Good News
November 10, 2005 04:04 PM | General
November 10, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – West Virginia received some good news concerning Mountaineer starting center Dan Mozes, who left last night’s game against Cincinnati in the third quarter with a lower leg injury.
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| Team doctors today ruled out a broken bone in center Dan Mozes' left leg, accordingo to Sports Information Director Shelly Poe.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
According to Shelly Poe, WVU sports information director, a medical evaluation of Mozes today by team doctors determined that the junior does not have a fracture but instead a sprain of his left knee. Last night there was speculation that Mozes may have sustained a broken bone in his leg but team doctors were unable to get a definitive X-ray at the stadium.
There will be more information on his prognosis for the Pitt game released next week, said Poe.
“He may be the most valuable player that we have on the team period, not just from a playing standpoint but also from a leadership standpoint so we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Rodriguez said early Thursday afternoon.
Mozes' injury aside, Rodriguez was pleased with his team’s offensive efficiency in piling up an unexpected 38 points in a shutout victory over the Bearcats on the road.
“I thought assignment wise our guys did very well,” said Rodriguez. “There are obviously places where we could have blocked a little better, been a little more accurate with our passing or done a little better job downfield but for the most part we got the right hat on the right hat.”
The fifth-year coach was also happy with his defense pitching its first shutout since the 2002 season and giving up just 269 yards of offense against Cincinnati.
“I really thought our defense did a great job,” he said. “We knew they were going to be a patient team in that we were going to have a lot of third and medium and third and short stops and we were able to do that in the first three quarters.”
Briefly:
“When you get your center or your quarterback hurt you want them to lay down so you can get your backup center or your backup quarterback some snaps before they have to go in there,” he explained. “We’ve done that routine before and that’s what we were doing. I don’t want guys to play hurt.”
Offensive guard Jeremy Sheffey could also play center in an emergency.
“They showed some of their explosiveness,” Rodriguez said. “I thought Pat White played extremely well, ran the ball well and made some good decisions. And then Steve Slaton, even though he made a couple of mistakes, at times he’s got that burst that he can break one at any time.”
First-year players have now been responsible for 24 of West Virgina's 32 offensive touchdowns scored so far this year.
“He was pretty sharp all night on that,” Rodriguez said.
“For the lack of experience that they’ve had they handle every situation very maturely,” he said.
“I think having another week will help him and we need him at 100 percent because he’s our best nose guard,” Rodriguez said.
“Pitt is always going to be the biggest game on your schedule because of the rivalry and the fact that it’s the Backyard Brawl,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re meeting today. Normally we have the day off after the game but we’re going to get the Cincinnati game over with so we can move on to concentrate on Pitt.”
“I can’t stop him from going ... but he’d have to change his name,” Rodriguez said.
The Backyard Brawl is just 14 days away.
