MORGANTOWN, W.VA. ? Avon Cobourne preferred to talk about West Virginia’s victory.

Cobourne became the fifth Division I-A running back to have four 1,000-yard seasons Saturday, joining Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett, Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne, North Carolina’s Amos Lawrence and New Mexico State’s Denvis Manns.

Cobourne finished with 108 yards on 28 carries in West Virginia’s 34-7 victory over Syracuse. He now has 1,002 yards in seven games.

Wearing a gray sweatsuit and stretched out on a couch in the players’ lounge, Cobourne was giddy about beating Syracuse for the first time as a player, and about West Virginia (5-2, 2-0 Big East) moving within one victory of becoming bowl-eligible.

He even looks forward to next week’s home game against top-ranked Miami. But Cobourne tried to deflect attention away from his own milestone.