Pirates Pounded
September 06, 2003 08:41 PM | General
September 6, 2003
Rasheed Marshall fired a career-high four touchdown passes to lead West Virginia to a 48-7 victory over East Carolina Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
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| Quarterback Rasheed Marshall fired four touchdown passes to lead West Virginia to a 48-7 victory Saturday night. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Marshall finished the game completing 11 of 18 passes for 194 yards and also added 37 yards rushing on four carries for 231 all-purpose yards.
“The first quarter and the first couple of drives I kind of felt myself getting into a rhythm and it just carried on throughout the game,” said Marshall.
West Virginia (1-1) jumped all over East Carolina (0-2) in first-year coach John Thompson’s Greenville coaching debut.
The Pirates, coming off a disappointing 40-3 season opening loss at Cincinnati just five days ago, looked a step behind from the outset. Thirty five of West Virginia’s 48 points came as a result of five East Carolina turnovers and the game was really over by halftime with West Virginia leading 27-0.
After trading possessions, West Virginia got on the board first with 2:41 left in the first quarter when Marshall hit Chris Henry for a 37-yard touchdown pass.
“I like him a lot,” said Marshall of Henry. “He takes a lot of pressure of me knowing that he’s going to come down with it. He’s a guy who likes to go up for the ball and come down with it.”
The drive began at the West Virginia 38 and after a short pass from Marshall to John Pennington placed the ball at the WVU 46, three runs by Quincy Wilson netted 17 yards to set up the Marshall pass.
An East Carolina turnover led to West Virginia’s second touchdown to start the second quarter. ECU backup running back Kevin Fain was met hard by West Virginia defensive back Lance Frazier, fumbled, and the loose ball was scooped up by backup defensive lineman Jason Hardee at the West Virginia 48.
Two pretty pass plays from Marshall to Travis Garvin netted 42 yards to put the football at the Pirate 16. An 11-yard pass from Marshall to Aaron Neal moved the ball to the ECU five, and three runs by Wilson resulted in a 1-yard Mountaineer touchdown.
Once again West Virginia benefited from an East Carolina turnover. This time, backup quarterback Paul Troth’s pass was deflected by WVU cornerback Brian King right into the arms of linebacker Adam Lehnortt at the East Carolina 27.
Wilson gained 10 yards on two runs before Marshall hooked up with Neal in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 5:28 left in the half.
The Mountaineer defense forced East Carolina into a three-and-out series on the game’s next possession, and West Virginia took over the football at its own 26.
This time Wilson did the bulk of the work, gaining seven in his first run and then 37 all the way to the Pirate 30. Two players later, Marshall found Miquelle Henderson 30 yards down field for his third TD pass of the night.
Brad Cooper’s point after attempt sailed wide, giving West Virginia a 27-0 lead.
East Carolina tried desperately to put points on the board at the end of the half, but the Pirate drive stalled at midfield after Troth’s fourth and 14 pass fell incomplete.
West Virginia unsuccessfully attempted a 55-yard field goal at the end of the half.
The Mountaineers picked right up where they left on in the second half. After punting the ball back to East Carolina, West Virginia defensive back Lance Frazier gave WVU good field position when he picked off an ECU pass at the West Virginia 44.
After two Wilson runs gained 24 yards, Marshall found Henry once again up high for a 32-yard touchdown. It was the second time the two hooked up for scores; Henry’s first two collegiate catches resulted in touchdowns.
West Virginia capitalized on ECU’s fourth turnover when fullback Vonta Leach was stripped by linebacker Grant Wiley and Ernest Hunter recovered the ball at the WVU 10. Two plays later Kay-Jay Harris bounced in from six yards for his first collegiate touchdown on his very first carry.
Following East Carolina’s fifth turnover, Harris was primarily responsible for West Virginia’s seventh touchdown of the game. Harris carried six times on an 86-yard drive that eventually resulted in a Jason Colson two-yard touchdown run. Harris had runs of 17 and 43 yards on a drive that was done solely on the ground.
East Carolina finally found the end zone with 10:35 left when Leach crossed the goal line from a yard out, culminating an 11-play, 76-yard drive.
Quincy Wilson carried 19 times for 147 yards in a little more than three quarters of action before sitting out the rest of the game. A total of six West Virginia tailbacks came in to carry the football and help the Mountaineers gain 361 yards on the ground.
“We wanted to take some shots downfield when the went into man coverage and when they played the match they kind of take everything away over the top so we told ourselves we’d work it short, so that’s basically what we did,” said Marshall.
Last year the East Carolina defense gave up a Mountaineer Field record 536 yards to West Virginia and 569 total yards. Tonight, West Virginia managed 555 total yards and has produced 1,124 yards of offense against East Carolina the past two seasons.
Henry was West Virginia’s top pass catcher gaining 69 yards on two receptions.
Robinson finished the game completing 21 of 26 passes for 194 yards, a good portion of which came when the game was already decided.
Terrance Copper caught 12 passes for 140 yards.
East Carolina finished the game rushing 36 times for 102 yards.
West Virginia returns to action Saturday at Mountaineer Field against Cincinnati. The Bearcats were idle this weekend after opening the season on Monday with a home victory against East Carolina.
Scoring Summary
WV – Henry 37 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Wilson 1 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Neal 17 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Henderson 30 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick failed)
WV – Henry 32 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Harris 6 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Colson 2 run (Cooper kick)
ECU – Leach 1 run (Broadwell kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WV – Wilson 19-147, Harris 8-78, Johnson 4-40, Marshall 4-37, Wright 5-24, Phillips 4-22, Garvin 1-7, Colson 3-6, Total 48-361; ECU – Townes 11-53, Fain 12-51, Leach 6-6, Fox 1-4, Robinson 6-minus 12, Total 36-102.
Passing: WV – Marshall 11-18-0-194-4; ECU – Robinson 21-26-1-194-0, Troth 4-12-1-32-0, Total 25-38-2-226-0.
Receiving: WV – Henry 2-69, Garvin 3-51, Henderson 2-38, Neal 2-28, Pennington 2-8, Total 11-194; ECU – Copper 11-140, Rios 4-16, Hourigan 3-25, Leach 2-7, Coffman 1-17, Bowling 1-14, Townes 1-5, Bland 1-2, Total 25-226.
Attendance: 36,088
