By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
November 9, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Post-game notes from West Virginia’s 38-0 shutout victory at Cincinnati Wednesday night:
West Virginia cracked out its all-white uniforms for the first time this season at Cincinnati. Last Wednesday night the Mountaineers wore white pants for the first time with the blue jerseys.
West Virginia’s defense pitched its first shutout since blanking Rutgers 40-0 in Piscataway on Oct. 12, 2002; it was the second of the Rodriguez era. Cincinnati, which scored 24 points against Big Ten leader Penn State in a game earlier this year, was held scoreless for the first time since Oct. 24, 1998 when it lost 41-0 to Miami, Ohio.
“It feels good to put a pretty good game together in all three phases,” said senior strong safety Mike Lorello. “It feels pretty good (to pitch a shutout) and I guess it’s been since 2002 that we’ve done that.”
West Virginia defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich put his team’s defensive performance into perspective talking to MSN’s Tony Caridi and Dwight Wallace on the radio network's post-game show.
“People don’t understand how difficult it is today to shut a team out,” he said. “I wouldn’t care if we were playing against a team of nuns it would be hard to shut them out – all the rules are bent toward the offense.”
Caridi, picking up on Kirelawich’s nun analogy, said nuns “have a propensity to run the I-formation so well and they can put points on the board.”
Kirelawich disagreed. “They run the flying wedge,” he deadpanned to laughter.
The veteran coach also issued a challenge to WVU’s student body to stick around for the Pitt game before going home for Thanksgiving recess.
“We’re going to see how many of those Mountaineer Maniacs are really maniacs,” Kirelawich said. “I’m putting it out there for them.”
The Mountaineers’ game-opening nine-play, 81-yard touchdown drive was the second time this year West Virginia began the game with a score. The other occasion was against East Carolina.
“It helps when you score on your first drive,” said Rodriguez. “That’s critical when you’re not at a high level emotionally but you have success early it gets guys into the game.”
Sophomore tight end Brandon Tate had his first career catch for 20 yards and then he had it taken away. Tate made what looked like an outstanding diving grab of a Pat White pass but the official reviewing the play overruled the catch, claiming the ball hit the ground before going into his hands.
The lights went out on the far side of Nippert Stadium with 14:06 left in the second quarter that caused about a 20-minute delay in the action. The cause was a power outage on campus. “Only half of them went out and I guess they said that part of the campus was out,” said Rodriguez. “I asked them how long it would be and they said they didn’t know. The official said he thought it was too dark to play and I said not if you run the ball.”
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West Virginia defensive back Antonio Lewis gets to Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza for one of the team's two sacks Wednesday night.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
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West Virginia’s pair of sacks in the first half gave the Mountaineers 27 for the season – now the most during the Rich Rodriguez era. Last year’s defense produced 26 sacks in 12 games.
The Mountaineers had double 100-yard ball carriers for the first time since last year’s Boston College game when quarterback Rasheed Marshall ran 20 times for 100 yards and tailback Kay-Jay Harris ran 19 times for 112 yards. Quarterback Pat White ran eight times for 111 yards and Steve Slaton gained 129 yards on 25 carries. It was White’s second career 100-yard game and the third for Slaton.
White’s 100 yards rushing came on just eight carries – the fewest carries by a 100-yard ball carrier since Major Harris did it against Cincinnati, running nine times for 105 yards on Oct. 21, 1989.
Redshirt freshman offensive guard Ryan Stancheck made his hometown return to Cincinnati a memorable one, albeit for the wrong reason. He was called for holding on a first-down pass play to Owen Schmitt that would have put the ball at the Cincinnati goal line. However, WVU scored on the very next play when White hit Darius Reynaud for a 15-yard touchdown.
Backup defensive back Larry Williams got a first-hand introduction to Cincinnati’s 285-pound tight end Doug Jones on a third-down pass play, getting knocked back but still making the tackle short of the first-down marker.
With West Virginia comfortably ahead, Rodriguez was able to remove most of his starters in the second half. Adam Bednarik made his first appearance since the Louisville game with 11:20 left in the fourth quarter. Backup tailback Pernell Williams got some work along with several young offensive linemen.
Linebacker Boo McLee reverted to his high school days as a running back -- a position he played at Uniontown High School -- taking a Dustin Grutza interception and zig-zagging his way for a 34-yard return that set up a Pat McAfee 28-yayrd field goal.
West Virginia’s rushing offense has hit its stride in its last three games, accumulating 14 rushing TDs in wins against Louisville, Connecticut and Cincinnati. The Mountaineers have out-scored their opponents 83-13 in their last two wins against the Huskies and the Bearcats.
Punter Phil Brady pinned Cincinnati inside its own 15 three times and now shows 12 punts inside the opponent’s 20 yard line this year.
“Our special teams I really think have been outstanding,” Rodriguez said. “I thought Phil Brady and our punt team did an outstanding job tonight and I thought our kickoff team was outstanding pinning them down inside there.”
Center Dan Mozes limped off the field in the third quarter with a lower leg injury. He’s scheduled to get an X-ray tomorrow morning when the team returns to Morgantown. According to Rodriguez, a scan taken at the stadium on a bone in his leg was inconclusive.
“We couldn’t get it scanned because the scanner wasn’t working to see what’s wrong with it so we’re going to be crossing our fingers all night,” Rodriguez said.
Rich Rodriguez is beginning to pile up some impressive numbers against Big East competition, capturing 23 of its last 27 regular season games including 21 of its last 25 conference clashes since 2003. Rodriguez is now 22-10 against Big East competition in his four-plus seasons at WVU.
