Temple Preview
November 04, 2004 11:22 AM | General
November 4, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s goal this Saturday against Temple is to stop Owl quarterback Walter Washington, one of the Big East’s most productive offensive players.
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| QB Walter Washington has accounted for 70 percent of Temple's total offense this season.
Big East photo |
Washington, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior, has passed for 1,588 yards and has run for 514 to lead all Owl runners. Washington has accounted for 27 touchdowns in his last 13 games and represents 70 percent of Temple’s total offense this year.
In last season’s 45-28 loss at West Virginia, Washington ran 36 times for 117 yards and scored all four Temple touchdowns. He also completed 17 of 33 passes for 171 yards.
“We still haven’t tackled Walter Washington,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “He fell over us a few times but we didn’t tackle him.”
In Washington’s last game two weeks ago at Connecticut, he completed 21 of 44 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 20 times for 84 yards and two more scores. Washington has run for more than 100 yards in a game three times for his career and has also passed for more than 200 yards in a game six times, including a career-high 314 yards in a loss at Pitt.
In his last three games Washington is averaging 270 yards passing and 77.7 yards per game rushing.
“They are not hesitant to run him on iso plays between the tackles and what have because he benches 475 pounds,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve never heard of a quarterback doing that.”
Temple utilizes three big, physical wide receivers in Phil Goodman (6-3, 220, Sr.), Ikey Chuku (6-3, 196, Sr.) and Buchie Ibeh (6-4, 215, Sr.), all seniors.
Goodman has caught 34 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns through eight games this season to lead Temple. His best effort was a 139-yard performance against Villanova as a junior in 2003.
Chuku and Ibeh have combined to catch 37 passes for 535 yards and three touchdowns. Chuku had a career-high 119 receiving yards in Temple’s win against Florida A&M earlier this season and caught seven passes in a loss to Louisville in 2003. Ibeh is perhaps Temple’s most gifted athlete sporting a 41-inch vertical jump and has come on strong of late, catching a career-high seven passes for 73 yards against Pitt and hauling in a season-long 38-yard pass in the Connecticut game.
“They concern us,” Rodriguez said of Temple’s wide receivers. “They probably have the same philosophy we did as far as getting bigger wide receivers that can stalk block and go over top smaller corners.”
Temple doesn’t utilize its tailbacks much in the running game, but both Umar Ferguson (6-0, 215, Jr.) and Tim Brown (5-8, 185, Jr.) both average more than four yards per carry. Ferguson and Brown have both run for two touchdowns this season.
“They’ve got a nice little weapon in Brown, I remember him coming out of junior college,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a good back, he’s shifty and he reminds me a little bit of Avon Cobourne.”
Temple starts a young offensive line with only one senior in center C.J. Blomvall (6-2, 305, Sr.). Tackles Tariq Sanders (6-6, 310, So.) and Elliot Seifert (6-8, 300, So.) are both sophomores.
Defensively, the Owls rank at or near the bottom of the Big East in scoring defense (last), total defense (last), rushing defense (next to last) and pass defense (fifth).
Temple is giving up 440.9 yards and 37.4 points per game. The Owls (1-7, 0-3) have defeated Florida A&M and have lost to Virginia, Maryland, Toledo, Bowling Green, Pitt, Rutgers and Connecticut.
However, Temple has an outstanding linebacker in junior Rian Wallace (6-4, 245, Jr.), a Pottstown, Pa., native. Wallace has posted double-digit tackle totals in 16 of 31 career games including 14 of his last 18. Wallace made nine tackles in the UConn loss before leaving the game midway through the fourth quarter with an ankle sprain.
Temple’s leading tackler this year has been junior middle linebacker Troy Bennett (6-2, 240, Sr.) with 73. He has also produced 8.5 tackles for losses, broke up two passes, recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass.
Durrel Davis (5-11, 185, So.), a sophomore free safety, shows 63 tackles to rank third on the Temple defense.
Junior left corner Jermaine Hargraves (5-11, 175, Jr.) leads the Temple defense with two interceptions. Temple has picked off six passes and recovered eight fumbles for 14 total turnovers. Surprisingly, the Owls are even in the turnover category for the season.
“They are probably closer to Virginia Tech than anybody we play scheme wise,” said Rodriguez. “We have some experience against an eight-man front and they’re doing some of the same things they did last year.”
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| Running back Jason Colson has had three straight 100-yard games and four overall this year.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
West Virginia (7-1, 3-0), meanwhile, is trying to keep itself unbeaten in Big East play. The Mountaineers have won 15 of their last 17 Big East games since 2002 and are riding a nine-game Big East win streak into Saturday’s game against Temple.
West Virginia won at Rutgers 35-30 last Saturday behind the passing and running of senior quarterback Rasheed Marshall, who threw for two scores and ran for another.
Marshall has been far more effective running the ball in three prior games against Temple, accounting for 226 yards and three scores on the ground against the Owls. By comparison, he has completed just 33 of 67 pass attempts for 293 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite coming off the bench, sophomore Jason Colson ran for a team-high 103 yards against Rutgers last Saturday and now has three straight 100-yard games to his credit and four for the season. Colson’s 622 yards ranks second to senior Kay-Jay Harris’ team-best of 640 yards, while true freshman Pernell Williams has come on strong with 156 yards and two touchdowns on just 30 carries.
“We feel right now that we have three co-starters at tailback,” said Rodriguez.
Junior Chris Henry is the team’s top pass catcher with 39 receptions for 647 yards and 10 touchdowns, but Rodriguez announced Monday that Henry will not start the Temple game after receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Rutgers.
Senior Miquelle Henderson is the only other Mountaineer receiver in double figures with 11 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Senior Eddie Jackson shows nine receptions for 148 yards and junior Brandon Myles has six catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
“Eddie Jackson and Miquelle Henderson will be the two wide receivers, with John Pennington and Charles Hales going in when we do four wide receiver sets,” said Rodriguez.
Defensively, senior linebacker Adam Lehnortt has taken over the lead in total tackles with 51. He is also the team leader with 9.5 tackles for losses and two sacks. Junior Pac-Man Jones is questionable for Saturday’s game with a foot sprain sustained in the Rutgers game. He shows 47 tackles, three interceptions, two tackles for losses and a sack through eight games.
“Hopefully he will be okay by the weekend,” said Rodriguez of Jones.
West Virginia is second in the Big East in scoring defense, second in total defense, third in rushing defense and third in pass defense.
Saturday’s game represents the final meeting between these two longtime Eastern rivals. Temple is leaving the Big East at the completion of this year and will compete as an independent next season. West Virginia holds a 23-12 advantage in the series, having last lost in 2001 to the Owls in Morgantown, 17-14.
“I remember that game but I also remember last year’s game, too,” said Rodriguez. “It was like 14 points with five minutes to go. We had to play all the way to the end. It was here and we had a lot at stake.”
Saturday’s contest is homecoming and it will not be televised. Kickoff is set for 1 pm. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging onto WVUGAME.com.
