Cincinnati Preview
September 10, 2002 01:54 PM | General
September 10, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – The West Virginia University football team takes to the road once again this Saturday to face Cincinnati in an important non-conference tussle at Nippert Stadium (35,000).
 |
|
| West Virginia wide receiver Miquelle Henderson caught five passes for 106 yards against Wisconsin. |
West Virginia (1-1) is coming off a 34-17 loss at No. 22-ranked Wisconsin where the Badgers used a 27-point second quarter to blow open a close game. The Mountaineers recovered to outscore Wisconsin 14-0 in the second half and are looking to continue that momentum this weekend against UC, a team that has never beaten WVU in 11 previous tries.
“It’s a big game and we have an open week after this one, so they will have a lot of time to think about it,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.
The Bearcats are 1-0 so far after posting a 15-point fourth-quarter comeback to defeat TCU 36-29 in overtime on Sept. 2. UC quarterback Gino Guidugli (6-3, 220, So.) scored on a 14-yard touchdown run in the extra session to give Cincinnati the lead, and then Doug Monahan (6-3, 210, So.) intercepted a Sean Stilley pass at the goal line to win it.
Cincinnati is coming off a 7-5 season last year that saw it lose 23-16 to Toledo in the Motor City Bowl. The Bearcats have several productive players returning led by Guidugli, who has already engineered four fourth-quarter comeback victories in just 12 career games. The sophomore completed 18-of-38 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns against TCU to earn Conference USA player of the week honors.
Guidugli has also posted four 300-yard passing games and is just two shy of the Cincinnati record of six set by Greg Cook from 1966-68. Guidugli ranked second among all NCAA freshman last year in completions (18.5) and ranked fourth among frosh in total offense (249.8) to earn Conference USA rookie of the year. His best game last season was a 348-yard effort in a come-from-behind win at Memphis.
“He’s the centerpiece of their offense and they like to put the ball in his hands,” said Rodriguez.
Guidugli has three impressive targets in wide receivers LaDaris Vann (5-9, 198, Sr.), Tye Keith (5-8, 187, Sr.) and Jon Olinger (6-3, 225, Sr.). Vann is the school’s all-time leader with 142 receptions and can set another school mark Saturday if he catches a pass in his 34th straight game. Vann caught nine balls for 96 yards against TCU.
Keith was the team’s second-leading receiver in 2001 with 42 catches for 578 yards; he had one catch for 36 yards against TCU.
Olinger is UC’s biggest target standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 225 pounds. He started off the season with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Guidugli on the team’s first offensive play of 2002 and he finished the afternoon with three catches for 128 yards. He led the Bearcats with seven TD catches in 2001.
“We’ve got to work extra hard on getting a better pass rush and covering guys up a little longer this weekend,” said Rodriguez.
Running back DeMarco McCleskey (5-11, 215, Sr.) compliments UC’s strong passing game to give the Bearcats a well-rounded offense. The senior comes into Saturday’s game ranked seventh on the Cincinnati career rushing list with 2,210 yards and fourth with 23 rushing touchdowns. McCleskey is also a dependable ballhander, fumbling just six times in 511 career touches.
If the Bearcats open with a two-back set, junior Tedric Harwell (5-11, 184, Jr.) will join McCleskey in the backfield. He is one of UC’s fastest players on offense.
Up front Cincinnati is anchored by senior right tackle Josh Gardner (6-5, 284, Sr.), a preseason third team All-American by Athlon. Gardner is a three-year starter who is currently third in the nation with 36 consecutive starts.
Right guard Travis McGee (6-3, 301, Jr.) played on two JC national championship teams at San Francisco City College and is Cincinnati’s largest blocker weighing 301 pounds. Center Josh Shneyderov is the smallest at 272 pounds. Cincinnati’s other starters up front include left guard Kirt Doolin (6-4, 300, Sr.) and left tackle Kyle Takavitz (6-4, 299, So.).
Tight end A.J. Lucius (6-3, 242, So.) is used mostly as a blocker.
Cincinnati’s defense is geared toward pressuring the quarterback and causing big plays. Last year UC recorded 35 sacks to produce the second-highest total in school history. Against TCU, Cincinnati had two sacks including one that resulted in a fumble that led to a Bearcat touchdown.
“Cincinnati has some great athletes on defense and they really run well,” said Rodriguez.
Senior defensive end Antwan Peek (6-2, 245, Sr.) set a school record last year with 12 ½ sacks to earn first team all-CUSA honors. He has been named to the Lombardi and Bronco Nagurski Award watch lists.
“He’s one of the best defensive ends in the country,” said Rodriguez.
Book end Derrick Adams (6-0, 253, Sr.) did not play against TCU with a high ankle sprain and was replaced by sophomore Andre Frazier (6-5, 213, So.) , who had a team-high 11 tackles in the opener. Cincinnati’s defensive tackles DeMarcus Billings(6-0, 264, Sr.) and Darryl Ransom (6-1, 271, Sr.) aren’t big but they can run.
The linebacking corps is led by senior Willis Edwards (5-11, 231, Sr.), who finished fourth on the team in tackles in 2001 with 78 stops. Jason Russell (6-2, 207, Jr.) and Tyjuan Hagler (6-2, 220, Jr.) will get the starting nod at the two outside linebacker spots.
Strong safety Doug Monahan made the game-saving interception against TCU and finished with 10 tackles. He earned second team freshman All-America honors by The Sporting News last year.
Senior free safety Ivan Fields (5-11, 186, Sr.) made 10 tackles against TCU and will team with corners Blue Adams (5-10, 188, Sr.) and Zach Norton (6-0, 184, Jr.) in the secondary.
Punter Chet Ervin (6-3, 175, Fr.) averaged 40.5 yards per punt against TCU while place kicker Jonathan Ruffin (5-10, 182, Sr.) is one PAT short of the school record of 63 straight. He is the school’s career kick scoring leader with 218 points coming into the West Virginia game. Cincinnati has 17 seniors listed on its two-deep roster for Saturday’s game.
The Mountaineers are still looking for their first road win under Rodriguez. WVU dropped all five of its road games last year and are 0-1 this season after last Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin.
West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall completed 17-of-36 passes for 219 yards against the Badgers and became more effective as the game wore on.
“Rasheed is a good athlete who can really run, but he’s still a young guy who hasn’t played a whole lot of football yet,” said Rodriguez. “I don’t think he got confused too often but his rhythm was a little off in the first half Saturday against Wisconsin.”
Sophomore Miquelle Henderson caught five passes for 106 yards to top the century mark for the first time in his young career. He could become just the seventh Mountaineer player to post back-to-back 100-yard games this weekend against Cincinnati.
Senior Avon Cobourne was bottled up against Wisconsin, rushing 18 times for just 79 yards and a touchdown. But he is inching closer to WVU’s school record of 4,086 yards set by Amos Zereoue (1996-98). Cobourne shows 3,640 yards and is just 447 yards away from breaking the record.
“We’ve got to hit some big plays on offense,” said Rodriguez.
The Mountaineer defense stiffened in the second half against Wisconsin after allowing 16 first downs, 173 passing yards and 27 points in the second quarter alone. For the remainder of the game, the Badgers were held to no points and just 111 yards of total offense.
Safety Jahmile Addae was the team’s top tackler against the Badgers with 13 stops.
Cincinnati under Coach Rick Minter has produced some recent upsets at home. In 2000 the Bearcats stunned Syracuse 12-10 and a year earlier in 1999, Cincinnati defeated a good Wisconsin team 17-12. UC has also captured non-conference home wins over Kansas and Kentucky since Minter took over in 1995.
Game time is 7 p.m. There is no live television but fans can follow the live radio broadcast and livestats through MSNsportsNET.com.
