WVU Holds On 35-30
October 30, 2004 02:12 PM | General
October 30, 2004
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rasheed Marshall threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 79 yards and another score to lead No. 13 West Virginia to a 35-30 victory over Rutgers Saturday afternoon at Rutgers Stadium.
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| Rasheed Marshall crosses the goal line for a seven-yard touchdown to help West Virginia to a 35-30 win over Rutgers.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Jason Colson came off the bench to run for 103 yards on 19 carries to help the Mountaineers improve to 7-1, 3-0. It was Colson’s fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season.
West Virginia had its chances to put Rutgers away leading 14-0 in the first quarter and then 35-17 in the fourth quarter.
But Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart was able to carve up an depleted Mountaineer secondary for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Hart completed 35 of 46 passes after enduring a one-for-four start.
“I wasn’t comfortable at all," said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. "The problem was I think our guys relaxed at the end on defense and on offense and we let them get back into the game."
Safety Jahmile Addae set up West Virginia right off the bat when he picked off a Hart pass intended for tight end Clark Francis down the seam at the Rutgers 41 on the game’s first play.
West Virginia rode the back of true freshman Pernell Williams on its first scoring drive; Williams carrying six times for 32 yards including a five-yard TD run. The freshman gained three on fourth and inches at the Rutgers seven and also had a 12-yard run on the drive.
After forcing Rutgers to punt, West Virginia stayed on the ground to reach pay dirt once again. Starting at its own 44, Pac-Man Jones took a reverse 26 yards to the Rutgers 30. Runs of eight yards by Marshall and nine by Jason Colson helped moved the ball to the Scarlet Knights 10. Marshall completed the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, his third of the season.
Rutgers had more trouble on the ensuing kick when the ball was not fielded at the 18 and was finally recovered at the six. Rutgers wasn’t able to move the chains and had to punt the ball back to West Virginia giving the Mountaineers the ball at the Rutgers 35.
West Virginia came up short on third and five and was forced to try a 47-yard field goal that Brad Cooper missed to the right.
“I pleased with the way we came out of the gate but I think we relaxed a little bit," Rodriguez said. "I was disappointed because we were up 14-0 and we had a chance to get another touchdown and we didn’t execute. We let them hang around and when you are on the road that can get you in trouble.”
Rutgers finally got on track on its third possession behind the arm of Hart, who found some space in the air following a foot injury to Pac-Man Jones, who returned for one more series before leaving for good. Hart picked on Jones’ replacement Dee McCann, going for 30 yards down the sideline to Marcus Daniels on third and seven to the West Virginia 37. After converting a fourth and two when Brian Leonard ran three yards to the WVU 26, Hart picked on McCann once again when he hit Tres Moses down the far sideline for a 27-yard touchdown.
Later, Rutgers got great field position when West Virginia was unable to move the football after a McCann interception at the Rutgers 12. The Knights took over the football at the West Virginia 41 after a 32-yard Phil Brady punt.
Hart immediately hit backup tight end Sam Johnson for 14 yards to the West Virginia 27 but running back Justin Hairston was called for a personal foul. A personal foul by West Virginia’s Ben Lynch on a Hart scramble gave Rutgers 15 yards to the 25.
On third and seven, Hart found Markis Daniels wide open down the seam for a 22-yard touchdown to tie the game with 8:43 left in the first half. Hart was three of three on the drive for 39 yards.
West Virginia answered with its best drive of the game, covering 90 yards but actually going 110 when adding in penalty yardage. Marshall was the catalyst, running for 13 on first and 10 to take the ball to the West Virginia 23. He also ran 27 yards on second and 20 to the Scarlet Knights 29 and then found a wide open Miquelle Henderson for 21 yards to the RU eight. Two Kay-Jay Harris runs, the second from three yards, got the ball back into the end zone for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia was set up for another chance to score when McCann forced a Chris Baker fumble and recovered it at the Rutgers 41. But the Mountaineers were unable to move the ball, first trying a reverse pass from Charles Hales that Dwayne Thompson couldn’t handle over the middle. On second and 10, Marshall’s pass to Eddie Jackson for first-down yardage was dropped, and Marshall was sacked on third down to set up a Brady punt.
Rutgers resumed possession at its own 22 with 1:30 left in the half. Schiano was trying to run out the clock but on third and nine, Leonard fumbled a draw play that Mike Lorello recovered at the Rutgers 29 with six seconds remaining in the half.
With really no time to run a play, Rodriguez opted for a 46-yard field goal that Brad Cooper missed to the right to end the half.
Rutgers was able to pull closer following a Jeremy Ito 43-yard field goal on RU’s first possession of the second half after forcing West Virginia to a three-and-out series. The Scarlet Knights drive stalled at the West Virginia 22.
Early in the fourth quarter West Virginia gave itself some room with another 90-yard drive that actually covered more than 100 yards when you add in penalty yardage.
Starting at its own 10 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter, Two Colson runs moved the ball to the Mountaineer 25 as the third quarter clock wound down.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Chris Henry got past the Rutgers defense for 69 yards to the Scarlet Knights seven, but was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. Another holding penalty by WVU moved the ball back to the 25, but Jason Colson got past the Rutgers defense on an option for a 16-yard gain for a first down. On third and goal at the Rutgers four, Marshall rolled out and found a wide open Henderson in the back of the end zone for a four-yard score. It was his first TD catch of the season.
The West Virginia defense managed to hold and set up its second touchdown on as many possessions. This time Marshall hit Henry down the sideline for 39 yards for a touchdown. Henry was called for his second unsportsmanlike penalty and was ejected from the game.
That gave Rutgers good field position and RU was able to pass its way down the field and score its third touchdown. A key play on the drive came on fourth and seven at the West Virginia 40 when Hart was able to shake free of Joe Sykes and find Moses for a 13-yard gain. Hart completed the drive with a three-yard pass to tight end Clark Harris for a three-yard touchdown.
Rutgers chose to kick the ball deep and Ito kicked the ball out of bounds to give West Virginia the ball at the 35. The Mountaineers was unable to milk the clock and was forced to punt the ball back to the Scarlet Knights.
When Rutgers took over at its own 20, it was facing a tired and battered Mountaineer defense. Hart completed passes of 10 and 12 yards to Baker, and later found tight end Clark Harris in a seam for 17 yards to the West Virginia 35. Rutgers eventually found the end zone with 1:22 remaining when Leonard slipped in from two yards out.
Trailing by five, Rutgers went for the two-point conversion and appeared to make it when a scrambling Hart hit Moses, but the play was called back for holding. A second try failed.
An onsides kick by Rutgers went out of bounds giving West Virginia the ball at the Rutgers 45. Two short Jason Colson runs left West Virginia with a third and eight at the Rutgers 43. Colson was able to break free of the line for 22 yards to put the game away.
“We were able to run the football at times when we wanted to," Rodriguez said. "The frustrating part about the second half is that they controlled the ball in the third quarter. Our defense has got to get them off the field a little quicker and our offense when we have some opportunities … we had a couple of third and shorts we didn’t convert and a couple of times in the red zone we didn’t convert … those things will get you beat.”
West Virginia held a 432-411 advantage in total yards but Rutgers had 26 first downs to West Virginia's 18. Also, Rutgers had an 85-68 advantage in total plays.
Saturday’s win was West Virginia’s 10th straight against Rutgers, having last lost to the Knights at Rutgers in 1994 (17-12). Despite the advantage in the series, Rodriguez is impressed with the improvement Rutgers has made.
“They’ve had four years to recruit guys and they’ve got some guys they recruited that we tried to get. They do a good job of coaching them up. They are going to be a tough team to beat in the next few years,” he said.
West Virginia returns home to face Temple next Saturday in a homecoming game that will kick off at 1 pm.
Rutgers (4-4, 1-3) travels to Boston College.
Scoring Summary
WV – Williams 5 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Marshall 7 run (Cooper kick)
RU – Moses 27 pass from Hart (Ito kick)
RU – Daniels 22 pass from Hart (Ito kick)
WV – Harris 3 run (Cooper kick)
RU – Ito 43 FG
WV – Henderson 4 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Henry 39 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
RU – Harris 3 pass from Hart (Ito kick)
RU – Leonard 2 run (Conversion failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WV – Colson 19-103, Marshall 17-79, Williams 8-38, Harris 7-24, Jones 1-26, Total 54-267; RU – Leonard 27-80, Hairston 3-11, Pittman 1-minus 1, Hart 8-minus 3, Total 39-87.
Passing: WV – Marshall 9-13-0-165-2, Hales 0-1-0-0-0, Total 9-14-0-165-2; RU – Hart 35-46-2-324-3.
Receiving: WV – Henry 4-119, Henderson 3-35, Harris 2-11, Total 9-165; RU – Moses 8-94, Daniels 6-84, Harris 6-49, Leonard 7-37, Baker 5-32, Johnson 1-14.
