CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Special teams may have cost West Virginia a Bowl Championship Series berth. Coach Rich Rodriguez doesn't want them to be a deciding factor against Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.

Rodriguez recently put the Mountaineers through game-type drills on special teams for the first time since the spring following massive breakdowns against Boston College.

The Eagles scored twice on punt returns, had several long kickoff returns and pinned West Virginia deep in its own territory on many punts and kickoffs. The Mountaineers fumbled away the second-half kickoff, leading to one of three field goals in the 36-17 loss.

Rodriguez is tweaking his punt and kick coverage teams, hoping to put the right mix of athletes on the field Thursday night when West Virginia (8-2, 4-1 Big East) and Pittsburgh (6-3, 3-2) play in the Mountaineers' regular season finale.

"If you simply can't get there because of a lack of athleticism or speed, then we've got to do a little something. There's a few things you can do to help yourself," Rodriguez said.

"When they've got big, fast backs, if you're too slow, you're not going to tackle them. And if you're too light, they're going to run over you. I'd rather at least have them run over us and hopefully we can hang on and get run over slowly. A lack of speed hurts us."

Pittsburgh has one kickoff return for a touchdown this season but has the worst punt return average in the Big East at 4.9 yards.

But look at Boston College, which hadn't had a punt return for a score in two years before the debacle in Morgantown.

"We want to shake up the apple tree and see if there are players we can move up or down on the depth chart to help us," said special teams coach Bill Stewart. "The world has not collapsed. We just had a couple breakdowns that got us."

Everyone is rethinking their roles: kickers, returners, and those sent downfield to tackle.

Kicker Brad Cooper has been struggling with maintaining the correct body position on kickoffs.

On deep kickoffs, he's supposed to lunge at the ball. But lately, they've been landing around the 5-yard line instead of going into the end zone.

What's throwing him off are the high, short kickoffs in which he has to lean back more. Those "sky" kicks are aimed at surprising opponents, but lately they have come to expect it.

"I'll try to do my job as well as I can when the coaches call for it," Cooper said.

Punter Phil Brady has struggled all season. There have been shanks; low, returnable punts; and balls that end up in the middle of the field when they should be aimed at the sidelines.

"Against Boston College I did not do my job," he said. "I kicked it down the middle, and we got no coverage there."

During the live drills, Rodriguez saw little improvement in some areas.

"We have to get our kickers to understand the location on the kicks. We still have not done it how we want to," he said.

AP-ES-11-22-04 1844EST