back 2 work

Back to Work By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com September 30, 2007 MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez will try to improve his team this week by doing it the only way he knows how: going back to work. After seeing his team commit more turnovers (six) against South Florida than in any game during his tenure at WVU, Rodriguez on Sunday offered his view on what went wrong against the Bulls. “The interceptions were bad decisions. The fumbles - one of them was a snap and another they put the hat on the ball and we didn’t have it secured right,” Rodriguez said. “It was very poor execution offensively all night. We need to get it corrected and we’ve got a lot of work to do starting this evening.” Shot-gun snaps were another problem area for the Mountaineers and several of those bad snaps came at critical points in the game. With WVU facing third and goal at the two yard line just before halftime, center Mike Dent fired the ball over Jarrett Brown’s head turning a possible momentum-turning touchdown into a 35-yard Pat McAfee field goal. Another snap was never properly handled by Brown, forcing him to mishandle an exchange with running back Steve Slaton that resulted in a turnover. “It was pretty glaring. We had been pretty good about it for the most part all year and then we had a few bad ones during that game at key times,” Rodriguez said. “It was pretty disappointing but we’ll work extra hard on it.” The Grant Town, W.Va., native said the snaps had more to do with poor execution than anything the Bulls were doing on the defensive line. Dent wasn’t the only one on the offensive line having difficulties handling a fast and athletic South Florida defensive front. “There were a couple missed[..]ignments in blocking. I think our guys were thinking a little too much,” Rodriguez said. “Obviously when you start to think too much you become a little tentative on some of your techniques.” One of the more upsetting things about the game for Rodriguez was the fact that his team showed great focus in practice leading up to the game last Friday night. “I thought we were ready to play. We had a pretty good week of practice and their focus was pretty good but then you go out in a game and we just weren’t sharp,” Rodriguez said. “Not just on offense, there were some times in all three phases where we weren’t sharp, and sometimes when the coaches weren’t sharp. It was a team effort. When you’re not sharp against a pretty good team at their place on the road it can cost you a game and that’s what happened.” One of the bright spots was the performance of the West Virginia defense - a unit that continues to grow with each game. Jeff Casteel’s squad limited the Bulls to just 280 yards of offense while forcing four turnovers. “I thought they played pretty good. They only had 56 snaps and the guys made a few plays on the ball in the air. There weren’t a whole lot of missed[..]ignments and we tackled pretty well,” Rodriguez said. “The only glaring weakness we had was the scramble where we let them get a big play there. Other than that they did a nice job.” A topic on everybody’s mind is the health of quarterback Patrick White, who sustained a deep thigh bruise while scrambling for a fourth-down conversion late in the first half. Rodriguez says his starting signal caller will be "day-to-day" with the nagging injury. “Pat White began treatment and he won’t do anything (Sunday). We will see how it gets better during the week,” Rodriguez said. “He may wake up tomorrow on the day off and get better. It’s one of those things you can’t predict so we’ll see.” Rodriguez was frustrated Friday night by a tidal wave of miscues that had not shown up so far this season. The seventh-year Mountaineer mentor was grasping for answers as to why the mistakes happened. “I have always said that 18-, 19- and 20 year-olds aren’t always going to have great performances,” Rodriguez said. “For whatever reasons sometimes they are just not sharp. We certainly weren’t very sharp offensively. We made more mistakes in that game than the other four combined. It’s kind of baffling but after today we’ll get it corrected and move on.” While it’s unrealistic to expect a team to play well for 12 straight games, Rodriguez noted that to have a great year you have to find a way to win games when the team is not at its best. “You want to be able to play well every weekend but it’s nice to try to win some when you don’t play well,” Rodriguez said. “Obviously we didn’t play well in the last game and we got beat, but as poorly as we played we still had a chance to win the game down there at the end.” Rodriguez notes that while watching all of the miscues on film, he saw nothing that couldn’t be corrected on the practice field. “I don’t think there is anything there we can’t fix,” Rodriguez said.

i feel bad for syracuse, we are gonna come out angry on saturday

i hope so

tomorrow will be a historic day

#1 Slaton 1 TD away from breaking WVU's career rushing TD record
#2 Rich Rod 1 win away from 100 career wins

Syracuse Preview By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com October 4, 2007 MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s time to dust off the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy and head to Syracuse for a Saturday afternoon Big East football game against the Orange at the Carrier Dome. West Virginia (4-1) has claimed the last five games in the lengthy series Syracuse now leads 30-24. Last year, the Mountaineers used long touchdown runs by Patrick White and Steve Slaton to register a 41-17 victory in Morgantown. “Syracuse was pretty solid defensively against us except for a couple of those big plays, which of course you have to count,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “For us, that was the difference between two years ago and last year.” The Mountaineers have historically had a tough time at the Dome going 5-8 in 13 games at the facility. West Virginia overcame five turnovers to pull out a 15-7 victory at Syracuse in the 2005 season opener. A defensive touchdown and a safety provided the difference in the game. This year WVU is looking to get back on track after stubbing its toe last Friday night at South Florida. Syracuse (1-4) got its only victory of the year at Louisville after the Cardinals dropped a game at Kentucky the previous week. “I don’t know if it was because it was a conference game but Syracuse had an extra bounce in their step, and they were clearly ready to play,” said Rodriguez. “They played well and they went after Louisville for four quarters.” Rodriguez says two areas that really jump out at him on film are the play of Syracuse’s defensive line and the rangy athletes the Orange have at wide receiver. Syracuse’s defensive line is one of the biggest West Virginia will face this year with Arthur Jones and Tony Jenkins weighing nearly 300 pounds. Backup nose tackle Nick Santiago is listed at 302. “They have a lot of big, physical guys up front,” Rodriguez said. “Their front four are all physical and no one can really move them off the ball. Washington had some big plays against them - and Louisville in the passing game and Iowa had a couple - but they don’t get moved off the ball a whole lot. “If they force you into a run situation they can get you down,” Rodriguez said. Syracuse is giving up 484.8 yards per game including a conference-worst 231.4 yards per game on the ground. However, Syracuse has been susceptible to big plays having already given up seven touchdowns covering 20 yards or longer. Last year, the Syracuse defense only surrendered 12 touchdowns of 20 yards or longer in 12 games. Last weekend Miami, Ohio was held to 17 points but managed 436 yards of offense including 286 on the ground. Illinois and Louisville both produced more than 500 yards of offense against the Syracuse defense. “They are not a heavy blitz team but they are not anti-blitz either,” Rodriguez said. “If they can stop you using some base defense and just crowd the box I think they will do that a little bit. They will change their coverage; what they have done this year, and what we have seen is that they have gone from an even-front traditional defense to an odd stack which is very similar to what we from our defense.” Offensively, Syracuse has been predominantly a passing team. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Robinson has completed 78 of 140 passes for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns. Robinson has only been intercepted twice in 148 career pass attempts. “He has been pretty smart with the ball for a first-time starter,” Rodriguez said. “I have been impressed on how he has zero negative yardage plays and he has gotten rid of the football whether he is dumping it off or throwing it away.” Syracuse has a pair of fleet receivers in Taj Smith and Mike Williams. Smith leads the Orange with 19 catches for 342 yards and three touchdowns, while Williams shows 16 catches for 260 yards and three scores. Five different players have caught at least one pass of 40 yards or longer. “One thing we will expect and will probably see is a lot of deep balls thrown down the field,” Rodriguez said. “They have thrown numerous deep balls down the field and no just in the big plays. You will get a one-on-one match up and they will check right away to a deep ball. Because Smith and Williams are the type of players that they are it makes sense.” Syracuse has had a tough time running the football averaging just 40.6 yards per game and 1.3 yards per carry. Syracuse’s top rusher Curtis Brinkley comes into Saturday’s game averaging 36.6 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry. Brinkley’s career has been plagued by injuries. “I think he is where he is,” said Syracuse coach Greg Robinson. “We’re this many weeks into the season and I don’t know how much he is going to change physically.” West Virginia has health issues it is dealing with, too. Quarterback Patrick White left the South Florida game in the second quarter with a deep thigh bruise and did not return. White completed 10 of 18 passes for 100 yards with an interception against the Bulls before exiting the contest. “He’s doing better (Tuesday) than yesterday and better yesterday than the day before,” said Rodriguez. “We will see how he is at practice. He is day-to-day and will be for the next few days.” Rodriguez said if White can't go then he has no problem letting sophomore Jarrett Brown run the offense. Brown 11 of 20 passing for 149 yards and a touchdown against South Florida. He also ran for a game-high 61 yards. In parts of five games this year Brown has completed 18 of 29 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown. He has also run 26 times for 184 yards. “Jarrett competed pretty well in the last game when we played really poorly and had six turnovers,” Rodriguez said. “He led an offense that ran some plays – and we could have won without the Big East player of the year – who didn’t play in the second half.” Rodriguez said a decision on his starting quarterback might not be made all the way up until game time. “If I decide earlier than that (the media) won’t know until noon on Saturday,” Rodriguez said. “Nobody else will either.” Junior running back Steve Slaton failed to reach 100 yards rushing for the first time this season last weekend at South Florida and comes into Saturday’s game averaging 111.2 yards per game. The Levittown, Pa., resident shows 556 yards rushing and nine touchdowns on 97 carries. He is one touchdown shy of breaking West Virginia’s Ira Rodgers’ 88-year record of 42 rushing touchdowns est@blished in 1919. Coach Rich Rodriguez is also looking for his 100th career victory. Syracuse is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the undefeated 1987 team prior to kick off. Syracuse was able to preserve that undefeated season by converting a two-point conversion late in the game to defeat West Virginia 32-31 in the Carrier Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. ESPN Regional (Dave Sims, John Congemi and Quint Kessenich) will televise the game as its Big East game of the week. The Mountaineer Sports Network will present the action on the airwaves beginning with the pre-game show at 11:30 am. Sirius Satellite radio users can access the broadcast on channel 122. CSTV All-Access subscribers can access MSN’s coverage on the Internet.

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—This one would seem to be the immovable force vs. the immovable force. Until the South Florida game, nobody, it seemed, could move West Virginia's run game off its course. Having played perhaps its most perfect game overall in the Rich Rodriguez era against East Carolina, the Mountaineers dropped the ball six times and with them their hopes for a BCS national championship at USF.

For the second time in as many years, South Florida defensive coordinator Wally Burnham met speed with speed and the Gold & Blue totaled 188 yards on the ground, its least since last year's 132 output at Milan Puskar Stadium against the Bulls.

This week, the run game gets well. Even with the USF blip, WVU's runners are averaging 323 yards per game, eighth in NCAA statistics. Syracuse is averaging 41. Against Miami Ohio in a 17-14 loss, the Orange picked up 66 yards. In another defeat to Illinois, the number was 63.

In fairness, Cuse lost its best rusher, Delonte Carter to a season-ending injury before this season began. Meanwhile, its No. 2 guy, Curtis Brinkley, is only now coming back from a preseason physical setback. The ace card is 6-foot-2, 215-pound true freshman Doug Hogue.


WVU's defense has continued to improve in each game of the season.
Syracuse (1-4, 1-0) fans are clamoring to see more of Hogue, who
recorded his first career rushing attempts when he ran for 13 yards on three attempts against Illinois … All three rushes came in the fourth quarter and included a nine yard run up the middle for a first down.
The Yonkers, N.Y, resident is built along the same lines as USF's Mike Ford, another highly recruited true freshman running back. The Bulls' Jim Leavitt started Ford (6-2, 230) in the I-formation last Friday. On the first play from scrimmage, the rookie bolted 35 yards. Perhaps Greg Robinson will be willing to give Hogue the same chance Saturday, noon, at the Carrier Dome (MSN, Big East ERT).

Because the run game is going nowhere, Robinson has decided to go to the air. He has a solid quarterback and a pair of wide receivers to do it. Particularly Robinson would like to do it long.

Syracuse is tied for first nationally for the fewest passes had intercepted. The Orange joins Clemson, Kansas and Central Florida as the only teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to have one pass picked off in 2007. The Orange's only interception of the year came at Iowa in the second quarter. Since then, sophomore quarterback Andrew Robinson (Baltimore, Md.) hasn't been intercepted in his last 104 attempts (the school record is 178 held by R.J. Anderson).

Since defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and safeties coach Bruce Tall moved Eric Wicks back to spur safety, the Mountaineer secondary has been stellar. Larry Williams made a high block of a Maryland quarterback Jordan Steffy pass to keep the Mountaineers ahead. The Mountaineers show 7 interceptions in five games. Ellis Lankster made a one-handed grab against South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe.

RECORD LIST
Sophomore Mike Williams (Buffalo, N.Y.)
continued his success by catching a career-high tying five
passes for a season-high 97 yards and one touchdown at
Miami. He has 16 receptions for
260 yards in four games in 2007 …

Junior Taj Smith (Newark, N.J.) is causing the opposition
problems with three touchdowns and 254 receiving yards
in his last two outings … In nine career games, Smith has
produced six 50-plus yard performances .

Defensively, Cuse cannot stop the run. Miami used a third-team running back to post 286 yards against the Robinson coordinated D. The RedHawks had been averaging 110 rushing yards in its previous games. Illinois totaled 380.

Nonetheless, the Orange's front is showing signs of life. Call it USF-light. The interior line of WVU (12th/13th, 4-1, 1-0) crumbled at the hands of the Bulls a week ago, and though SU has difficulty with quick backs like Steve Slaton, Pat White and Noel Devine, it has playmakers.

Senior Jameel McClain was supposed to awaken the echoes of Dwight Freeney, but in five games he has yet to begin matching last year's 8 ½ sacks and 7 TFLs. McClain got better at Miami O, but the best player up front for Robinson has been nose tackle Arthur Jones. As a freshman Jones posted 8 ½ sacks. He currently is sixth in the nation in TFLs (1.7).

Even so this game is more about the Mountaineers vs. Mountaineers than Mountaineers vs. Orange. If they continue to turn the ball over on the road and fail to solve their snapping blocking woes in the interior, it might be a trend for the season.

The smart Monopoly money says they will return to ECU form against a team that showed little pulse until it bopped Louisville on the road two weeks ago. Even with quarterback Pat White questionable, the Mountaineers should roll.

If the Gold & Blue seemed three touchdowns better (in cyberspace) than its hosts at the Ray Jay, certainly it should be a four-touchdown favorite at The Carrier Dome.

WVSports.com's Jim Laise, Michael Minnich and Syracuse journalism graduate student Kevin Trudgeon will provide the Blue Lot with pre-game, live time summaries and post-game analysis. Coverage will include an almost real-time game summary, a commentary and several sidebars.
Rich Rodriguez will summarize Syracuse with an injury briefing report here this weekend. The Mountaineers have the Oct. 13 weekend off.

Photographers Vernon Bailey, Joe McNemar, Jay Taylor and Scott Guinn will cover the action from the sideline. Look for post-game galleries and his shots throughout the week.

ESPN Regional - (Dave Sims - play-by-play, John Congemi - analysis, Sarah Kustok - sideline) will
broadcast the game live. Stations in West Virginia and the surrounding area who will carry the game
are WVFX-TV (Clarksburg), WOAY-TV (Bluefield/Beckley), WTAP-TV (Parkersburg), WTOV-TV (Wheeling),
WCHS-TV (Charleston) and WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh).

Radio
Mountaineer Sports Network - (Tony Caridi - play-by-play, Dwight Wallace - analysis, Hoppy
Kercheval - host) will broadcast the game live.

Sirius Radio Broadcast - The MSN broadcast of the West Virginia - SU game can be heard live on Sirius Channel 122.

Internet broadcasts of WVU games are available by accessing MSNsportsNET.com and clicking on the Live Event Coverage button down the left-hand column of the athletics home page.

******
BY THE NUMBERS

+Slaton is the NCAA's active career TD leader (47), active points per game (10.1)
second rushing ypg leader (122.4), second in RB yards per carry (6.23)
and second in all purpose yards per game (143.2. He is just one rushing TD shy of breaking WVU career record of 42
that he is tied with Ira Errett Rodgers (1915-19) and Avon Cobourne (1999-02)


+WVU's preseason ranking of No. 3 by the AP is the highest ranking in school history. WVU is ranked 12th in the Coaches Poll; 13th in the A

+No active QB has run for more yards in the last two seasons than White. He is 19-3 all-time as the Gold & Blue starter.

+Rodriguez 42-13, best four-year+3 game mark in history.

+West Virginia has scored 25-of-27 times when
inside its opponent's red zone, scoring 154 points:
34 against Western Michigan, 35 at Marshall, 24 at
Maryland, a season-high 48 points against East
Carolina and 13 points at USF.

The scoring consists of 16 rushing touchdowns,
four passing touchdowns and five field goals made
for a total of 20 touchdowns. The two failed
attempts were a missed 22-yard field goal attempt
at Maryland and an interception thrown at USF.
two passing touchdowns and four field goals
made.

+This is the 55th meeting between the two schools with the Orange holding 30-24 series advantage.

West Virginia has won the last five straight, including the last two in Syracuse, 34-23, in 2003, and
15-7, in 2005.

The winner of the annual game will be awarded the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy in honor of the former WVU letterman and Syracuse coaching legend.

+Keilen Dykes will start his 37th consecutive game
+Eric Wicks, 30th
+Ryan Stanchek, 25th
+Darius Reynaud, 23rd overall
+Slaton, 23rd consecutive


*******
NEXT GAME
WVU is off, Saturday, Noon, Big East ERT
Syracuse hosts Rutgers
******

STARTING LINEUPS
WVU O
Y—Darius Reynaud; Brandon Hogan
H—Jock Sanders; Nate Sowers
LT—Stanchek; Selvish Capers
LG—Greg Isdaner; Derek Hayes
C—Mike Dent; Eric Jobe
RG—Eric Rodemoyer; Derek Hayes
RT—Jake Figner; John Bradshaw
TE—Owen Schmitt; Michael Villagrana
X—Dorrell Jalloh; Wes Lyons
Z—Tito Gonzales; Will Johnson
QB—Pat White (questionable); Jarrett Brown
SB—Steve Slaton; Noel Devine
FB—Schmitt; Sam Morrone

WVU SPECIALS
PK—Pat McAfee; Chris Glenn
KO-McAfee
P—McAfee; Scott Kozlowski
H—Jeremy Kash
LSN—Adam Hughes
KR—Devine, Vaughn Rivers
PR—Rivers, Antonio Lewis

SU D
DE 91 Brandon Gilbeaux (6-3, 271, So.) 55 LEE WILLIAMS (6-3, 262, Sr.)
NT 97 Arthur Jones (6-4, 289, So.) 95 Nick Santiago (6-3, 302, Jr.) OR 94 Bud Tribbey (6-0, 280, Fr.)
DT 51 TONY JENKINS (6-3, 286, Sr.) 56 Anthony Perkins (6-4, 268, RF)
DE 52 JAMEEL McCLAIN (6-1, 256, Sr.) 55 LEE WILLIAMS (6-3, 262, Sr.)
SLB 30 Vincenzo Giruzzi (6-3, 232, Jr.) 46 Parker Cantey (6-3, 216, RF)
MLB 45 Jake Flaherty (6-1, 228, Jr.) 36 Oliver Fernandez (6-1, 220, Jr.)
WLB 33 Ben Maljovec (6-3, 223, Jr.) 50 Mike Mele (6-0, 218, Fr.)
LC 27 Nick Chestnut (5-11, 184, Jr.) 29 Jason Tanner (5-11, 200, Sr.)
SS 17 A.J. Brown (6-0, 201, Jr.) 48 Max Suter (5-11, 190, Fr.) OR 6 Donta Herrod (5-11, 191, Jr.)
FS 5 JOE FIELDS (6-1, 210, Sr.) 15 Bruce Williams (6-0, 200, Jr.)
RC 26 DOWAYNE DAVIS (6-0, 200, Sr.) 28 Nico Scott (5-10, 180, RF)

------

SU O
X WR 4 Taj Smith (6-1, 188, Jr.) 12 RICE MOSS (6-2, 207, Sr.) 84 Da'Mon Merkerson (6-1, 185, Fr.)
LT 64 Corey Chavers (6-5, 295, Jr.) 77 Tucker Baumbach (6-5, 322, RF)
LG 59 CARROLL MADISON (6-2, 310, Sr.) 70 Ryan Bartholomew (6-3, 290, RF)
C 60 Jim McKenzie (6-4, 280, RF) 67 MARVIN McCALL (6-2, 292, Sr.)
RG 75 RYAN DURAND (6-5, 310, Jr.) 74 Ryan Ehrie (6-6, 287, Jr.) 71 Adam Rosner (6-6, 308, RF)
RT 69 Larry Norton (6-3, 320, Sr.) 73 Jonathan Meldrum (6-5, 327, Fr.)
TE 80 Jawad Nesheiwat (6-4, 251, Sr.) 85 Mike Owen (6-4, 255, So.)
QB 9 Andrew Robinson 13 (6-3, 222, So.) 2 Cameron Dantley (6-1, 218, Jr.)
TB 22 CURTIS BRINKLEY (5-9, 203, Jr.) 34 Paul Chiara (5-11, 210, Jr.) OR 24 Jeremy Sellers (6-0, 211, Sr.)
FB 43 Tony Fiammetta (6-1, 235, Jr.) 34 Paul Chiara (5-11, 210, Jr.)
Z WR 1 Mike Williams (6-2, 204, So.) 11 Lavar Lobdell (6-3, 200, So.) OR 81 Dan Sheeran (6-3, 217, RF)

SU Specials
P 47 Rob Long (6-4, 175, Fr.) 13 John Barker (5-8, 155, Jr.)
KO 42 Patrick Shadle (5-8, 201, Jr.) 13 John Barker (5-8, 155, Jr.)
LS 72 IAN HAMMOND (6-3, 272, Sr.) 57 Maximillian Leo (5-11, 210, So.)
PAT 42 PATRICK SHADLE (5-8, 201, Jr.) 13 John Barker (5-8, 155, Jr.)
FG 42 PATRICK SHADLE (5-8, 201, Jr.) 13 John Barker (5-8, 155, Jr.)
Holder 13 John Barker (5-8, 155, Jr.) 2 Cameron Dantley (6-1, 218, Jr.)
PR 15 Bruce Williams (6-0, 200, Jr.) 21 Ryan Howard (5-8, 185, Jr.)
KR 48 Max Suter (5-11, 190, Fr.) 21 Ryan Howard (5-8, 185, Jr.)
35 Mike Holmes (5-11, 185, Fr.) 20 Randy McKinnon (5-10, 200, Fr.)
SPE


--------
WVU D
DT—Scooter Berry, Doug Slavonic
NT—Keilen Dykes, Thor Merrow/Chris Neild
DE—Johnny Dingle, James Ingram
SLB—Marc Magro, Johnny Holmes
MLB—Reed Williams; Bobby Hathaway
WLB—Mortty Ivy; J.T. Thomas
CB—Larry Williams; Vaughn Rivers, 8 starts, 2 picks
SS—Eric Wicks; Ridwan Malik
FS—Ryan Mundy; Boogie Allen
BS—Quinton Andrews, Charles Pugh
CB—Antonio Lewis/Ellis Lankster

******

ORANGE LEADS BIG EAST IN KICK RETUR AVERAG
Tale of the Tape
Offense WVU SU
(5 games) (5 games)
Points, 202-84
Average ,40-17
First Downs,124-62
Total Offense, 2,537-1,363
Average, 507-273
Net Rushing,1,616-203
Average,323-41
Net Passing, 921-1,160
Average ,184-232
Pass Attempts,116-143
Complete,79-80
Interceptions,3-1
Fumbles/Lost,12/7-7/4
3rd Down,29/60-21/72
FG/Att.,5/6 -5/8
Avg. TOP,31:21-27:02
Penalties,18/163-36/276
Average,33-55.2

Defense WVU SU
Points,89-170
Average,18-34
First Downs,76-127
Total Defense, 1,367-2,424
Average, 273-485
Net Rushing,487-1,157
Average,97-231
Net Passing,887-1,267
Average,176.0-253
Pass Attempts,137-169
Complete,82-112
Interceptions,7-7
Avg. per return,9-19
Fumble/Rec,12/7-6/3
3rd Down,29/60-36/71
Sacks/Yds.,17/104-5/32

good win today but stupid move by rich rod to leave pat white in with a 31 pt lead and then pat gets injured
we got the bye week next week so hopefully pat will be alright

..........[pic]

if we run the table, we will def. get a BCS game and still got a legit shot at possibly the NC game...look at all the teams ahead of us, you can't tell me that atleast 6 of them will lose atleast 1 game

yea i hope we can run the table, with all these top teams losing anything can happen.....

back in mo town this weekend vs miss st. [pic]

is white playin saturday?

^^^^

Rodriguez said that quarterback Patrick White's shoulder is improving and the junior is expected to practice Tuesday and should be ready for this weekend.

more on pat white

Playing With Pain By Tony Caridi for MSNsportsNET.com MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Patrick White dropped an interesting nugget of info to reporters Tuesday night during the team’s weekly media get-together. When asked about his health for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, White responded, “I don’t think I’ve been 100 percent this year.” White didn’t make the comment as a means for self-promotion or to take the early lead for the team’s annual Gridiron Gladiator award. The Daphne, Ala., native doesn’t operate that way. Unlike the NFL guys who use their weekly press conferences as a means to distribute their personal agendas, Patrick White was just being Patrick White - which means being totally honest. The other Patrick on this Mountaineer team, kicker Patrick McAfee, is the guy who loves to clown around with the media and deliver tongue-in-cheek concerns about sun and wind conditions while kicking in the Carrier Dome. When White said “I felt like I was going to die” while being treated on the Carrier Dome carpet after being injured against Syracuse, you know there’s more truth there than exaggeration. When Pat McAfee says something you laugh. When Pat White says something you think about it. I did and it’s true: Pat White hasn’t been healthy this season. I think back to the very first days of preseason practice when the record setting signal-caller was limited with a series of nagging bumps and bruises. He would never miss extended stretches of practice because he’s just too tough, but the truth is he’s been hurting in some manner and form since August. Of course you can make the argument that there’s no such thing as a football player who’s perfectly healthy. However, when you touch the ball EVERY SINGLE play and you aren’t feeling right there’s just nowhere to hide. Ever since his freshman year we’ve seen a banged up Patrick White drag himself around the field refusing to lose. Anyone who saw him after last year’s Gator Bowl victory against Georgia Tech truly appreciates the sheer courage and determination that resides inside his slight, 190-pound frame. The kid is 20-3 as WVU’s starting quarterback and he is the model for how to play with pain. Unfortunately, he’s been modeling more often this season than not.

preview of this weekends homecoming game

MSU Preview By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com October 17, 2007 MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez pops in the Mississippi State tape the first thing that jumps out at him is the Bulldogs’ pair of defensive ends Titus Brown and Avery Hannibal. Brown is one of the top playmakers in the SEC, accumulating 33 career tackles for losses and 16 ½ sacks. Brown had eight tackles and 1 ½ tackles for losses in last week’s loss to Tennessee. The senior shows 149 career tackles. Hannibal has 17 tackles, two sacks and eight quarterback hurries in seven games this year. “Defensively they look a lot like USF as far as their speed goes,” said Rodriguez. “The Tennessee coaches have said before and after the game that the two defensive ends are as fast as anyone they have played all year. We knew that last year and it’s the same this year.” The Bulldogs rank sixth in the SEC giving up 142 yards per game. Take away a pair of 200-yard performances by Auburn (216) and Tennessee (211) and Mississippi State is giving up just 106.6 yards per game on the ground. “You can see it on film that they are very athletic, and I think that is where they have made their mark defensively by getting a lot of fast guys,” said Rodriguez. “A lot of people talk about SEC speed and they have made an emphasis on that. “Their form is to get a lot of fast, athletic guys on defense, play tough, hard-nosed football, pound the ball offensively and not make any mistakes,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez says Mississippi State plays multiple defensive front though their base defense is a 4-3 alignment. “They will get into odd fronts like everyone does on occasion,” he said. “They cover everyone up and will play man coverage, and they aren’t afraid to play press-man coverage on the two yard line coming in or coming out. They will challenge the wide receivers.” Mississippi State presents unique problems for West Virginia’s defense, too. Six-foot-one-inch, 240-pound sophomore tailback Anthony Dixon is one of the biggest tailbacks West Virginia will face this year. Dixon is ranked 33rd in the country in rushing averaging 99.1 yards per game. Dixon is coming off a 26-carry, 108-yard performance last weekend against Tennessee and he has surpassed the century mark six times for his career. Dixon is fifth in the SEC in rushing and leads the league with 10 rushing touchdowns. True freshman Wesley Carroll threw his first career touchdown pass against Tennessee in just his third stat, and est@blished career highs in completions and attempts. For the year Carroll is 40 of 70 for 381 yards and two touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception in 74 pass attempts. “They aren’t making mistakes to beat themselves,” Rodriguez said. “Other than the their first game against LSU where they had turnovers, they haven’t make a whole lot of mistakes to hurt themselves offensively and put their defense in a bad situation.” Rodriguez expects Mississippi State to try and pound the football with Dixon to set up some play action passes to receivers Tony Burks and Jaymeel Smith. “They have gotten to the point where their offense has been able to control some of the games and they were able to control a lot of the drives,” Rodriguez said. “Mississippi State is very physical and it will be a very physical game.” Burks and Smith have combined for 32 catches for 474 yards and three touchdowns. Last year WVU had a tough time handling Burks in Starkville. The senior caught four passes for 118 yards. West Virginia used a 21-point fourth quarter to pull away from the Bulldgos 42-14 last year. Steve Slaton ran 26 times for 185 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Patrick White had 11 rushes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said after last year’s game his defense had a tough time adjusting to West Virginia’s speed. Rodriguez believes that won’t be as much of an issue this year. “You play someone the second time and you have adjusted to their speed,” Rodriguez said. "Having seen Steve and pt and our system before, it’s not going to be something new. I think it is always an advantage offensively when you play someone for the first time. “The second time you can adjust to the system,” Rodriguez said. “How they played us last year won’t be the same way they play us this year. Offensively we have to be prepared for a little bit more.” West Virginia may also have to be prepared to use its backup quarterback Jarrett Brown. Starter Patrick White landed hard on his shoulder against Syracuse and left the game in the third quarter. The junior has had an extra week to rest the injury and has been limited so far in practice. “Pat is doing better,” Rodriguez said. “He’s going to throw and there aren’t any issues with him running. We’ll probably limit his throwing a little bit just so it doesn’t get too sore. If he’s not fine and is not 100 percent on Saturday then we’ll put Jarrett Brown in there. He’s been good in practice this week.” Brown has appeared in all six games this year, completing 23 of 34 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown. He has also run 31 times for 200 yards and a pair of scores. Junior Steve Slaton has run 112 times for 625 yards and nine touchdowns although he has failed to reach the end zone in his last two games and he has only carried the football 28 times against South Florida and Syracuse. It is the first time since he became a starter his freshman year that he has failed to reach 100 yards rushing in back-to-back games. White is second on the team in rushing with 411 yards and seven touchdowns while true freshman Noel Devine has carried 32 times for 316 yards and three scores. White has completed 73 of 102 passes for 865 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior Darius Reynaud has caught 34 passes for 430 yards and six touchdowns. Junior Dorrell Jalloh shows 14 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown. Slaton is third on the team with 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown. West Virginia’s improving defense is ranked fifth in the country in total defense giving up 261.5 yards per game. The Mountaineers are ranked ninth nationally against the pass and 17th against the run. Teams are averaging just 17.2 yards per game against the Mountaineers. Junior linebacker Reed Williams leads the defense with 48 tackles, while junior linebacker Mortty Ivy has had an outstanding all-around year with 38 tackles, 4 ½ tackles for losses and four sacks. Defensive end Johnny Dingle shows 8 ½ tackles for losses and five sacks. The Mountaineers have 19 sacks in six games this year. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN Regional. Fans outside the local market can purchase the broadcast on Game Plan or watch it on the Internet on ESPN 360. “They’ve already won four games and they played very well against Tennessee and are coming into this game with a lot of confidence,” Rodriguez said of Mississippi State. “This will be a challenge and our guys know it.” Saturday’s game is homecoming for West Virginia.

Pat White = Armanti Edwards

hopefully both will play strong this weekend and not get reinjured

good homecoming win for the mountaineers today...started strong and came out k!llin...rich rod learned not to leave pat in too long and get him reinjured...white played good and slaton had a good game....no devine tho...

big game next week @ rutgers

I saw Noel last weekend back home on the bye week... hes starting to question his decision because Rich Rod told him he would be more involved and hes barely getting any touches...

iuno whats up, he starts off the season gettin touches and now its nothing, the situation just looks skeptical

Originally Posted by AlCapone iuno whats up, he starts off the season gettin touches and now its nothing, the situation just looks skeptical

he was upset about that !!... he was like I dont know about this no more.. at first I liked it and he was saying all the right things and now nothing...

yea i understand how he'd feel, and i wana see him in the game but u also gota take into consideration he's playin behind slaton and it just seems like rich wants to get slaton as much touches as he can to impress voters...if devine keeps his head up thru this, his time will most definately come in the near future, possibly even next year if slaton goes pro...he just gota wait it out and keep k!llin it at practice