November 1 Notebook
November 01, 2004 12:09 PM | General
November 1, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- How did the well get poisoned?
I’ve been involved with intercollegiate athletics at West Virginia University for the past 13 years and have been a close observer for several more and I can’t ever remember a time when so many people were disenchanted with a 7-1 team that has a real chance of finishing the regular season 10-1?
It’s almost as if we’re all considering retiring to Syracuse, N.Y., to shovel snow for the rest of our lives.
There was a time not too long ago when the school wrote books about teams on the verge of possibly going 10-1 and being invited to play in major bowl game. Remember, this is a football program that has never won a major bowl game (Sugar, Fiesta, Rose, Orange or Cotton).
How has it come to this?
Was it the Big East breaking up? Has it been all of the negative press levied against a conference that some believe doesn’t deserve its spot in the Bowl Championship Series? Is it the massive number of penalties and mistakes piling up on a West Virginia team that still manages to find ways to overcome them?
Apparently style points are just as important as winning games today.
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| Quarterback Rasheed Marshall is quietly having a terrific all-around season, averaging 215 yards per game and accounting for 17 touchdowns.
AP photo |
I wasn’t around for West Virginia’s first 10-win season in 1922 and I was only one when the Mountaineers had their second in 1969, therefore I can only speculate. But I have a suspicion from talking with many of those involved with the '69 team that fans were generally overjoyed about the prospects of returning to the national rankings and beating the likes of South Carolina, Pitt, Kentucky and Syracuse. They chose to focus on that instead of dwelling on the team’s 20-0 beating at Penn State that cost them the Orange Bowl.
In 1988, West Virginia was the Cinderella story of the nation going a perfect 11-0 in the regular season, beating longtime rivals Penn State, Pitt and Syracuse. In fact, a book was written about that magical season.
However, the Mountaineers lost to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl in its bid to win the national championship and also cruised through a regular season schedule that ranks as one of the weakest in school history. This isn’t intended to demean that great 1988 team, but did you realize that the '88 Mountaineers faced just two nationally ranked teams during the regular season (Pitt and Syracuse) and one of them didn’t finish there (Pitt)?
Did you know, too, that nine of West Virginia’s 11 regular-season opponents ended 1988 with losing records and one of them, Cal-Fullerton, doesn’t even play Division I football anymore? Can you just imagine what talking heads Trev Alberts and Mark May would have said about our cherished 1988 West Virginia team?
It’s enough to make you cringe.
Same goes for the 1993 team that won all 11 regular season games and then got drilled by Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
Despite all of the controversy surrounding the celebration penalties and personal fouls committed by this year’s team, there is a pretty good core of seniors led by Rasheed Marshall and Tim Brown on offense, and Ben Lynch, Adam Lehnortt and Scott Gyorko on defense that so far has been able to steer the Mountaineers clear of major trouble.
Also consider the fact that West Virginia is 15-2 in Big East play since 2002 and enters Saturday’s game against Temple riding a nine-game conference winning streak. You have to go all the way back to West Virginia’s days in the Southern Conference in the mid 1950s to find a team that has approached what Rich Rodriguez’ Mountaineers are doing today. You also have to go back that far to find conference opponents as determined to beat West Virginia.
Furthermore, losing at Virginia Tech by six points doesn’t seem to be a major sin now that the Hokies have worked their way up to No. 18 in the national rankings after winning games against Wake Forest, Florida A&M and Georgia Tech to run their record to 6-2. Don’t forget, too, that Tech gave No. 1 USC a major scare in the season opener.
Maryland, a team left for dead after three straight losses to Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Clemson, showed it is still capable of causing trouble after derailing Florida State’s BCS bowl hopes at College Park last Saturday. With two more wins the Terps will be bowl eligible.
An improving Syracuse team is now 4-4 after a blowout victory against Connecticut and can be bowl eligible by winning two of its last three games.
Even Rutgers, which has lost two straight and has been perpetually scorned for its football futility, can reach a bowl game if it wins two of its last three games against Boston College, Navy and Connecticut. After the way Rutgers played against West Virginia last Saturday, that is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. And keep in mind Rutgers is the only team in the Big East to have beaten teams from the Big Ten (Michigan State) and the SEC (Vanderbilt) this season.
We all know this West Virginia team has flaws: they’ve been pointed out to us on a weekly basis. But I noticed, too, that the New England Patriots has flaws. Folks, there are no perfect teams.
West Virginia has major challenges left this year against Temple, Boston College and Pitt. BC has already beaten Penn State and Notre Dame and a very young Pitt team is coming on strong behind quarterback Tyler Palko.
So my suggestion is to step back and take a deep breath. Better yet, take two deep breaths, and let the rest of the season unfold and enjoy what this team has done to date moving toward a Top 10 ranking and positioning itself for a chance to win the Big East title. For the sake of those young men on the team playing well and doing the right things, I say we leave the nitpicking to the talking heads.
As a parting note, there is an old saying in military circles: optimism spreads its way down from top to bottom but pessimism spreads down much faster.
Enjoy your week!
