribute that they showed to the UConn Huskies and Jasper Howard was awesome," said the coach. "I've never seen anything like it. It was all from the heart. It's a proud day to wear the old gold and blue when you see things like that. What a tribute."

Next, Stewart and his staff got to witness an event taht hadn't occurred since the 2006 season-a Mountaineer return a kickoff for a touchdown. True freshman Tavon Austin's 98-yard return of the opening kickoff was the first time since Darius Reynaud accomplished the feat with a 96-yard effort against Maryland.

"It (the return) is something we practice every day," said Austin. "It all just happened so fast, it's hard to explain. I saw the hole open up on the right and just ran to it."

The play proved to be an omen of things to come, however.

With Connecticut trailing 14-10 following a 5-yard scoring run by WVU's Jarrett Brown, UConn's Robbie Frey returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the WVU 42.

A 16-yard reception by Marcus Easley and a 9-yard run by Jordan Todman placed the football at the WVU 17 with time running out in the first half.

However, sophomore quarterback Cody Endres hooked up with Kashif Moore on the very next play and the Huskies took a 17-14 lead following their 3-play, 42-yard drive that took only 26 ticks off of the clock.

The big plays continued during the second 30 minutes of action as junior Noel Devine took advantage of a Brown block to race 62 yards and give WVU a first-and-goal at the UConn 1. Brown found Tyler Urban in the back of the end zone two plays later to give the lead back to the hosts, 21-17.

That appeared as if it would be the only points that would be tallied in the second half as both defenses dug in for the fourth quarter.

WVU looked to have put the game away when Kent Richardson returned an interception 46 yards to the UConn 18. But, the Huskies' Easley-a name that will come up again before the game's conclusion-would strip the ball away from the Mountaineer defender with Connecticut recovering at its own 10 with 5:02 left on the clock.

A 4-yard rush by Andre Dixon was followed by a 2-yard loss on a Endres pass to Anthon Sherman and it appeared as if WVU's defense would overcome its own mistake and preserve yet another Mountaineer victory.

Easley would have none of that, however, as the Huskies' receiver hauled in an Endres aerial at the UConn 30 and out-raced the entire Mountaineer secondary to the end zone for an 88-yard score and a 24-21 UConn lead with 3:50 left to be played.

Six plays, 80 yards and 1:47 later, it was the gold-clad Mountaineer fans' turn to cheer when Devine, who rushed for 178 yards on the day, broke through the first line of UConn defenders and ran 56 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

"Our fans kept us in the game at the end, and I can only thank them so much for hanging with us and believing in us as much as we believed in each other," said Stewart.

That fan support will have to hit the road this week, however, as No. 20 WVU (6-1, 2-0 Big East) travels to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., to tangle with the Bulls from the University of South Florida (5-2, 1-2 Big East).