MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Take away Steve Slaton and Owen Schmitt from West Virginia's offense and Syracuse still sees a ton of potential trouble.

With the pair now in the NFL, the Orange will still have to deal with Pat White, Noel Devine and Jarrett Brown on Saturday when Syracuse (1-4, 0-1 Big East) plays the Mountaineers (3-2, 1-0).

West Virginia has outscored Syracuse 96-31 in their last two meetings. Even though West Virginia underwent a coaching change, the run-oriented system is essentially the same under Bill Stewart.

“This is the Cadillac of spread offenses,” Syracuse coach Greg Robinson said. “People have worked hard to emulate what they do. We have to find ways to minimize their plays and work like we've never worked before to get turnovers.”

Actually, West Virginia could use a tuneup.

While the Mountaineers average 5.6 yards per rush and White and Brown are completing nearly 73 percent of their passes, they're having trouble sustaining and finishing drives, especially in short-yardage situations. The team is scoring 17 fewer points and rushing for 96 fewer yards compared with the same number of games a year ago.

Last week Brown was stopped on fourth-and-1 near the end of a 24-17 win over Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights took over at the West Virginia 45 but turned the ball over on downs.

West Virginia is looking for its seventh straight win in the series and will face one of the nation's worst defenses. There was a time not too long ago when Syracuse-West Virginia commanded much more attention and the games were intense until the end.

In 2000, Syracuse won on a last-second touchdown and longtime West Virginia coach Don Nehlen announced his retirement afterward.

Ten years ago West Virginia beat No. 15 Syracuse 35-28 in Donovan McNabb's final season. He had won three previous meetings by a combined 92-17.

In 1992, quarterback Marvin Graves retaliated on a WVU player after a late hit out of bounds by throwing the football off the player's head. The benches cleared and when calm was restored, Graves remained in the game and Syracuse won 20-17, prompting Nehlen to call the loss “a crime.”

In 1987, Don McPherson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Pat Kelly with 10 seconds left and Michaels Owens scored on the 2-point conversion run for a 32-31 win at the Carrier Dome, sending Syracuse to the Sugar Bowl unbeaten. It tied Auburn 16-16.

“Syracuse has a great football tradition and a storied program,” Stewart said. “Have they lost their swagger? I don't know. I know that every year they play us, they play us really tough.”

He cautions that the Orange had Pittsburgh in trouble before the Panthers rallied for 18 fourth-quarter points in a 34-24 win on Sept. 27.

Stewart wants to make sure his players aren't thinking about an Oct. 23 matchup with No. 20 Auburn, the next opponent after a bye week.

“I have no red letter games on the schedule,” Stewart said. “We have a so-called 'marquee' game against Auburn, but you know what the marquee game is for me? This Saturday, homecoming, against Syracuse. That is all I'm thinking about.”

Coming off a bye week, the mood at Syracuse remains positive.

“Clearly, they're beatable,” said Syracuse safety Bruce Williams. “They're not even ranked. We've got a chance because the Big East is up for grabs. There's no telling who's going to get this thing.”

“We believe we can go down there and win. We've just got to finish our fourth quarters.”

The kickers will be getting some extra attention on Saturday.

Syracuse's Patrick Shadle went to Morgantown High just down the road from Mountaineer Field.

West Virginia's Pat McAfee is poised to become the school's all-time points leader. He's currently one behind Steve Slaton, who has 330. Last week McAfee set the school's kick scoring record, moved past Paul Woodside, who played from 1981-84.

McAfee ranks fourth all-time among Big East kickers. Rutgers' Jeremy Ito holds the record with 400 points.