Post by cviller on Sept 25, 2007 7:40:20 GMT -5
South Florida could have rare sellout
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sportswriter
MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's 8 p.m. game Friday at South Florida's Raymond James Stadium is nearly a sellout, which would be a first for the Bulls as well as the largest home crowd in the program's history.
Students camped out Sunday night for the 12,000 tickets allotted to them and the upper deck that is open for Tampa Bay Buccaneers games and usually blocked off for the Bulls will be open and packed.
"It's going to be loud and we're going to have to prepare for that this week," West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We'll use some music and have some times in practice when we make a lot of noise behind the quarterback and make it hard for him to verbalize. We've been in some loud games before, so I'm sure our guys are ready to prepare for it."
It is the Bulls, however, who are a little uncertain as the team ranked for the first time in its history encounters another set of new circumstances.
"I don't know because I have never played in front of a sold-out crowd here," quarterback Matt Grothe said. "I don't know what to expect. I know it is going to be loud after last week when North Carolina's quarterback looked spastic trying to get the play off. That was with only 38,000. I can't imagine how loud it will be with 65,000."
* * *
IF THE Bulls got their breakthrough as a program with last year's 24-19 victory in Morgantown, it's possible things began to change on one play. Linebacker Chris Robinson sacked WVU's Patrick White and defensive end George Selvie recovered and returned it nine yards for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead in the second quarter.
USF led the rest of the way.
"That really did a lot for our confidence," Selvie said. "They were No. 7 in the nation then, it was (USF's) last game of the season and they were possibly heading to a (Bowl Championship Series) game, so we knew then that we could play against any team in the nation."
That said, the Mountaineers have been waiting for this game since that loss cost them a share of the Big East championship and a shot at the BCS game. Once they'd disposed of the East Carolina Saturday, the time to focus on and talk about the Bulls had arrived.
"I didn't have to mention it," Rodriguez said. "I said, 'You all know who's next,' and they blurted it out. But the revenge thing is not a great motivator for our team. It's a conference game and our guys are anxious to play a Big East Conference game and they're excited to try to play better than we did last year."
Revenge, receiver Dorrell Jalloh said, is not as significant as redemption on ESPN2's stage.
"We all remember what happened, but come Friday night, it's all business," he said. "This is our chance to show the world that we were able to bounce back, study the film, learn from our mistakes and show everyone what we're capable of when we play the way we know we can."
* * *
WVU'S OCT. 6 game at Syracuse is now the Big East's game of the week and will be televised on ESPN Regional. State-connected networks are WCHS (Charleston), WVFX (Clarksburg/Morgantown), WTOV (Wheeling), WTAP (Parkersburg) and WTAE (Pittsburgh).
* * *
WHITE AND fullback Owen Schmitt shared the weekly Offensive Champion award and for a second straight week Vaughn Rivers was named Special Teams Champion, the coaching staff announced.
White was 18-for-20 for 181 yards and two touchdowns against ECU. He also rushed nine times for 42 yards and two scores. Schmitt carried four times for 32 yards and caught two passes for nine yards, but was also credited with a team-high nine knockdown blocks.
Rivers returned six punts for 93 yards and averaged 15.5 yards per return. He'd been averaging 8.7 per return. Linebacker Mortty Ivy was named Defensive Champion. He had six tackles, one tackle for a loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one interception.
For their work in practice, Darrel Phillips, Najae Goode and Derek Knight were named offensive, defensive and special teams scout team champions. Receiver Wes Lyons won the Hammer Award and no one received the Nail Award.
* * *
WVU'S IMPRESSIVE offensive performance against East Carolina produced more than a victory. It delivered another verbal commitment to the recruiting class of 2008.
Onterrio McCalebb, an all-purpose offensive player from Fort Meade, Fla., committed following the 48-7 victory.
"I had seen West Virginia play, but I didn't know that many people would get the ball," McCalleb told WVSports.com.
Linebacker Shayne Hale (Pittsburgh) and Ernest Ferguson (Palm Beach, Fla.) also visited WVU over the weekend, but nether committed. The Mountaineers have 15 commitments for next year.
Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mikec@dailymail.com or 319-1142.
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sportswriter
MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia's 8 p.m. game Friday at South Florida's Raymond James Stadium is nearly a sellout, which would be a first for the Bulls as well as the largest home crowd in the program's history.
Students camped out Sunday night for the 12,000 tickets allotted to them and the upper deck that is open for Tampa Bay Buccaneers games and usually blocked off for the Bulls will be open and packed.
"It's going to be loud and we're going to have to prepare for that this week," West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We'll use some music and have some times in practice when we make a lot of noise behind the quarterback and make it hard for him to verbalize. We've been in some loud games before, so I'm sure our guys are ready to prepare for it."
It is the Bulls, however, who are a little uncertain as the team ranked for the first time in its history encounters another set of new circumstances.
"I don't know because I have never played in front of a sold-out crowd here," quarterback Matt Grothe said. "I don't know what to expect. I know it is going to be loud after last week when North Carolina's quarterback looked spastic trying to get the play off. That was with only 38,000. I can't imagine how loud it will be with 65,000."
* * *
IF THE Bulls got their breakthrough as a program with last year's 24-19 victory in Morgantown, it's possible things began to change on one play. Linebacker Chris Robinson sacked WVU's Patrick White and defensive end George Selvie recovered and returned it nine yards for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead in the second quarter.
USF led the rest of the way.
"That really did a lot for our confidence," Selvie said. "They were No. 7 in the nation then, it was (USF's) last game of the season and they were possibly heading to a (Bowl Championship Series) game, so we knew then that we could play against any team in the nation."
That said, the Mountaineers have been waiting for this game since that loss cost them a share of the Big East championship and a shot at the BCS game. Once they'd disposed of the East Carolina Saturday, the time to focus on and talk about the Bulls had arrived.
"I didn't have to mention it," Rodriguez said. "I said, 'You all know who's next,' and they blurted it out. But the revenge thing is not a great motivator for our team. It's a conference game and our guys are anxious to play a Big East Conference game and they're excited to try to play better than we did last year."
Revenge, receiver Dorrell Jalloh said, is not as significant as redemption on ESPN2's stage.
"We all remember what happened, but come Friday night, it's all business," he said. "This is our chance to show the world that we were able to bounce back, study the film, learn from our mistakes and show everyone what we're capable of when we play the way we know we can."
* * *
WVU'S OCT. 6 game at Syracuse is now the Big East's game of the week and will be televised on ESPN Regional. State-connected networks are WCHS (Charleston), WVFX (Clarksburg/Morgantown), WTOV (Wheeling), WTAP (Parkersburg) and WTAE (Pittsburgh).
* * *
WHITE AND fullback Owen Schmitt shared the weekly Offensive Champion award and for a second straight week Vaughn Rivers was named Special Teams Champion, the coaching staff announced.
White was 18-for-20 for 181 yards and two touchdowns against ECU. He also rushed nine times for 42 yards and two scores. Schmitt carried four times for 32 yards and caught two passes for nine yards, but was also credited with a team-high nine knockdown blocks.
Rivers returned six punts for 93 yards and averaged 15.5 yards per return. He'd been averaging 8.7 per return. Linebacker Mortty Ivy was named Defensive Champion. He had six tackles, one tackle for a loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one interception.
For their work in practice, Darrel Phillips, Najae Goode and Derek Knight were named offensive, defensive and special teams scout team champions. Receiver Wes Lyons won the Hammer Award and no one received the Nail Award.
* * *
WVU'S IMPRESSIVE offensive performance against East Carolina produced more than a victory. It delivered another verbal commitment to the recruiting class of 2008.
Onterrio McCalebb, an all-purpose offensive player from Fort Meade, Fla., committed following the 48-7 victory.
"I had seen West Virginia play, but I didn't know that many people would get the ball," McCalleb told WVSports.com.
Linebacker Shayne Hale (Pittsburgh) and Ernest Ferguson (Palm Beach, Fla.) also visited WVU over the weekend, but nether committed. The Mountaineers have 15 commitments for next year.
Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mikec@dailymail.com or 319-1142.