Post by dehayes35 on Aug 31, 2007 18:23:36 GMT -5
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
August 31, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia plays host to Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Milan Puskar Stadium in the 2007 football season opener. The game will kick off at 3:30 pm and will be televised by ESPN Regional (John Sanders and Rene Nadeau).
Mountaineer fans can also follow MSN’s live radio coverage (Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Hoppy Kercheval) on affiliates throughout West Virginia, on Sirirus Satellite Radio channel 123 or online by logging on to CSTV All-Access.
Here is the season-opening Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia has finished ranked in the Top TEN in 2005 and 2006 – a school first.
9 – Seven of West Virginia’s NINE all-Big East performers from last year are returning for 2007. They are Patrick White, Steve Slaton, Keilen Dykes, Eric Wicks, Ryan Stanchek, Darius Reynaud and Vaughn Rivers.
8 – Senior fullback Owen Schmitt boasts EIGHT career broken facemasks heading into the 2007 season. Schmitt’s broken facemask from the 2005 Louisville game sits in Coach Rich Rodriguez’s office.
7 – Junior quarterback Patrick White has 14 rushing touchdowns in his last SEVEN games.
6 – Junior running back Steve Slaton has SIX career touchdown runs of 52 yards or longer including a career-long 65-yard run last year against Cincinnati.
5 – The Mountaineers have had a 100-yard rusher in FIVE of Rich Rodriguez’s six previous home openers including Kay-Jay Harris’ school-record 337 yards against East Carolina in 2004.
4 – Steve Slaton presently ranks FOURTH in career rushing touchdowns with 33 and he needs 10 more TDs to pass the school record of 42 held by Ira Errett Rodgers since 1919.
3 – West Virginia enters the season ranked THIRD by the Associated Press – the school’s highest ever preseason ranking.
2 – Only three times in NCAA history have TWO runners from the same team rushed for more than 200 yards in a game. White and Slaton did it last year against Pitt; White ran for 220 yards and Slaton had 215. The last tandem to do it was Michigan State’s Sedrick Irvin and Marc Renaud against Penn State in 1997.
1 – West Virginia and Western Michigan have met ONE previous time in 1996 – a 34-9 Mountaineer victory in Morgantown.
Enjoy Saturday’s game and be sure to stop back afterward for MSNsportsNET.com’s complete post-game coverage, including MSN’s new post-game highlight show airing exclusively on CSTV All-Access.
August 31, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia plays host to Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Milan Puskar Stadium in the 2007 football season opener. The game will kick off at 3:30 pm and will be televised by ESPN Regional (John Sanders and Rene Nadeau).
Mountaineer fans can also follow MSN’s live radio coverage (Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Hoppy Kercheval) on affiliates throughout West Virginia, on Sirirus Satellite Radio channel 123 or online by logging on to CSTV All-Access.
Here is the season-opening Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia has finished ranked in the Top TEN in 2005 and 2006 – a school first.
9 – Seven of West Virginia’s NINE all-Big East performers from last year are returning for 2007. They are Patrick White, Steve Slaton, Keilen Dykes, Eric Wicks, Ryan Stanchek, Darius Reynaud and Vaughn Rivers.
8 – Senior fullback Owen Schmitt boasts EIGHT career broken facemasks heading into the 2007 season. Schmitt’s broken facemask from the 2005 Louisville game sits in Coach Rich Rodriguez’s office.
7 – Junior quarterback Patrick White has 14 rushing touchdowns in his last SEVEN games.
6 – Junior running back Steve Slaton has SIX career touchdown runs of 52 yards or longer including a career-long 65-yard run last year against Cincinnati.
5 – The Mountaineers have had a 100-yard rusher in FIVE of Rich Rodriguez’s six previous home openers including Kay-Jay Harris’ school-record 337 yards against East Carolina in 2004.
4 – Steve Slaton presently ranks FOURTH in career rushing touchdowns with 33 and he needs 10 more TDs to pass the school record of 42 held by Ira Errett Rodgers since 1919.
3 – West Virginia enters the season ranked THIRD by the Associated Press – the school’s highest ever preseason ranking.
2 – Only three times in NCAA history have TWO runners from the same team rushed for more than 200 yards in a game. White and Slaton did it last year against Pitt; White ran for 220 yards and Slaton had 215. The last tandem to do it was Michigan State’s Sedrick Irvin and Marc Renaud against Penn State in 1997.
1 – West Virginia and Western Michigan have met ONE previous time in 1996 – a 34-9 Mountaineer victory in Morgantown.
Enjoy Saturday’s game and be sure to stop back afterward for MSNsportsNET.com’s complete post-game coverage, including MSN’s new post-game highlight show airing exclusively on CSTV All-Access.
