On the Move
October 16, 2002 01:12 PM | General
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 16, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Before last Saturday’s Rutgers game, West Virginia University senior strong safety Jermaine Thaxton must have felt like his college football career was slipping away.
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| Strong safety Jermaine Thaxton had a breakout game at Rutgers last weekend with two key interceptions. |
Up until that point, the Pottstown, Pa., native had done little to warrant much attention. His entire career has been one marked by change and inactivity.
Recruited to WVU by former coach Bill Kirelawich from Valley Forge Military Academy, the 6-foot-3, 197-pounder came to WVU as linebacker although he had developed a healthy reputation as a running back at Pottsgrove Senior High School.
His first season in the Mountaineer program was spent as a redshirt learning the intricacies of the linebacker position in Steve Dunlap’s defensive system.
Following Coach Don Nehlen’s retirement after the 2000 season, the new coaching staff decided to switch Thaxton to wide receiver to help alleviate depth problems at that position.
Injuries forced Thaxton to sit out another season in 2001 and by the time spring practice rolled around last year, Thaxton was asked to move back to defense and play strong safety.
“It’s been real tough. The first year I came in and redshirted and then the second year the new coaches came in and I didn’t know where I was going to fit in,” he said. “I was thinking about transferring, but the defensive coaches talked to me and ask me to play defense. Thank God it has worked.”
Finally Thaxton has found a home. He believes that playing strong safety allows him “to be more aggressive” on the playing field and brings out more of his God-given talents.
After spending time in and out of the Mountaineer lineup during the team’s first five games this season, Thaxton had a breakout performance at Rutgers when West Virginia needed it most.
The Mountaineers were coming off a disappointing 48-17 loss at Maryland a week earlier and were looking for anyone to step up on defense and make plays. Thaxton did just that early in the second quarter when he stepped in front of a Ted Trump pass at the 42 and he returned the football 24 yards to the 18-yard line.
“If Grant (Wiley) would have made that block on number two I would have scored,” he joked. “But he made another great block on a lineman and put him on his back. As long as we got the ball back and scored, that’s alright.”
Three plays later West Virginia did find the end zone to turn a tenuous 9-0 lead into a more comfortable 16-0 advantage.
Thaxton’s ball hawking continued at the start of the third quarter when he thwarted another drive by intercepting his second pass at midfield. This one effectively took away any remaining life the Rutgers offense had.
His outstanding game came despite having a big case of the butterflies. “To be honest with you, I think I was more nervous for that game than any other game. I don’t know why,” he admitted. “Once I got in a couple of plays and hit a couple of people I started to feel a little bit looser and more confident about what was going on.”
In addition to his two interceptions, Thaxton also had five tackles and two pass breakups against the Knights. He is tied with Jahmile Addae for the team lead in interceptions and ranks seventh with 32 total tackles. He also shows two tackles for losses.
Because of his fine play, his friends and teammates are beginning to take notice which in turn, fuels Thaxton’s self confidence.
“It feels good to make plays and have a lot of your teammates and friends congratulate you after games like that,” he said. “It is just a big uplift and puts a little more bounce in your step.”
With the Rutgers game now behind him, Thaxton is beginning to find a role in West Virginia’s new, aggressive, swarming defensive style that he says is geared toward taking away the big play.
“On defense we focus on stopping the run, controlling the pass and not giving up big plays,” he said.
This week against Syracuse, Thaxton hopes to build off his positive Rutgers performance.
“That it would be great,” he said. “We know Syracuse is a team that can play with anybody.”
Despite being moved around for most of his career, he still has faith in what the coaches have asked him to do.
“They are doing what they think is best to help the team win. They are going to put the best players on the field that give us the best chance of winning. If that is the philosophy of the defense then I’m with it,” he said.
