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November 24, 2003 01:52 PM | General
November 24, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez says his No. 24-ranked Mountaineers will spend this week focusing on a Temple Owls team that has been playing well of late.
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| West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez says there is a lot at stake Saturday against Temple. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Last Saturday Temple gave Pitt a fourth quarter scare, losing 30-16, and two weeks ago lost in overtime to Virginia Tech after its kicker missed an extra point to send the game into a second overtime.
“If you just see how they’ve played the last several weeks losing in overtime because of a missed extra point against Tech and going down to the last few minutes against a very good Pitt team … since they’ve put in Walter Washington at quarterback it seems like they are playing with a lot of confidence and they play everybody tough,” said the coach.
If his players aren’t convinced that a 1-10 Temple team will provide a major challenge Saturday, Rodriguez says his players will get the message after they watch Temple on video tape.
“I think our guys will see them on film and realize that they have some really talented players,” he said.
The coach admitted that there is a lot at stake this weekend. If West Virginia defeats Temple the Mountaineers will secure a share of the Big East regular season title. West Virginia has a slim shot at landing the Big East’s BCS bowl slot, most likely the Orange Bowl, but WVU has a good opportunity to be picked by the Gator Bowl.
“Our whole focus this week will be on preparing as well as we can to beat Temple,” he said. “There is no school. There is Thanksgiving on Thursday but other than that its all football and preparing for the Temple Owls. This is the biggest game of the season for us and maybe the biggest game our program has had since we last won the league championship in 1993.”
Rodriguez says he will spend a brief moment today talking to his team about the possible scenarios before getting down to business, “They’re going to read the paper and hear about it and be asked about. I will tell them what the situation looks like as far as the bowl and after that I don’t want to talk about it or my players to talk about it because all of the scenarios change if you don’t win the game on Saturday,” he said.
The Mountaineer coaching staff will have the player’s full attention with school on Thanksgiving recess. He said his team will practice an hour earlier each day and work out early Thursday morning to give them an opportunity to eat Thanksgiving dinner with their families in Morgantown. Injured players and some select freshmen have been excused to go home.
The break will also allow several banged up players more time to heal their ailments. Rodriguez is most concerned about sophomore safety Mike Lorello.
“The most serious one out of the Syracuse game is Mike Lorello who has a foot sprain,” he said. “He didn’t after he got injured in the third quarter and it is going to be day-to-day. He won’t do anything for a couple of days and then we’ll see what it looks like on Wednesday.”
Running back Quincy Wilson was also hobbled by a high ankle sprain sustained in the first half Saturday. He did manage to return in the third quarter and produced a 41-yard run before spending the rest of the game on the sidelines.
“Quincy is pretty tough mentally,” said Rodriguez. “He wanted to go in and he actually made his longest run when he was still banged up. This being his last home game … we’ve got 19 seniors being in front of the home crowd and it’s going to be an emotional night when they talk to the team and I’m sure it’s going to be emotional on Saturday and it’s going to be hard to keep any of those seniors out.”
Fans have an opportunity to send off West Virginia’s 19-player senior class in style this Saturday by coming out and supporting a team that has won six straight games and will play in back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1997-98.
Good tickets remain and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME. Fans can also stop by any United Bank Outlet and pick up a two-for-the-price-of-one coupon for Saturday’s game. Afterward, fans can take their Temple football ticket stubs over to the WVU Coliseum and get a $6 discount off a ticket purchased at the gate for WVU’s home opener against Northeastern.
It’s a fabulous and inexpensive way to spend a day supporting Mountaineer athletics.
