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MORGANTOWN -West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart beamed about his assistants Sunday, saying he was proud of the way they made adjustments at halftime to help the team to a 28-24 win over Connecticut.

"We've been down at the half in the last two games," he said. "I want to compliment the staff on both sides of the ball for what has transpired.

(Connecticut) threw things at us that we hadn't seen. They did some things that were unorthodox for us, and we didn't anticipate it."The way our offensive staff responded at halftime was absolutely outstanding," he continued.

"You have a 20-minute halftime and only about 14 minutes to talk about the game plan, which didn't resemble what you were seeing on the field and what you prepared for all week. We pitched it aside and regrouped and put another plan together. Our offensive staff is absolute champs at that."

Stewart expressed pride in the team "for its resiliency and perservance," saying they rallied around each other and believed in the coaches."We just found another way to win, whether it be on the ground or in the air," he said. "We very much stayed in tune in the game."

Stewart wasn't through heaping out praises in his Sunday conversation, as he also sent some out to the fans."Our fans kept us in the game at the end, and I thank them so much for hanging with us and believing in us as much as we believed in each other," he said. "I am so proud of the people of West Virginia.

"Those people that were at the game and the tribute they showed to the UConn Huskies and Jasper Howard was awesome. 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."

WVU president James Clements and Board of Governors chairwoman Carolyn Long jointly issued a statement praising the Mountaineer fans for their actions in supporting UConn as it tries to rebound from the death of Howard.

"The cheers when the opposing team took - and left - the field, the

moment of silence, the pins, the armbands and the overwhelming show of respect throughout the game were fine emblems of the solidarity of the Mountaineer community," the statement read. "Our fans, always passionate and loyal, wanted to win this game.

But they understood that (Saturday) was a tough and sad day for our opponents. So, while our hearts were with the Mountaineers to win the game, they were with our visitors, whose hearts were broken when cornerback Jasper Howard lost his life in such a tragic way last weekend."

Howard was stabbed to death outside a school sponsored dance in the early morning hours of Oct. 18. His teammates are expected to fly to Miami today to attend his funeral.

The Mountaineers, 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big East Conference, will have a short week to prepare for a game at South Florida on Friday night.

"I'm proud of this football team," Stewart said. "We're 6-1 for a reason. We're good when we play good.

Our players believe that we can only stop ourselves. When we quit doing that, we're a pretty good football team."