WVU Stuns No. 11 Terps
July 21, 2003 10:09 PM | General
COLLEGE PARK, MD. (Sept. 17, 1977) -- The only thing brighter than this sunny Saturday afternoon was the smile on West Virginia football coach Frank Cignetti's face. That's because his Mountaineer football team held on to upset No. 11-ranked Maryland, 24-16 on a fast, dry Byrd Stadium turf.
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| Wide receiver Cedric Thomas caught four passes for 88 yards including one for a 54-yard touchdown. (WVU Sports Communications) |
"This is a great win for our football program and West Virginia University," beamed the second-year coach after the game. "I'm thankful for the efforts of our players and everyone involved in our football program."
West Virginia, coming off a 36-0 shutout of Richmond in the season opener on Sept. 10, jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead.
WVU's first score came after Maryland returner Chris Ward mishandled Ken Hatton's punt and WVU backup running back James Tackett recovered the ball at the Terp 31. Seven plays later, David Riley scored from two yards out to put WVU on the board.
After a Maryland punt, West Virginia scored again when Riley raced up the middle of the field for a 54-yard touchdown. Bill McKenzie's extra point made it 14-0. Midway through the second quarter, the Mountaineers added six more points on a beautiful 54-yard bomb from Dan Kendra to Cedric Thomas. That scoring play was set up when linebacker Jeff Macerelli intercepted a Larry Dick pass at midfield.
West Virginia increased its lead to 24-0 before the half when McKenzie's school-record 49-yard field goal split the uprights.
The Mountaineers piled up 281 first-half yards on Jerry Claiborne's touted defense which limited Clemson to just 14 points in the season opener, but the coach was more concerned with his team's four first-half turnovers.
"We were able to move the ball a lot but we only moved it between the twenties," Claiborne stated.
However, the second half was an entirely different ball game.
Maryland scored on its first two possessions to close the margin to 24-14. The first score came when tailback Steve Atkins took an option into the end zone from four yards out.
Maryland's second touchdown came after Walter Easley fumbled at the West Virginia 38. Five plays later, wingback Dean Richards went around left end from five yards out.
The Terps had a chance to close the margin to three with just under nine minutes remaining, but Dick's fourth-down option pitch to Alvin Maddox was intercepted by West Virginia safety Tom Pridemore at the 13-yard line. Maryland managed to add two more points on a safety with 5:14 left when Hatton mishandled a snap and downed the ball in the end zone.
On the ensuing free kick, Vince Kinney took the ball and raced 56 yards to the West Virginia five. Pridemore hustled downfield on the play and made a touchdown-saving tackle.
After three runs positioned the football at the West Virginia two, Mountaineer defenders Harold Woods and Fran Gleason teamed to stop Dick short of the goal line on an option play with 1:49 left in the game.
"He had a better view from the field than I did and he felt that he should have run (the ball)," Claiborne stated.
West Virginia ran the clock down to 13 seconds before punting the ball back to Maryland. Starting at midfield, Dick hit Kinney for 24 yards to the West Virginia 24. Maryland had one more shot to score, but Dick's pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
"Even as things started to slip away in the second half, and we fumbled the punt in the end zone near the end, I still felt confident we would win," Cignetti stated.
Riley led West Virginia with 108 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Kendra hit 11-of-18 passes for 160 yards and Thomas caught four passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Dick passed for 234 yards, but West Virginia managed to hold Maryland's veer rushing attack to just 135 yards.
Cignetti pointed to that as the key to the game.
"We came in here with the goal of holding Maryland to less than 200 yards rushing and thought that if we could do that and get 200 yards rushing ourselves, we could win."
The Mountaineers finished the game with 198 stripes. The victory snapped Maryland's 15-game home winning streak and was the first ranked team West Virginia defeated since beating No. 20 Pitt, 17-14 at Mountaineer Field on Nov. 8, 1975.
It was also Frank Cignetti's signature win at West Virginia.
Maryland went on to win eight games that season including a 17-7 victory over Minnesota in the Hall of Fame Bowl.
Even during that great win over Maryland in 1977, there were ominous signs for West Virginia.
Starting linebacker Ken Braswell aggravated a preseason knee injury during pre-game warm-ups and was lost for the season. Split end Steve Lewis suffered a fractured collarbone on the game's first passing play and was also lost for the year.
In addition, starting tackle Wayne Gatewood left the game with an ankle injury.
West Virginia lost at Kentucky 28-13 the following week, but rebounded to produce victories over Virginia and Temple to improve its record to 4-1.
From that point on, injuries and a difficult schedule resulted in WVU losing five of its last six games to finish with a 5-6 record.
The following season, West Virginia could manage just a 2-9 mark and it was discovered during the off-season that Cignetti was suffering from cancer.
In his final campaign in 1979, Cignetti could muster just a 5-6 record and shortly afterward was fired.
After a short stay in Morgantown as athletic director Dick Martin's administrative assistant, Cignetti returned to his alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, to become the school's football coach and athletic director.
He still remains there today.
One closing note to this outstanding win over Maryland: In the locker room after the win, Cignetti held a brief meeting with his team during which he asked that the game ball be presented to long-time Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter Bill Smith, who suffered a heart attack earlier in the week.
Cignetti, who successfully battled his own health problems, proved to be a symbol of dignity and class for all of those who were fortunate enough to work with him during his tenure at WVU.
Scoring Summary
WV -- Riley 2 run (McKenzie kick)
WV -- Riley 54 run (McKenzie kick)
WV -- Thomas 54 pass from Kendra (McKenzie kick)
WV -- McKenzie 49 FG
MD -- Atkins 4 run (pass failed)
MD -- Richards 5 run (Kinney to Dick)
MD -- Safety, Hatton downed in end zone
Statistical Summary
Rushing -- WV: Easley 13-57, Riley 15-108, Alexander 11-56, Kendra 8-minus 13, Lumley 2-4, Total 51-198; MD: Atkins 20-87, Maddox 6-40, Scott 3-8, Dudish 3-16, Dick 8-minus 22, Richards 2-6, Total 42-135.
Passing -- WV: Kendra 11-18-1-160-1, Total 11-18-1-160-1; MD: Dick 18-24-1-234-0, Maddox 0-1-1-0-0, Total 18-25-2-234-0.
Receiving: WV: Lewis 1-14, Swinson 2-24, Dugan 1-20, Thomas 4-88, Riley 2-15, Alexander 1-minus 1, Total 11-160; MD: Kinney 7-121, Sievers 2-35, Maddox 2-0, White 2-18, Dudish 1-9, Richards 4-52, Total 18-234.
Attendance: 45,123
