Backup QB Lifts WVU Over 'Canes
September 26, 2003 08:32 PM | General
September 26, 2003
MIAMI (Nov. 2, 1973) – Four eyes proved better than two for West Virginia at the end of its surprising, 20-14 win against Miami in the Orange Bowl.
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| Backup quarterback Ben Williams came in to lead WVU to a 20-14 win at Miami. (WVU Sports Communications) |
With less than a minute left on the clock and West Virginia trailing by one, Mountaineer coach Bobby Bowden was persuaded by offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti to try a long pass downfield to Marshall Mills instead of attempting a shorter pass to get into field goal range.
Bowden preferred the more conservative play with third string quarterback Ben Williams in the game. But Cignetti, sitting in the press box high atop the Orange Bowl, called down and pleaded for a throw-back pass in which Williams was to run to his left and throw the ball back across the field to Mills.
Cignetti convinced Bowden to change his mind.
The play unfolded just as Cignetti hoped and Mills, a Morristown, Tenn., speedster, got past the Hurricane secondary for a 32-yard touchdown that lifted the Mountaineers to their biggest victory of the year.
It was an unlikely ending for West Virginia, which was right in the middle of a four-game losing streak that wrecked a promising 3-0 start. A week earlier the Mountaineers not only lost 62-14 at Penn State, but also lost its top two quarterbacks Chuck Fiorante and Ade Dillon in the process.
Bowden had no choice but to use the 5-11, 175-pound Williams, whose most noticeable distinction to that point was becoming the first African-American to step under center for a West Virginia University football team.
Williams, a Newark, Del., native, was buried deep on the Mountaineer depth chart when the 1973 season began. Fiorante, a New Castle, Pa., native, never quite lived up to his lofty billing while Dillon, a Navy transfer, couldn’t seem to stay healthy.
Williams received his major college football baptism under the worst possible conditions at State College, Pa. The Lions jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead before a nervous Williams could settle in and throw a 96-yard touchdown pass to Danny Buggs. That pass play is still the longest in WVU history.
Williams finished the game passing for 166 yards – all without the benefit of a single yard from WVU’s out-classed rushing attack.
West Virginia’s situation wasn’t expected to improve at Miami.
In addition to Fiorante and Dillon, who were both nursing separated shoulders, West Virginia’s training room looked like a Mash unit.
Defensive back Marcus Mauney had a strained hamstring, tight end Bubba Coker had a sprained knee, defensive back Mike Michael re-injured his hamstring, defensive back Mark Burke suffered a mild concussion and also a severe bruised toe, defensive back John Harcharic nursed a sore ankle and defensive tackle Tree Adams had a bruised shoulder.
Harcharic and Adams’ injuries weren’t severe enough to keep them out of the Miami game, though.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, pulled off a huge upset by defeating Texas, 20-15 to start the season, and also earned wins over Florida State, Boston College and Syracuse. Miami’s two losses were to powerful Oklahoma and Houston.
The Hurricanes not only graduated All-Americans Chuck Foreman and Burgess Owens, but were also undergoing a coaching change when Pete Elliott replaced former UM quarterback Fran Curci at the end of the ’72 season.
Elliot had a pretty good lineup in ’73 that included All-American middle guard Tony Cristiani, South Charleston, W.Va., native Dennis Harrah, and junior defensive tackle Rubin Carter, who claimed All-America honors along with left tackle Harrah in ’74. A total of 10 players on the Hurricane roster later wound up getting drafted.
By comparison, West Virginia had just five of its players drafted in Buggs, Mills, Adams, cornerback Charles Miller and defensive tackle Jeff Merrow.
As expected, Bowden’s pre-game outlook wasn’t positive.
"We keep getting kids knocked out of the game and we don’t have the ones who can step in and play," he complained before the game. "We’re so beat up we now have to play a lot of boys so we can build our depth and get seasoned.”
Bowden’s hopes were exceeded early in the first quarter.
After being forced to punt on its opening possession West Virginia reclaimed the football when Chuck Brooks’ punt hit a Hurricane player and was recovered by Jeff Rice at the 12 yard line.
Though still "scared to death", Williams managed to compose himself and hit Buggs for a touchdown strike behind two defenders on the very next play. Frank Nester’s point after attempt was successful to give West Virginia a 7-0 lead.
After Miami answered with a short touchdown run by Johnny Williams to tie the game with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter, West Virginia retook the lead right before the half when Williams scored on an option keeper from four yards.
Williams was supposed to hand the ball off to Buggs on a reverse. Instead, he kept it for the bootleg.
“I saw no one was within 15 yards of me," Williams explained. "I decided to keep it."
Buggs helped Williams by improvising with a perfect fake, acting like he had the ball.
"I had no other choice," Buggs said.
WVU’s scoring drive covered 51 yards on six plays.
Nester’s conversion attempt sailed wide left, leaving the Mountaineers up by just six points at the break.
The two teams played evenly in the third quarter before Miami took its first lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Backup quarterback Kary Baker scored UM’s touchdown on a quarterback sneak. All eight plays of Miami’s scoring drive came on the ground.
Later, the Hurricanes had a chance to put the game away but the West Virginia defense came up with its best goal line stand of the season. Miami advanced the football to a first down on the one-yard line, but WVU turned away two cracks in the middle of the line, and a penalty shoved the ball back to the six. Another play lost a yard.
Miami tried a fake field goal, but sophomore Jack Eastwood stepped in front of the pass in the end zone and ran it out to the five.
Ben Williams, who celebrated his 18th birthday just days earlier, stepped under center at the West Virginia five with just 1:50 left on the clock. Afterward, he admitted that he was so nervous that flashes of nausea afflicted him.
"I could see we had little time and the goal line was so far away. But I knew I had to try," he said.
Williams proved up to the task. He coolly completed four-of-eight passes on the drive with two of them coming on third down. He also scrambled free for a 14-yard run to advance the football to the West Virginia 44. Finally, he fired a pinpoint pass to Mills for the game-winning score with just 24 seconds left on the clock.
As Frank Cignetti later explained it, West Virginia took advantage of Miami’s double coverage on both wide receivers Mills and Buggs.
"They dropped both safety men back to help their cornerbacks," he said. "We felt their weakness was at the cornerbacks, but they compensated for it with the adjustment."
That tactic allowed West Virginia to hurt Miami on wide running plays. In turn, those runs softened up the Hurricane secondary for the winning touchdown pass.
Williams was responsible for all three West Virginia touchdowns. He fired two and ran in the other one. The sophomore finished the night completing just 6 of 15 passes for 114 yards, but also counted 56 stripes on the ground. Dwayne Woods led all West Virginia runners with 58 yards on 19 carries.
Johnny Williams was Miami’s top ball carrier with 108 yards on 16 carries. Starting tailback Woody Thompson, a 6-2, 214-pound bruiser who came into the game with 563 yards in six games, managed just 44 on 14 carries.
Three different Hurricane quarterbacks completed just 8 of 25 passes with three interceptions. Eastwood claimed two of those.
Miami out-gained West Virginia, 345-261 but committed six turnovers for the game.
The Mountaineers also overcame a game-time temperature of 82 degrees and high humidity.
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| Ben Williams completed 6 of 15 passes for 114 yards. (MSN) |
"I thought our kids were gonna die in the second half," said Bowden. "The air-conditioned dressing room helped us. Our boys seemed to recover some, and they played well. You have to be proud of the way they stuck in there."
When the game ended the WVU players, squelched rumors of dissension and low team morale, carried Bowden off the field on their shoulders.
The Mountaineers claimed two of their last three games to finish the 1973 season with a 6-5 record. Miami went 5-6.
As for Williams, he went into the 1974 season as the team’s number one quarterback, but wound up losing the job to true freshman Dan Kendra.
Bowden’s 4-7 record in 1974 was the worst of his six years in Morgantown.
Miami’s Elliott was replaced by Carl Selmer in 1975.
Scoring Summary
WV – Buggs 12 pass from Williams (Nester kick)
UM – Williams 7 run (Selmer kick)
WV – Williams 4 run (Kick failed)
UM – Baker 1 run (Selmer kick)
WV – Mills 32 pass from Williams (Nester kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WV – Woods 19-58, Williams 12-56, Hubbard 5-19, Buggs 1-8, Owens 3-6, Total 40-189; UM – Williams 16-108, Thompson 14-44, Baker 6-24, Sweeting 5-19, Cardosa 4-13, Reynaud 1-1, Carney 9-minus 6, Latiner 1-minus 8, Total 56-195.
Passing: WV – Williams 6-15-1-114-2; UM – Cabney 5-12-0-93-0, Baker 3-12-2-57-0, Wohner 0-1-1-0-0, Total 8-25-3-150-0.
Receiving: WV – Jagmann 3-58, Buggs 2-24, Mills 1-32, Total 6-114; UM – Sweeting 3-68, Williams 3-58, Marcantonio 2-24, Total 8-150.
Attendance: 24,890
