Post by cviller on Sept 14, 2007 8:02:36 GMT -5
Frosh gains 136 yards on just five carries in win over Maryland
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — For anyone who might wish to nitpick the skills of West Virginia freshman Noel Devine, here’s a bit of ammunition to make a case: The guy just isn’t a finisher.
After all, twice he had chances to score on long runs Thursday night against Maryland. Twice he came up short.
OK, so it was a yard short. And it was at the end of dazzling 31- and 76-yard runs. But remember, we’re nitpicking here and that’s about all there is to go on.
Aside from that shortcoming, though, Devine was absolutely brilliant in helping No. 4 West Virginia to a rather easy 31-14 win over Maryland. In front of 53,107 at Byrd Stadium — the fifth largest crowd ever there — Devine gained 136 yards on just five carries to more than supplement Pat White and Steve Slaton as the Mountaineers improved to 3-0.
And guess what. Afterward Devine had no trouble laughing off his “shortcomings.’’
“They made jokes about it,’’ Devine said, referring to his teammates. “They were like, ‘Man, I thought you were faster than that.’’’
In beating Maryland for a fourth straight time — the first time WVU has ever done that in a 46-game series that began in 1919 — Devine certainly wasn’t the only factor. Slaton, the consensus All-American behind whom Devine toils, gained 137 yards on a season-high 26 carries and scored three times. It was he who finished for Devine after both of those long runs.
Quarterback Patrick White didn’t have his usual eye-popping numbers — 8-of-13 passing for 95 yards, just 22 rushing yards and three fumbles. But he made clutch plays in almost every scoring drive, including key passes to Dorrell Jalloh and Darius Reynaud.
And West Virginia’s much-maligned defense, after struggling to get off the field early, was magnificent over the final three quarters. The Mountaineers limited the Terrapins — whose game plan was to control the football and keep it away from the WVU offense — to just 89 yards rushing and only 269 total yards. West Virginia, meanwhile, piled up 353 rushing yards and 448 total yards.
But it was Devine who caused the buzz.
After struggling to a 14-7 halftime lead, the Mountaineers began the second half just the way coach Rich Rodriguez wanted.
West Virginia put together an impressive drive using all sorts of weapons. White completed a huge third-and-12 pass over the middle to Jalloh early in the march and then Devine, who two plays earlier had caught a pass as a wide receiver, lined up in the backfield for the first time all night. He took a simple handoff and cut and weaved his way 31 yards to the Maryland 1-yardl line. The Terps put up a fight from there, but Slaton scored easily on third down when he cut inside a crushing block from Schmitt and it was 21-7.
After that, it was really Devine time.
Two series after Slaton’s TD to start the half, Devine replaced him to start a series near the end of the third quarter and all it took was one play. Running the same rather simple sweep handoff from a one-back set that is one of the few plays he runs, Devine broke an early tackle attempt and cut quickly up field. It was 76 yards later, at the Maryland 1, that cornerback Kevin Barnes pushed him out of bounds. Slaton scored on the next play and it was 28-7.
“I’ve never seen anyone break one like that,’’ said Schmitt, who for the past two years has watched almost all of Slaton’s best runs.
“He’s a little guy, so people think he’s all speed,’’ said tackle Ryan Stanchek. “But he’s a tough guy. Breaking that tackle showed it.’’
In the first three games of his college career, the 5-foot-7, 170-pound Devine has now made a mark in every one. He scored in his first game, scored twice in his second and now this dazzling performance.
Even Rodriguez is stunned, and he thought he knew what he was getting when he recruited Devine.
“He’s a guy who does things well in practice, but I think he’s even better in games,’’ Rodriguez said. “I think what you saw today was what we saw on film [of Devine’s high school exploits]. It’s going to give [offensive coordinator Calvin] Magee and I some more flexibility in what we can do with Steve. This is probably more than we expected from him as a true freshman.’’
Again, though, it was not all Devine or all the WVU offense. West Virginia’s defense gave up a long scoring drive right off the bat and Maryland actually had two time-consuming drives in the first quarter — just the recipe it wanted to succeed. But after that, it was shutdown time. Only one of the Terps’ next seven possessions lasted more than five plays and ended with five punts and two Eric Wicks interceptions. Maryland didn’t score again until it was 31-7 and the outcome wasn’t in doubt.
The Mountaineers got a lot of pressure on quarterback Jordan Steffy (five sacks) and limited tailback Keon Lattimore to 80 yards rushing.
“They brought a lot more pressure than they had shown,’’ said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen. “It wasn’t anything we didn’t expect, but they did a good job. They did a good job in the man coverage, too.’’
Steffy completed 16-of-32 passes for 180 yards, but suffered the two picks and the five sacks.
The Terps didn’t actually get off to the kind of start they wanted, either. Maryland didn’t even run a play before turning the ball over. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Steffy never got the snap from center Edwin Williams and WVU’s Johnny Dingle came out of the bottom of a pile with the ball. Two plays later, White kept the ball himself for a 22-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.
Unlike last year’s game, though, Maryland — which turned the ball over twice and fell behind 28-0 last season in Morgantown — didn’t fold under a little early adversity. Lattimore and Steffy went right to work and the Terps drove 75 yards in 11 plays to tie the score at 7 on Lattimore’s 4-yard run.
Still, though, West Virginia had a chance to put Maryland in a deep hole early and couldn’t do it. The Mountaineers had a first-and-goal at the Terps’ 2 early in the second quarter and came away with no points when White was thrown for a loss on first down and Pat McAfee missed a 22-yard field goal.
But WVU did come right back with a 78-yard, seven-play drive to get a 22-yard touchdown run from Slaton and take a 14-7 lead that stood up until the half. The biggest play in the drive was White’s 35-yard pass downfield to Darius Reynaud to convert a third-and-11.
To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, use e-mail or call 348-1734.