Syracuse Notebook
September 04, 2005 09:21 PM | General
September 4, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Is West Virginia’s defense that good or was Syracuse’s offense that inept? That is one of the big questions coming out of Sunday’s 15-7 Mountaineer victory over the Orange in the Carrier Dome.
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West Virginia Game Notes |
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* WVU game captains
against Syracuse were Jahmile Addae, Ernest Hunter, Garin Justice and George
Shehl. Coach Rich Rodriguez will select team captains at the conclusion of
the season. Compiled by WVU Sports Communications |
Coach Greg Robinson’s brand new West Coast offense managed just seven first downs and 103 yards of offense against a West Virginia defense that seemed to have an answer for just about everything thrown at them. The Orange averaged just 1.8 yards per play, failed to convert a single third down (0-15) and their longest play from scrimmage was just 14 yards.
In fact, West Virginia’s defense was so dominant in this game that it was responsible for more points (nine) than either offenses (Syracuse seven and West Virginia six) were able to put on the board Sunday, forcing WVU’s sports information staff to try and determine the last time the Mountaineers won a game without scoring an offensive touchdown.
To find a comparable WVU defensive performance you have to go back to the 2002 season when West Virginia manhandled a struggling Rutgers team 40-0 in Piscataway. Like Syracuse today, Rutgers then was adjusting to a new offensive system and mustered just six first downs and 90 yards of total offense.
Perhaps the best West Virginia defensive effort of the last 10-15 years came in 1996 when WVU didn’t permit Maryland to cross the 50 yard line in a 13-0 shutout victory in Morgantown. The Terps produced just five first downs and 62 yards of offense for the game.
Jeff Casteel, the man responsible for coaching West Virginia’s defensive effort Sunday, is pleased with the performance his unit put forth in a difficult environment.
“They played extremely hard from top to bottom and you couldn’t ask for a better effort. A lot of guys haven’t played in this atmosphere yet and our hats are off to them,” he said.
Casteel was particularly worried about the unknowns surrounding a Syracuse offensive system peppered with former pro coaches and experienced returning players.
“It was unnerving getting ready for them because we had absolutely no film to go on and had really no idea what was going to happen to us,” Casteel said. “From our standpoint we had to go out and execute our defense and do what we needed to do regardless of what they threw at us and we tried to give them a few wrinkles with some wing sets and some overloads that you normally wouldn’t see with our defense.”
Casteel singled out the play of junior safety Eric Wicks, who was unofficially credited with four tackles, two tackles for losses, an interception for a touchdown and a sack.
“He really made some great plays and Eric has really been doing that all camp. He got banged up a little bit in camp but he’s got great ball skills. He’s only going to get better the more confidence he gets. We’re real excited with where he’s at right now,” Casteel said.
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| Ernest Hunter celebrates his sack for a safety late in West Virginia's 15-7 win over Syracuse Sunday in the Carrier Dome.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The coach was also pleased that senior Ernest Hunter was able to make a critical play late in the game when he sacked Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson for a safety.
“I’m really happy for Ernie,” Casteel said. “He’s been really banging away for four years and he’s a guy that had a chance to make a play … we’d been talking all through camp about making sure we can make some big plays to turn the field around which is something we’re weren’t able to do at times last year. Ernie did a great job of that today and that gave us some more breathing room there.”
Casteel says his team’s focus and attention to detail has been evident since last spring.
“The kids really came together in the spring and we were really excited with where they were at,” he said. “You can’t say enough about what a great group of kids we have. We’re really proud of them because they go out and bust their tails; they’re very unselfish and they work well with each other.”
In the same breath, Casteel isn’t quite sure where his defense is at. Was it their play that caused all of Syracuse’s problems or were the Orange woes self inflicted? Casteel won’t know for sure until he pops open his laptop on the airplane and begins reviewing the game tape or more likely, a few more games down the road when his defense is really tested.
“We’ve got a lot of things we can still work on,” he said. “It’s the first game and we can’t get too high on ourselves. Next Saturday we line up against a wishbone team (Wofford) that we haven’t seen so we’ve still got problems to work through.”
That may be, but at least Casteel and West Virginia’s defense have one good performance under their belts to build on.
