WVU Improves to 4-0
September 25, 2004 08:19 PM | General
September 25, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rasheed Marshall completed 17 of 22 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 6 West Virginia to a 45-10 victory over I-AA James Madison late Saturday afternoon in Morgantown.
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| Brandon Myles hauls in a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against James Madison. West Virginia defeated the Dukes 45-10.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“It was a very uninspired, unemotional football performance by us today,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “I’m not very happy with the way we played and I’m certainly not happy with our intensity and most of the guys will tell you that.”
Marshall fired a pair of TD tosses to Chris Henry, who finished the game catching seven passes for 74 yards.
A total of seven different Mountaineer players caught passes, including backup quarterback Charles Hales who wound up with a 14-yard catch and also threw the game’s last TD pass to Brandon Myles.
West Virginia’s Kay-Jay Harris was bottled up for most of the game against James Madison’s stout defense, running 22 times for 63 yards. Backup Bryan Wright nearly matched Harris’ rushing total, collecting 61 yards on just four carries including a season-long 59-yard run.
“I don’t think we should apologize for any win,” said Rodriguez. “At the same time our guys know we have to play a lot better.”
West Virginia (4-0) got on the scoreboard at the start of the second quarter when Jason Colson slipped in from a yard out.
WVU began the drive at its own 43 and had to convert two third-down plays to extend the drive. The first came on third and six from the JMU 41 when Marshall hit Chris Henry for an eight-yard gain. The second came three plays later when Marshall kept the football and moved the sticks on third and inches.
The Mountaineers were looking at a fourth and inches at the JMU to start the second quarter. Once again Marshall called his own number to get the first down to set up WVU’s first score.
West Virginia’s second score came with 3:12 left in the half following a missed JMU field goal attempt. Henry was the catalyst of this drive, making a pair of 15-yard catches to move the ball past midfield.
A short pass to Eddie Jackson for six yards preceded a pair of runs to move the ball to the Dukes 22 before Marshall found Brandon Myles for a nifty nine-yard sideline pass for first-down yardage. After two runs netted eight yards, Marshall lobbed a nice fade to Chris Henry in the near side of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown. It was Henry’s third catch of the drive; Marshall completed all five of his pass attempts for 50 yards on the drive.
The Mountaineers gave themselves more room on JMU’s following possession when the Duke’s Antoine Bolton fumbled at the 21 and WVU linebacker Adam Lehnortt scooped up the football and ran 21 yards untouched for the score. The fumble was forced by safety Lawrence Audena.
Another James Madison miscue on its first possession of the second half resulted in West Virginia opening up a 28-0 lead. JMU produced a first down and was looking for another on third and short at the 48, but center Leon Stenifeld’s shot-gun snap sailed well over quarterback Justin Rascati’s head and after a scramble West Virginia linebacker Boo McLee was able to recover the football at the JMU 22.
An Eddie Jackson 15-yard reverse set up Harris’ eight-yard touchdown run.
James Madison (2-1) finally got on the scoreboard with 6:07 left in the third quarter after producing its best drive of the game, covering 52 yards in 13 plays. The drive stalled at the West Virginia 15 and kicker David Rabil punched in a 32-yard field goal.
“We’ve got to give them a lot of credit we knew we were going to get a good shot from them,” said Rodriguez. “They played hard, they did a nice job controlling the ball and getting first downs and keeping their defense off the field.”
West Virginia traded field goals with the Dukes on its next possession; WVU’s drive covered 34 yards on nine plays and ended when Cooper hit a 48-yarder.
Henry’s second TD catch came with 10:10 left in the game to give West Virginia a 35-point advantage. The Mountaineers had their best offensive drive of the game, covering 72 yards in 13 plays and taking more than five minutes off the clock. On fourth and goal at the three, Marshall lobbed a fade in the far corner of the end zone that the 6-foot-5 Henry was able to go up and get. A celebration penalty on Henry forced Cooper to make a 35-yard extra point to make the score 38-3, West Virginia.
The Mountaineers forced a James Madison punt and tacked on another score when backup quarterback Charles Hales flipped a four-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to Brandon Myles. The TD was set up by an exciting 59-yard run by third-string tailback Bryan Wright, who bounced off a JMU defender at midfield and raced down the sideline to the JMU four.
James Madison wrapped up the scoring with 2:24 remaining when Brandon Beach pounced on a Charles Hales fumble and returned it 35 yards for JMU’s lone touchdown of the game.
Running back Alvin Banks led James Madison with 109 net yards on 30 carries.
“It’s a win but we’ve got a lot to learn from this,” Rodriguez said.
The coach said he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to get more younger players into the game.
“We kept some of the upper classmen in there longer just to get out of that funk that we were in on both sides. We’ve got to get better because the Hokies are waiting for us down in Blacksburg and that will be a tough task,” said Rodriguez.
West Virginia travels to Virginia Tech next weekend to take on a 2-2 Virginia Tech team at noon. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Scoring Summary
WV – Colson 1 run (Cooper kick)
WV – Henry 5 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Lehnortt 21 fumble return (Cooper kick)
WV – Harris 8 run (Cooper kick)
JMU – Rabil 32 FG
WV – Cooper 48 FG
WV – Henry 3 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
WV – Myles 4 pass from Hales (Cooper kick)
WV - Beach 35 fumble return (Rabil kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: JMU – Banks 30-109, Hines 2-3, LeZotte 4-2, Bolton 2-0, Rascati 2-minus 10, Team 1-minus 30, Total 42-74; WV – Harris 22-63, Wright 4-61, Colson 6-37, Jackson 1-15, Bednarik 1-9, Marshall 10-2, Hales 2-minus 16, Total 46-171.
Passing: JMU – Rascati 11-16-0-110-0, LeZotte 2-7-0-36-0, Total 13-23-0-146-0; WV – Marshall 17-22-0-184-2, Hales 2-2-0-15-1, Total 19-24-0-199-3.
Receiving: JMU – Hinds 6-71, Tolley 2-18, Ridley 2-13, Harris 1-18, Baker 1-15, Sharpe 1-11, Total 13-146; WV – Henry 7-74, Harris 4-16, Jackson 2-45, Thompson 2-23, Myles 2-13, Colson 1-14, Hales 1-14, Total 19-199.
Attendance: 56,609
