Temple a Cause For Concern
October 31, 2002 02:12 PM | General
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 31, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Usually I’m positive and I believe West Virginia will have a successful outcome this Saturday at Temple, but I can’t help thinking about two West Virginia losses to the Owls.
The first one came in 1984 at Veterans Stadium to grease a late-season collapse that saw the Mountaineers go from 7-1 ranked in the top 10, to out of the polls and nearly out of the bowl picture.
West Virginia actually had the Temple game won after Owl kicker Jim Copper missed a 41-yard field goal late in the game, but a Mountaineer player was whistled offsides and Cooper had another chance from 36 yards. This time he connected to give Temple a 19-17 upset victory.
It was the last win for Temple against West Virginia until last year when the Owls defeated the Mountaineers 17-14. In that game, the Mountaineers committed four turnovers, missed two field goals and had several foolish penalties.
In order to win Saturday, West Virginia will have to play exceptionally well against a Temple team that has 19 seniors listed on its two-deep roster.
I know West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and his Mountaineer players are well aware of this.
News and Notes
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| Sophomore Rasheed Marshall ranks third on the WVU all-time rushing list for quarterbacks with 634 rushing yards. |
* West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall is already third in career quarterback rushing yards with 634. He needs just 160 more to pass Freddy Wyant (1952-55) for second place with 793 yards. Major Harris is first with 2,161 yards from 1987-89.
* Don’t forget MSN’s Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Woody O’Hara will be our eyes and ears for this weekend’s game at Temple. There is no live television.
* According to weather.com, an improved forecast is calling for temperatures to be in the mid 40s for Saturday’s game at Temple. That could have an impact on attendance.
Of course it could be sunny and 70 and that would impact attendance too.
* Speaking of TV, ESPN/ABC has exercised its option to await the results of this weekend’s games between Boston College-Notre Dame and West Virginia-Temple. The kickoff for the Boston College game at Mountaineer Field on Saturday, Nov. 9, will either be at noon or 3:30 p.m. depending upon what the networks decide.
* Is it just me or does it seem like Colorado State plays football three times a week? The Rams are on television again tonight against Air Force on ESPN.
* Get this, not only does Miami have two finalists for the Butkus Award given to the nation’s top linebacker (Jonathan Vilma and D.J. Williams), but the Hurricanes also have three of the 12 finalists for the Lombardi Trophy awarded to the nation’s top lineman (William Joseph, Jerome McDougle and Brett Romberg).
And West Virginia ran for 363 yards against them last Saturday. Go figure.
* Even though former coach Don Nehlen would cringe at the very thought of talking about bowl games with four games left in the regular season, isn’t it nice nonetheless.
* One of my favorite questions posed to Nehlen came after West Virginia’s 37-7 win at Maryland in 1991 that lifted the Mountaineers’ record to 3-1. Just a few questions into his postgame press conference a WBOY reporter asked Nehlen if he thought his team was going to a bowl game.
Nehlen flashed a puzzled look, shook his head, and immediately ended the press conference, much to the horror of the rest of the reporters looking for quotes after WVU’s 30-point road win.
By the way, West Virginia lost to Virginia Tech the very next week in a lightning storm and Nehlen never got another bowl question the rest of the year.
* I can’t even pretend to know all of the bowl scenarios involving Big East teams but I will make one prediction: Notre Dame will not squeeze out a Big East bowl-eligible team this year. The Irish are going to the BCS, and I’m headed to the BFS to get some gas for my car.
* There are eight undefeated teams remaining in college football this late in the year for the first time since 1971. Seven of the top eight teams in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll are still unbeaten in No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 8 North Carolina State. The other undefeated team is No. 18 Bowling Green.
Of those eight teams, only Miami and Virginia Tech meet head-to-head on Saturday, Dec. 3. Oklahoma has a meeting against No. 12 Colorado this weekend and a tough game at rival Oklahoma State to end the season on Nov. 30.
Ohio State has No. 19 Minnesota this weekend and its annual road block against Michigan to end the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Georgia takes on Florida this weekend and also has a tough game left at Auburn on Nov. 16.
Notre Dame may have the easiest road of the eight having Boston College, Navy and Rutgers left, but the Irish must finish the regular season at No. 11 USC.
North Carolina State enters the meat of its schedule with games remaining against Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia and Florida State.
And Bowling Green has tough ones left on the road against Northern Illinois and Toledo to wind up the regular season.
Also, don’t forget that Oklahoma, Georgia and Bowling Green have conference championship games to play.
My guess is when the dust settles it will be Oklahoma and Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
* I don't really know that much about the 2002 Bowling Green Falcons, but I do know they have a beautiful campus.
* I must say as a West Virginia football fan I’ve taken great delight in watching Joe Paterno complain about Big Ten officiating this year. I bet former Maryland coach Bobby Ross is also chuckling. His Maryland team was robbed of a win at State College in 1982 on a controversial call made by Mike Guman’s dad!
They don’t call it Happy Valley for nothing!
By the way, Mike Guman has the fifth-longest punt return in Penn State history against our Mountaineers in a 1978 game the Nittany’s won 49-21. Guman’s punt return covered 85 yards.
* If Houston Rockets No. 1 pick Yao Ming isn’t Ralph Sampson reincarnated then I’ve lost my mind. West Virginia’s Hot Rod Hundley, a No. 1-pick himself in 1957, once said of Sampson: “He’s the most overrated No. 1 pick since me!”
Unfortunately for Yao, Sampson actually had four productive NBA seasons before his career fizzled. Ming’s NBA debut yesterday against Indiana was a two-rebound, two-turnover dud.
You can bet Hot Rod is sharpening up his one-liners when the Rockets play the Jazz later this year.
* It’s been a season of firsts for the West Virginia University women’s soccer program. The Mountaineers have earned their first No. 1 regional ranking, cracked the top 10 for the first time in school history, and have won 15 regular season games for the first time ever.
Now West Virginia sets its sights on a Big East tournament championship beginning Sunday at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex against St. John’s. That match will get underway at 2 p.m.
* Former West Virginia University pitcher Dustin Nippert’s career has taken off in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. According to Baseball America, the 6-foot-7 righthander has the organization’s top fastball clocking as high as 98 mph. Nippert consistently throws 93-96 mph and has developed a power curveball. He went 4-2 with a 1.65 ERA and a 77-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 55 innings in rookie ball.
Local scout Greg Lonigro stayed on Nippert and drafted him in the 15th round despite Nippert’s 3-4 record and 4.83 ERA at West Virginia.
* Look for former WVU running back Amos Zereoue to get most of the carries this weekend at Cleveland with the injury to Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala. Jerome Battis sprained his knee against Indianapolis and is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game.
Zereoue has carried the ball 57 times for 262 yards and two touchdowns this season.
* And don’t forget, former West Virginia quarterback Ben Reed will be on the Reba show tomorrow night 8 p.m. on the WB. He is playing Reba’s love interest in this particular episode.
Have a great weekend!
