Post by rainman on Aug 26, 2007 7:40:02 GMT -5
No disrespect
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Coach Rich Rodriguez admittedly is not worried very much about No. 3-ranked West Virginia’s 2007 football season’s opener next Saturday against Western Michigan at Mountaineer Field/Milan Puskar Stadium.
It’s certainly not that the veteran coach doesn’t respect the Broncos. Instead, he has found it easy in past years to get his teams excited about the first game.
“You don’t worry about it much because it’s the first time you play against somebody other than your teammates,” said Rodriguez, in his seventh year at his alma mater. “I think where you’re ranked is really irrelevant.
“The thing I like to hammer at them is that Western Michigan is picked to win the Mid-American Conference. (The Broncos) beat Virginia last year. This is not just some team that will just show up and you can screw around and beat.”
Rodriguez believes that when the Mountaineers see last year’s scores and read about the Broncos and what they have back, it is certain to get WVU players’ attention.
“Again, the first game is easy to get your guys excited because they just want to play a game, I hope,” he said.
A sellout crowd of about 60,000 is assured for next Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. kickoff. It will be Parents Weekend on campus.
Bill Cubit has a 15-9 record for his two years as Western Michigan’s head coach. He has 39 lettermen returning from last year’s squad that posted an 8-5 record. The holdovers include 17 starters.
The Broncos lost at Florida State by just 28-20 in a contest that went down to the last play. Quarterback Ryan Cubit led a game-ending drive to the FSU 11, and two plays later from the 20 he passed to tight end Matt Stevens for an apparent touchdown.
However, it was called back for holding and, with seven seconds left, another pass into the end zone fell incomplete.
Two games later, in the first International Bowl at Toronto, Western Michigan overcame an early 24-point deficit to tie the score at 24 before bowing to Big East member Cincinnati 27-24. Kevin Lovell kicked a 33-yard field goal 6:11 left in the game.
WMU’s victory at Virginia was by 17-10 on Sept. 16.
The Broncos averaged 319.5 yards per game in total offense, including 134.7 rushing and 184.8 passing. They held opponents to 275.4 ypg – just 76.1 rushing and 199.3 passing.
Ryan Cubit, who passed for 2,138 yards and 16 touchdowns in only 11 games, has graduated. But Thomas Peregrin, a junior-college transfer who started against Virginia and Toledo, is back along with three other signal-callers.
Running back Mark Bonds who rushed 252 times for 1,082 yards and seven scores also returns. Playing in 12 games, seven as a starter, the 5-10, 220-pound senior also caught 26 passes for 164 yards.
Jamarko Simmons, 6-2, 234-pound junior, is a former running back who converted into the team’s top receiver. He caught 61 passes in 13 games for 668 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Western Michigan intercepted 24 passes and broke up 35 attempts last season. Three of the top five tacklers are back.
Junior strong safety C.J. Wilson had 62 tackles and three interceptions, junior middle linebacker Dustin Duclo 53 tackles, and junior cornerback Louden Fryar 52 tackles and five interceptions.
The Broncos are expected to put WVU’s passing defense to a severe test. It ranked 109th in the country last season.
