Post by cviller on Sept 30, 2007 18:39:47 GMT -5
by Dave Poe, Parkersburg News
PARKERSBURG - You can blame West Virginia University’s six turnovers for its 21-13 loss to South Florida on Friday.
You can say that if quarterback Pat White hadn’t gone down with a second quarter thigh injury, the Mountaineers wouldn’t have lost.
While those were both contributing factors, they weren’t the reason West Virginia suffered a stunning upset that ruined any hopes it had of playing for the national title and seriously jeopardized its chances of winning the Big East.
This game was lost in the first quarter.
Anytime you go on the road and play before a highly motivated and hostile crowd, you must take it and the emotion it generates out of the game. You do that like WVU did it in its Sugar Bowl victory in Atlanta. You come out and quickly establish your domination.
West Virginia didn’t do that Friday. The Mountaineers received the opening kickoff and started off the game at their own 32. Nothing like a time-consuming 68-yard drive to shut up all those crazy Bulls fans. But that drive never materialized. Instead, WVU ran three plays that gained just eight yards and punted.
It was to become an all-too-familiar sight.
WVU’s second drive not only was a three-and-out, but it resulted in a loss of 1 yard.
Still, when the Mountaineers were handed the ball at the South Florida 45 exactly midway through the opening quarter, the game was still scoreless. WVU had the momentum and the field position. But it threw four short passes that resulted in nine yards and gave the ball back to South Florida.
West Virginia — that awesome offensive juggernaut — was getting dominated by a fired-up South Florida defense that was keeping the crowd in the game while the Bulls’ offense was trying to develop some consistency.
It was frustrating to watch WVU try to run the ball only to see the ballcarrier met by a host of tacklers. It was excruciating watching the Mountaineers try to throw the ball. It’s obvious there is no downfield passing attack.
Life in the Big East means playing the big games on weekday nights. Such games favor the home team, which usually plays before a large, enthusiastic crowd that has had all day to tailgate and sets a hostile atmosphere for the visitor. WVU knows that, yet it did little about it. West Virginia, the team that lives by the run, attempted just three rushes on its first three drives. It seemed to admit early on it had been taken out of its game.
Yes, I know WVU dominated this game statistically. The Mountaineers outgained South Florida 437 yards to 274. They had the most rushing yards, the most passing yards, the most first downs and the least penalties. So what?
It would be easy to point fingers today — it always is after a frustrating loss.
But the bottom line is the first time West Virginia played a legitimate opponent, it lost. That tells us that WVU was overrated. That our national title talk was nothing more than hot air.
Yes, WVU has a solid football program that has earned enough respect to be mentioned among the nation’s elite. But such mentions will become fewer and further between when you don’t live up to the hype.
WVU can still have a great season. Yet, when you establish high expectations, it’s hard to lower them and be satisfied.
With road trips to Cincinnati and Rutgers on the horizon, let’s hope West Virginia learned its lesson on Friday night.
Otherwise, we might want to get our passports ready for the International Bowl.
Contact Dave Poe at dpoe@newsandsentinel.com
