Bill Stewart, the darling of West Virginia football fans after winning the Fiesta Bowl as an interim coach, can sense the honeymoon winding to a close.

Stewart has been dealing with adversity for the first time as the result of the Mountaineers' 24-3 loss at East Carolina.

Stewart, once the head coach at VMI, was his usual cheerful self on the Big East Conference call before one questioner rubbed him the wrong way by asking if WVU had the "leaders" who could pick the team up.

"Oh, my God, yes," Stewart said. "This is the second game of the season. Jesus, Mary, Joseph. This is what I don't understand about what's going on in our society.

"Before we get to Game 13, let me assure you, we better take care of Game 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Next question."

The Mountaineers have an open date before travelling to Colorado.

"If we've got fans worrying about what kind of motel rooms they're going to get in December or January, then they've got the wrong agenda," Stewart said. "If they're jumping off the bandwagon, well, they jump off. That's OK.

"I know this team's got no quit in it. We're going to fight like heck, do the best we can and hope we go out to Boulder, Colo., and get a win."

Be careful

A celebration penalty against Washington that occurred late in the Huskies' 28-27 loss to Brigham Young is part of a "teaching tape" that ACC supervisor of officials Doug Rhoads has sent to ACC officials and coaches this week.

Washington quarterback Jake Locker flipped the ball high into the air following a touchdown that put the Huskies into position to send the game into overtime, but Washington was penalized 15 yards and saw BYU block an extra-point kick.

Rhoads wants it known that his officials should have made the same call.

"The language in there is very specific," Rhoads said. "It started out with no baiting or taunting and each year they've gotten more specific: no kicking, no spiking, no flipping, no rolling. The penalty was for 15 yards, but it didn't cost [Washington] the game. The extra point was from a spot [35 yards] that is closer than 90 percent of your field-goal attempts."

'Stroke of luck'

The feel-good story of the week in the ACC involved Harrison Beck, who came off the bench to pass for 246 yards in N.C. State's 34-24 victory over William and Mary. Rated the No. 4 quarterback prospect in the country by Tom Lemming in 2004, he signed with Nebraska but was 1-for-10 in two brief appearances and transferred to N.C. State.

After sitting out a year, Beck earned the starting job early in the 2007 season but was injured. He was State's No. 3 quarterback going into this season and would have been No. 4 had Mike Glennon not been redshirted. He played against William and Mary because No. 1 Russell Wilson was injured and No. 2 Daniel Evans was ineffective.

"I told him in the preseason that he wasn't in our plans at [that] point," coach Tom O'Brien said. "If we had any indication that he wanted to transfer, we would have helped, but, as a one-time transfer, he couldn't transfer, which was a stroke of luck for us."

Starting anew

Former Virginia Tech defensive lineman Darryl Robertson, instantly eligible as a transfer for Division I-AA Liberty, had 1 ¹₂ sacks and 3 ¹₂ tackles for loss for the Flames in a 44-27 victory over Glenville (W.Va.) State. Another ex-Hokie, Kent Hicks, starts at cornerback for the Flames.

One-time All-ACC running back Branden Ore, who transferred from Tech to Division II West Liberty (W.Va.) State, carried 26 times for 167 yards Saturday in a 24-10 victory over host Walsh University of North Canton, Ohio. Ore has rushed for 295 yards and caught nine passes in two games.

Local update

The NCAA announced that former Salem High School and Roanoke College men's basketball standout A.J. Dowell has joined its staff as the only intern for men's and women's basketball.

It will be a one-year, salaried internship for Dowell, who worked this past season as an intern with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, where he was involved with planning and management for nine conference championships.

"It is a tremendous accomplishment to be selected as an NCAA intern," said program coordinator Kimberly Ford. "It is a very competitive process. We're looking for the future leaders of intercollegiate athletics. A.J. should be very proud of being selected."