Marshall's Arm Paces WVU
October 22, 2004 12:11 AM | General
October 21, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 14 West Virginia chewed up 279 yards on the ground, but it was quarterback Rasheed Marshall’s arm that made the difference Thursday night in the Mountaineers’ 27-6 victory over Syracuse at Milan Puskar Stadium.
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| Quarterback Rasheed Marshall gets some of his 87 yards rushing in West Virginia's 27-6 victory over Syracuse Thursday night.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Marshall only attempted 12 passes, but he completed seven of them for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Marshall also ran 14 times for 87 yards to break Donovan McNabb’s Big East career rushing record. Marshall now has 1,607 career rushing yards, passing McNabb’s mark of 1,561 yards.
“Our guys were focused all week,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “They were loose and excited. Who wouldn’t be for an atmosphere like that and on national television?”
“You have to give credit to West Virginia,” added Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni. “It seems that every time we come to play them down here they bring their ‘A’ game.”
Jason Colson managed 113 yards on 18 carries while backups Kay-Jay Harris and Pernell Williams combined to run for 74 yards to help WVU to an impressive 5.6-yards-per-carry average.
“Their offense really runs the ball right at you,” Pasqualoni said. “They have exceptional skill offensively and the quarterback hits the hole fast. They spread you out and become a two-back set with their quarterback and running backs. If you overload the box, they throw deep to No. 5 (Henry). You have to have two guys on him at all times and even if you do, he can still catch the ball on you.”
Syracuse (3-4, 1-1) played tonight’s game without leading rusher Walter Reyes, who stood on the sidelines with a Gatorade towel over his head while suffering from the flu.
Junior Damien Rhodes had a tough time finding open real estate in Reyes’ place, running 21 times for just 65 yards.
That forced an uncomfortable Perry Patterson to attempt 37 passes, completing 23 for a career-high 249 yards.
“Our defense played pretty well against the run tonight,” said Rodriguez. “A lot of their runs were on reverses or missed tackles where we lost containment. When they were just getting one or two yards on runs that was a key to predicting what they were going to do next.”
Syracuse had several opportunities to score in the first half but Orange kicker Collin Barber’s missed three field goal attempts, including a 41-yard try right at the end of the first half when Harris’ fumble set Syracuse up at the Mountaineer 40 with 11 seconds left.
Patterson fired a 16-yard pass to the near sideline to Jared Jones to give SU a reasonable try to get on the scoreboard.
Barber ended the half the way he started it: missing a field goal. After Barber’s miss from 41 yards on Syracuse’s opening possession, West Virginia drove from its own 25 to the Syracuse 10 before the Orange defense stiffened. The bulk of the yards came on the ground from Marshall and Colson. The lone pass was a four-yard screen to Eddie Jackson.
On third and five at the SU 10, Marshall was hauled down by Syracuse defensive end James Wyche for a loss of two back to the 12. Brad Cooper came on to punch a 29-yard field goal through the uprights to get West Virginia on the board first.
Syracuse was poised to tie the game on its next possession after a 37-yard Diamond Ferri kickoff returned set up SU at the 45. Syracuse got to the Mountaineer 17 before a holding penalty on Matt Tarullo pushed the ball back to the WVU 29. After an incomplete pass, Barber’s second field goal attempt of the quarter from 46 yards was blocked by Mike Lorello and recovered by Keilen Dykes at the Syracuse 39.
Three plays later, Marshall hit Chris Henry on a slip screen and he took it 23 yards past the Syracuse defense for a touchdown. Cooper’s extra point gave the Mountaineers a 10-0 lead.
West Virginia (6-1, 2-0) was set up to get more points when Thandi Smith broke through the Syracuse line and blocked Brenden Carney’s punt at the Syracuse 23. But the Orange were able to escape without giving up any points when Cooper’s 33-yard field goal attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage.
“Our special teams were pretty good bout our kick coverage was awful so we have to work on that,” Rodriguez said.
A muffed punt by Marcus Clayton with 1:15 left in the half was recovered by Brad Palmer at the West Virginia 20. Two WVU penalties pushed the ball back to the Syracuse 25 and on second and 15, Marshall found Henry open in the corner of the end zone for their second TD-hookup of the game.
After forcing West Virginia to punt on its opening possession of the third quarter, Syracuse made an effort to get back into the game with a 13-play drive that covered 70 yards and ate up 6:08.
Patterson was the catalyst for Syracuse, completing passes of 11 to Steve Gregory, five to Greg Hanoian and nine to tight end Joe Kowalewski. Patterson also ran for 10 yards on third and two to the WVU 17.
Patterson then pitched out to Rhodes on an option play for a two-yard touchdown. Barber’s miseries continued when he hit the upright on his point-after try.
Now somewhat under the gun, West Virginia responded with a 13-play, 57-yard drive that nearly brought the fourth quarter to a close and ended up with Cooper kicking a 26-yard field goal.
Following a fourth-down stop by the defense, West Virginia put the game away with 8:53 left in the game when Marshall hit Charles Hales in the flat and he broke two tackles on his way to the end zone for a nifty 22-yard TD catch. The big play of the drive came on second and six with the Mountaineers backup up to their own 17. Marshall fired a long pass downfield that Chris Henry managed to out-leap Thomas Whitfield for a 47-yard gain to the SU 36.
“We came into a hostile environment with a group of inexperienced guys,” Pasqualoni explained. “It would be nice to have experienced guys out there, but we don’t have that this year.”
West Virginia has now won three in a row against Syracuse for the first time since Bobby Bowden’s teams of 1972, 1973 and 1974 did it against the Orange.
The Mountaineers next travel to Rutgers to face the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, Oct. 30. Rutgers plays at Pitt Saturday.
Scoring Summary
WV – Cooper 29 FG
WV – Henry 23 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Henry 25 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
SU – Rhodes 2 run (Kick failed)
WV – Cooper 26 FG
WV – Hales 22 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SYR – Rhodes 21-65, Hanoian 2-5, Sellers 1-minus 1, Patterson 12-minus 3, Total 36-66; WV – Colson 18-113, Marshall 14-87, Harris 10-45, Williams 6-29, Jones 1-5, Team 1-0, Total 50-279.
Passing: SYR – Patterson 23-37-0-249-0; WV – Marshall 7-12-0-144-3.
Receiving: SYR – Jones 5-59, Gregory 5-58, Kowalewski 3-56, Rhodes 3-26, Fontenette 2-13, Hanoian 2-8, Evans 1-17, Shor 1-10, Sellers 1-2, Total 23-249; WV – Henry 3-95, Jackson 3-27, Hales 1-22, Total 7-144.
Attendance: 52,909
