Dodging a Bullet
November 09, 2003 07:59 PM | General
Novbember 9, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – On Sunday afternoon, West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez was talking like a man whose football team dodged a bullet yesterday at Boston College.
A quick check of the stat sheet backs that up. BC had a 30-15 advantage in first downs, a 475-311 advantage in total yards and a 91-55 advantage in total plays.
“After watching the film I’m very disappointed in the way we played,” said Rodriguez. “I didn’t think we played with any type of execution, we didn’t play with good fundamentals, we didn’t play smart and it wasn’t our best-effort game. I thought it was one of the worst games we’ve played all year.”
West Virginia (5-4, 3-1) has played bad in other games this season, specifically against Cincinnati and Maryland, yet this time the Mountaineers found a way to win.
“I guess it’s better to play bad and win but we’re not real happy with our performance,” Rodriguez admitted.
The difference in the game was four interceptions produced by the Mountaineer defense and an 87-yard kickoff return by Pac-Man Jones that gave the Mountaineers just enough distance to hold off the Eagles, playing for the last time at home this year.
Safety Brian King had two interceptions and Lance Frazier had one pick, but it was the interception and return for a touchdown by Jones that was the turning point in the game. That interception helped erase a 14-point first quarter deficit and got West Virginia back in the game.
Saturday’s game was a physical one and the two players Rodriguez is most concerned about are defensive tackle Fred Blueford and right guard Jeff Berk. Blueford injured his knee in the first quarter Saturday and did not return. Rodriguez has not received a report on Blueford’s knee but he isn’t encouraged about the senior’s availability for this weekend.
Berk sustained a turf toe injury and his status is “day-to-day,” according to the coach.
“That type of field and that type of turf is on its way out and I think Boston College is going to change it next year,” said Rodriguez. “Very few teams will have to play on that type of surface.”
If Berk can’t go Saturday, Rodriguez says redshirt freshman Jeremy Sheffey will take his place.
Quincy Wilson left the game in the second half but Rodriguez believes he should be okay against Pitt. The same goes for quarterback Rasheed Marshall, who sat out the BC win with a concussion sustained in the third quarter of the Central Florida game.
Rodriguez says Marshall will start this Saturday against the Panthers.
“Rasheed is cleared to go,” said Rodriguez. “He’s not going to lose the starting job because of injury. Charles has gotten some experience now and if we need him to give us a spark we won’t hesitate to get him some reps.”
Despite voicing his disappointment in the way West Virginia played Saturday, Rodriguez did find a few bright spots.
“We made a few big plays, we didn’t panic when we got down 14-0 and were really flat in the beginning, and I thought our special teams performed okay,” he said. “We thought Scottie Gyorko played one of his best games and up front, Jeff Berk, Jeremy Hines and Garin Justice played pretty solid; and we thought Charles was a positive. He played pretty solid football for three quarters.”
Sophomore Chris Henry caught two touchdown passes Saturday against BC and finished the game with 132 yards on five receptions. It was his third 100-yard receiving game this year and the Belle Chasse, La., resident shows a 26.2-yards-per-catch average and seven touchdowns.
“He’s made some plays and he’s great with the deep ball,” said Rodriguez. “He’s got a lot of ability but he’s still learning. He’s not played nearly close to what he’s capable of playing and close to what we need him to play at as far as being a complete player. He’s still got a lot of work to do but he is giving us the deep threat with his height, his ability to run and his ball-catching skills.”
This week Henry will go up against the more established and better-known Larry Fitzgerald, who caught eight passes for 108 yards in the big win against Virginia Tech and extended his consecutive streak of catching at least one TD to 15 straight games. Fitzgerald has 17 TD catches and 68 receptions overall in nine games this year.
“There are two trains of thought on defending him,” says Rodriguez. “You can let him get his yards and try to control everyone else or you don’t let one great player beat you. The problem with Pitt is there are a lot of other guys who can catch the ball and get open.”
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| Wide receiver Chris Henry caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns against Boston College. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Fitzgerald brings a fired up and streaking Panther team (7-2, 4-0) into Morgantown for the 96th edition of the Backyard Brawl next Saturday. With both teams still in contention for the Big East title and Pitt nationally ranked, Saturday’s game will once again have national implications.
“If you look at the last two years our games against Pitt have meant a lot in the Big East race and that’s what you want it to be,” said Rodriguez. “Who would have thought we would be (where we are now) a month ago and Pitt has 15 senior starters and some of the top players in the country at certain positions. Everybody kind of predicted them to be there and we’re happy that we’re in the situation to where we can still control our own destiny.”
If West Virginia is going to produce another big upset like it did against Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Rodriguez knows his team is going to have to play much better than it did Saturday against Boston College.
“I know Pitt is going to play well when they come down here,” said Rodriguez. “With the experience they have and the talent they have, they are going to play a good football game. We’ve got to play and we can play our best and maybe still not win the game, but certainly we can’t play like we did against BC and win it.
Briefly ...
