Post by rainman on Sept 12, 2007 11:29:02 GMT -5
WVU uncovers another talented WR in Reynaud
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— In many ways college recruiters are no different from those legendary bird dog scouts major league baseball has employed over a hundred or so years to uncover talent in places that even the locals don’t know exist.
Whether it be discovering Bob Feller in the Van Meter, Iowa, or Dizzy Dean in Lucas, Ark., these scouts have followed the sun and their instincts to turn up talent in some God-forsaken pumpkin patches across America.
It has been no different for those on Rich Rodriguez’s West Virginia staff, who seem to be occupying the hollow tree next to the one that turns out Keebler cookies to manufacturer a stream of star players, if not from the end of the world, then from 10 miles beyond the end of the world.
When they pulled wide receiver Chris Henry out of from Belle Chasse, La., you assumed they had found a diamond in the rough, but they may have outdone themselves when they uncovered Darius Reynaud, another receiver under LSU’s nose in Boutte, La.
“It’s even smaller than Chris Henry’s home town,” Rodriguez said on Sunday, as he rehashed Saturday’s 48-23 victory over Marshall, a victory built as much upon Reynaud’s heroics as the fabled West Virginia running game that eventually took over.
Boutte (pronounce it BOO-tay) sits not far from Interstate 310 on state route 90, a poor, mostly African-American town of 2,181 residents, according to the 2000 census. The high school, Hahnville, has a reputation for football and with Reynaud as an All-State running back his senior season, to say nothing of being the state long jump champion at 24.5 feet. The football team was unbeaten and won the state championship.
The football team is the pride of the city, which sits just 23 miles from New Orleans and 12 miles from Kenner and where there was 13.4 percent unemployment before Hurricane Katrina and its Category 5 destruction brought havoc to the town.
The area, of course, was evacuated, seeing as it sits just 9 feet above sea level, for a couple of days Reynaud did not know where his parents had relocated. Oddly, his mother’s name is Katrina.
When the hurricane hit, he sat up and watched CNN and Fox News until the early morning hours until he learned that Katrina and Michael, his father, had evacuated to Texas and were unharmed.
“Everything’s fine now,” Reynaud said.
It certainly is when you catch 8 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns in beating your cross-state rival on national television.
For a time it seemed only natural to make connections between Reynaud and Henry, a good kid who became troubled over his time at WVU and who has had nothing but problems with the law since leaving early to join the Cincinnati Bengals.
Henry didn’t often make himself available to the media during his stay here and seemed backward in his social skills. When Reynaud also declined interviews, the tendency was to wonder if Rodriguez might have another troubled but talented receiver on his hands.
As it turns out, this is anything but the truth.
On Saturday, Reynaud made himself available to the media and if he learned they don’t bite, they learned that he is a thoroughly delightful young man who simply says, “I’m a little camera shy.”
Rodriguez saw the talent and the person and decided that even though he barely failed to qualify as a predictor, he was worth taking a chance on.
“We loved his personality. Everyone in school loved him. What’s more, he had a passion to succeed in college, not just in football, but academically,” Rodriguez said.
He did not play his first year at WVU, then worked his way in slowly.
While Rodriguez liked his ability to catch the ball, his ability running was what the coach wanted to feature. He used him on screens and reverses and as a kick returner, and it seemed like each day he became more dangerous.
He started all 13 games his junior year after working behind Brandon Myles and this year as emerged as quarterback Pat White’s go-to receiver.
With WVU running the ball the way they do, he was “under the radar”, as Rodriguez put it, until stepping out of the shadows against Marshall.
“When guys aren't playing their best, sometimes the next man in line has to step up and play,” Reynaud said. “I know my capability and I know what I can do on the field.”
He scored the game’s first touchdown, to wipe out a 3-0 Marshall lead, on a 46-yard pass and run, then scored the key touchdown to open the second half and erase a 13-6 deficit with 23-yard catch and run.
“He kept us in the game when we couldn’t get the ball running,” Rodriguez said. “He’s such a gifted guy running in the open field. He’s a threat to score.”
White loves that Reynaud has been under the radar.
“They either leave him alone or cover him one on one,” White said.
“We’ll take that every time.”
One suspects that he may have caught Maryland’s attention for this Thursday night’s game and that they might do something to try and slow him down. But he isn’t afraid of that. In fact, now that he’s talking with the media, he’s not afraid of anything.
Except maybe a camera.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— In many ways college recruiters are no different from those legendary bird dog scouts major league baseball has employed over a hundred or so years to uncover talent in places that even the locals don’t know exist.
Whether it be discovering Bob Feller in the Van Meter, Iowa, or Dizzy Dean in Lucas, Ark., these scouts have followed the sun and their instincts to turn up talent in some God-forsaken pumpkin patches across America.
It has been no different for those on Rich Rodriguez’s West Virginia staff, who seem to be occupying the hollow tree next to the one that turns out Keebler cookies to manufacturer a stream of star players, if not from the end of the world, then from 10 miles beyond the end of the world.
When they pulled wide receiver Chris Henry out of from Belle Chasse, La., you assumed they had found a diamond in the rough, but they may have outdone themselves when they uncovered Darius Reynaud, another receiver under LSU’s nose in Boutte, La.
“It’s even smaller than Chris Henry’s home town,” Rodriguez said on Sunday, as he rehashed Saturday’s 48-23 victory over Marshall, a victory built as much upon Reynaud’s heroics as the fabled West Virginia running game that eventually took over.
Boutte (pronounce it BOO-tay) sits not far from Interstate 310 on state route 90, a poor, mostly African-American town of 2,181 residents, according to the 2000 census. The high school, Hahnville, has a reputation for football and with Reynaud as an All-State running back his senior season, to say nothing of being the state long jump champion at 24.5 feet. The football team was unbeaten and won the state championship.
The football team is the pride of the city, which sits just 23 miles from New Orleans and 12 miles from Kenner and where there was 13.4 percent unemployment before Hurricane Katrina and its Category 5 destruction brought havoc to the town.
The area, of course, was evacuated, seeing as it sits just 9 feet above sea level, for a couple of days Reynaud did not know where his parents had relocated. Oddly, his mother’s name is Katrina.
When the hurricane hit, he sat up and watched CNN and Fox News until the early morning hours until he learned that Katrina and Michael, his father, had evacuated to Texas and were unharmed.
“Everything’s fine now,” Reynaud said.
It certainly is when you catch 8 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns in beating your cross-state rival on national television.
For a time it seemed only natural to make connections between Reynaud and Henry, a good kid who became troubled over his time at WVU and who has had nothing but problems with the law since leaving early to join the Cincinnati Bengals.
Henry didn’t often make himself available to the media during his stay here and seemed backward in his social skills. When Reynaud also declined interviews, the tendency was to wonder if Rodriguez might have another troubled but talented receiver on his hands.
As it turns out, this is anything but the truth.
On Saturday, Reynaud made himself available to the media and if he learned they don’t bite, they learned that he is a thoroughly delightful young man who simply says, “I’m a little camera shy.”
Rodriguez saw the talent and the person and decided that even though he barely failed to qualify as a predictor, he was worth taking a chance on.
“We loved his personality. Everyone in school loved him. What’s more, he had a passion to succeed in college, not just in football, but academically,” Rodriguez said.
He did not play his first year at WVU, then worked his way in slowly.
While Rodriguez liked his ability to catch the ball, his ability running was what the coach wanted to feature. He used him on screens and reverses and as a kick returner, and it seemed like each day he became more dangerous.
He started all 13 games his junior year after working behind Brandon Myles and this year as emerged as quarterback Pat White’s go-to receiver.
With WVU running the ball the way they do, he was “under the radar”, as Rodriguez put it, until stepping out of the shadows against Marshall.
“When guys aren't playing their best, sometimes the next man in line has to step up and play,” Reynaud said. “I know my capability and I know what I can do on the field.”
He scored the game’s first touchdown, to wipe out a 3-0 Marshall lead, on a 46-yard pass and run, then scored the key touchdown to open the second half and erase a 13-6 deficit with 23-yard catch and run.
“He kept us in the game when we couldn’t get the ball running,” Rodriguez said. “He’s such a gifted guy running in the open field. He’s a threat to score.”
White loves that Reynaud has been under the radar.
“They either leave him alone or cover him one on one,” White said.
“We’ll take that every time.”
One suspects that he may have caught Maryland’s attention for this Thursday night’s game and that they might do something to try and slow him down. But he isn’t afraid of that. In fact, now that he’s talking with the media, he’s not afraid of anything.
Except maybe a camera.
