Post by rainman on Sept 9, 2007 7:58:42 GMT -5
Mountaineers score 42 second-half points en route to win over Marshall
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
HUNTINGTON— West Virginia did not play like the No. 3 team in the nation but the Mountaineers did play like the No. 1 team in the state and because of that they avoided turning Marshall into the second coming of Appalachian State.
Trailing 13-6 at halftime and unable to get their storied running game untracked, WVU tossed the bells and whistles of Coach Rich Rodriguez’s hi-tech offense into the trash can, took on a look not far removed from what you’d find in former coach Don Nehlen’s playbook and pounded the ball through the second half to a 48-23 victory before a record crowd of 40,383 fans.
After gaining but 46 yards on the ground in the first half, Rodriguez canned the dipsys and the doodles in favor of an in-your-face brand of football that the old Ohio State football coach, Woody Hayes, would have loved.
In the second half, WVU rushed 40 times for 316 yards.
It took Mark Snyder, the Marshall coach, to explain it best.
“They changed their offense and in the fourth quarter their offensive front kicked our line’s butt. Their offensive line won the battle in the trenches. They went from finesse football to power football and wore us down,” Snyder said.
Throughout the first half the Mountaineers were looking at a Marshall defense designed by Steve Dunlap, the former WVU linebacker and long-time defensive coordinator under Nehlen, that crowded the line of scrimmage and keyed exclusively on Heisman Trophy candidate Steve Slaton.
It was so effective that Slaton had but 2 first half rushing yards and had quarterback Pat White not connected with wide receiver Darius Reynaud for a 46-yard touchdown pass, the Mountaineers might have gone into halftime bankrupt in points.
As it was, Rodriguez knew the game-plan he had spent all week putting in was nothing but an obsolete Edsel on this day. If he was going to beat Marshall — and the Mountaineers had never lost to their instate rival and had beaten them 92-6 in 1915, the last time they visited Huntington — he was going to have to do it by playing simple, old-fashioned football.
That meant rugged fullback Owen Schmitt had to buckle up his chin strap because he was going to be playing almost every play in the second half, most of it spent clearing the way for Slaton, White and the freshman phenom Noel Devine, who had but five carries while totaling 76 rushing yards and two touchdowns and running back a pair of kickoffs for 46 more yards.
Not being one who has to be hit over the head with a hammer to understand the obvious, Rodriguez would say after the game:
“We have to get Noel in the game sooner. We have to get the ball in his hands because he’s got a gift.”
So, too, does Slaton, who spent the second half running behind Schmitt until the heat and the constant beating wore him down some, leading to Noel’s playing time. As it was, what looked like a day that would take Slaton out of the Heisman Trophy race, wound up showcasing his toughness and ability to stay with it.
He finished with 146 yards and two touchdowns, grinding it out behind that offensive line a little at a time, never breaking loose for anything longer than 18 yards.
“The coaches did a great job of coaching and we executed,” said White, who had another special day. White rushed 18 times for 125 yards and mercurial touchdown run of 20 yards, completed 13 of 18 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, a statistic that would have swelled to spectacular proportions had not Reynaud, Nate Sowers and Slaton dropped passes from him that would have gotten him to or past 200 yards.
Marshall came out showing WVU that they would not be intimidated on its home field, Darius Marshall breaking the opening kickoff for 77 yards to set up a field goal and 3-0 lead.
WVU erased that lead when White connected with Reynaud on a 46-yard TD, one of two Reynaud would score as he caught passes for 146 yards.
“They either leave him alone or cover him one on one,” White said. “We’ll take that every time.”
Before the half would end, however, Marshall would get a touchdown pass of its own from quarterback Bernie Morris to Darius Passmore and field goal to lead 13-6.
“I told the team whoever blinks first is probably the team that’s going to lose — and we blinked,” said Marshall’s Snyder. “We turned the ball over on a fumble and that turned the momentum of the game around.”
The Mountaineers had made their halftime adjustments and came out and rammed the ball down the field, Reynaud taking care of the final 23 yards on a screen pass from White to tie the game at 13-13.
After Marshall received its third field goal from Anthony Binswanger to regain the lead, WVU scored yet again on White’s 20-yard TD scamper to make it 20-16.
That’s when the Thundering Herd blinked, WVU linebacker Reed Williams forcing Darius Marshall to fumble, safety Ryan Mundy recovering.
Again WVU went to its power game, Slaton eventually scoring from two yards out behind an Owen Schmitt block that took down two defenders and WVU had a 27-16 cushion.
From there it was simply a matter of sticking with what was working, even though Marshall did draw to within 27-23 before Devine scored twice on runs of 12 and 10 yards around Slaton’s 18-yard TD run.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
HUNTINGTON— West Virginia did not play like the No. 3 team in the nation but the Mountaineers did play like the No. 1 team in the state and because of that they avoided turning Marshall into the second coming of Appalachian State.
Trailing 13-6 at halftime and unable to get their storied running game untracked, WVU tossed the bells and whistles of Coach Rich Rodriguez’s hi-tech offense into the trash can, took on a look not far removed from what you’d find in former coach Don Nehlen’s playbook and pounded the ball through the second half to a 48-23 victory before a record crowd of 40,383 fans.
After gaining but 46 yards on the ground in the first half, Rodriguez canned the dipsys and the doodles in favor of an in-your-face brand of football that the old Ohio State football coach, Woody Hayes, would have loved.
In the second half, WVU rushed 40 times for 316 yards.
It took Mark Snyder, the Marshall coach, to explain it best.
“They changed their offense and in the fourth quarter their offensive front kicked our line’s butt. Their offensive line won the battle in the trenches. They went from finesse football to power football and wore us down,” Snyder said.
Throughout the first half the Mountaineers were looking at a Marshall defense designed by Steve Dunlap, the former WVU linebacker and long-time defensive coordinator under Nehlen, that crowded the line of scrimmage and keyed exclusively on Heisman Trophy candidate Steve Slaton.
It was so effective that Slaton had but 2 first half rushing yards and had quarterback Pat White not connected with wide receiver Darius Reynaud for a 46-yard touchdown pass, the Mountaineers might have gone into halftime bankrupt in points.
As it was, Rodriguez knew the game-plan he had spent all week putting in was nothing but an obsolete Edsel on this day. If he was going to beat Marshall — and the Mountaineers had never lost to their instate rival and had beaten them 92-6 in 1915, the last time they visited Huntington — he was going to have to do it by playing simple, old-fashioned football.
That meant rugged fullback Owen Schmitt had to buckle up his chin strap because he was going to be playing almost every play in the second half, most of it spent clearing the way for Slaton, White and the freshman phenom Noel Devine, who had but five carries while totaling 76 rushing yards and two touchdowns and running back a pair of kickoffs for 46 more yards.
Not being one who has to be hit over the head with a hammer to understand the obvious, Rodriguez would say after the game:
“We have to get Noel in the game sooner. We have to get the ball in his hands because he’s got a gift.”
So, too, does Slaton, who spent the second half running behind Schmitt until the heat and the constant beating wore him down some, leading to Noel’s playing time. As it was, what looked like a day that would take Slaton out of the Heisman Trophy race, wound up showcasing his toughness and ability to stay with it.
He finished with 146 yards and two touchdowns, grinding it out behind that offensive line a little at a time, never breaking loose for anything longer than 18 yards.
“The coaches did a great job of coaching and we executed,” said White, who had another special day. White rushed 18 times for 125 yards and mercurial touchdown run of 20 yards, completed 13 of 18 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, a statistic that would have swelled to spectacular proportions had not Reynaud, Nate Sowers and Slaton dropped passes from him that would have gotten him to or past 200 yards.
Marshall came out showing WVU that they would not be intimidated on its home field, Darius Marshall breaking the opening kickoff for 77 yards to set up a field goal and 3-0 lead.
WVU erased that lead when White connected with Reynaud on a 46-yard TD, one of two Reynaud would score as he caught passes for 146 yards.
“They either leave him alone or cover him one on one,” White said. “We’ll take that every time.”
Before the half would end, however, Marshall would get a touchdown pass of its own from quarterback Bernie Morris to Darius Passmore and field goal to lead 13-6.
“I told the team whoever blinks first is probably the team that’s going to lose — and we blinked,” said Marshall’s Snyder. “We turned the ball over on a fumble and that turned the momentum of the game around.”
The Mountaineers had made their halftime adjustments and came out and rammed the ball down the field, Reynaud taking care of the final 23 yards on a screen pass from White to tie the game at 13-13.
After Marshall received its third field goal from Anthony Binswanger to regain the lead, WVU scored yet again on White’s 20-yard TD scamper to make it 20-16.
That’s when the Thundering Herd blinked, WVU linebacker Reed Williams forcing Darius Marshall to fumble, safety Ryan Mundy recovering.
Again WVU went to its power game, Slaton eventually scoring from two yards out behind an Owen Schmitt block that took down two defenders and WVU had a 27-16 cushion.
From there it was simply a matter of sticking with what was working, even though Marshall did draw to within 27-23 before Devine scored twice on runs of 12 and 10 yards around Slaton’s 18-yard TD run.
