Post by cviller on Oct 4, 2007 7:48:53 GMT -5
By Tony Caridi for MSNsportsNET.com
October 3, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - There’s a very good chance Mountaineer fans attending Saturday’s game at Syracuse will be overcome by a feeling of abdominal discomfort at some point in the afternoon.
No, this is not a prediction of what will happen on the field, but rather a review of what has already happened on that field. You see Saturday has been designated as Legends Day at the Carrier Dome. The undefeated 1987 Syracuse team will be honored in an on-field ceremony.
If your Mountaineer base of knowledge includes Major Harris, then you remember that 1987 Syracuse squad. Shortly before kickoff of its regular season finale, undefeated Syracuse accepted an invitation to play Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Little did the guys in the bright colored blazers realize that they should have probably waited on extending the bid until after the game.
Little did anyone know on that snowy night in Central New York that the Orangemen and Mountaineers would stage the most thrilling and dramatic contest in the history of this long and very competitive football series. Syracuse was led by senior quarterback Don McPherson and a surrounding cast of future NFL personnel that included fullback Darryl “Moose” Johnston. The Mountaineers were operated by a dazzling redshirt freshman named Major Harris and a roster full of teammates that would play for the national championship the following season.
To this day, it remains one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen. Like two heavyweight boxers, the teams slugged it out each landing apparent knockdowns only to watch the other team respond.
Defense took the night off. Every fourth quarter possession, except the last, led to points. The six-win Mountaineers were standing toe-to-toe with the 10-0 Orange and a sold-out Carrier Dome crowd was so loud that talking to the person next to you was simply a waste of time.
As it must, an unforgettable night eventually came down to an unforgettable play. Legendary Syracuse coach Dick McPherson eschewed the chance to settle for a tie and opted for a two-point conversion and the victory. A misaligned WVU linebacker allowed Syracuse’s Michael Owens to just sneak inside the corner of the end zone off an option toss to give Syracuse its 32-31 victory.
The Mountaineers did have one final possession with just seconds remaining. With students storming the field, Major Harris’ Hail Mary toss fell incomplete. West Virginia didn’t lose the game - it just simply ran out of time.
This unbelievable performance caught the eye of Sun Bowl officials who were watching updates from the game on ESPN. Informed earlier in the day that Ohio State was going to decline a Sun Bowl invite after firing Coach Earl Bruce, the Mountaineers became the choice and headed to El Paso.
Coincidently Syracuse was forced to settle for a tie in its Sugar Bowl date with Auburn. Rather than showing the intestinal fortitude of winning or losing displayed by Dick McPherson against WVU, the Tigers Pat Dye settled for a tie with an extra-point rather than going for a two-point conversion and the win.
Come Saturday afternoon when the Orangemen of 1987 take the field rest assured that more than a few WVU fans will experience that uncomfortable pit in their stomach that first appeared 20 years ago.
Forgotten will be WVU’s current five-game winning streak in this series - it’s always the one that got away that you never seem to forget.
