Countdown to Kickoff
September 08, 2006 04:34 PM | General
September 8, 2006
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia plays host to the Eastern Washington Eagles in a non-conference match up at Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000) on Saturday, Sept. 9. Kickoff is set for 1 pm and there is no live television for the contest.
MSN’s radio coverage is set to begin at 12:30 pm with the pre-game show and will continue 1/2 hour following the conclusion of the contest. Sirius Satellite Radio users can access the broadcast on channel 153 and fans on the Internet can subscribe to CSTV’s All Access service through MSNsportsNET.com.
A limited number of single tickets for tomorrow's West Virginia-Eastern Washington football game will be available on game day at the stadium ticket windows. Tickets will be available for sale starting at 11:00 am. These are single seats, and not combinations or blocks of tickets.
The Mountaineers are looking for their 27th victory in their last 31 regular season games and 28 of their last 32 overall contests. In 27 seasons of competition at Mountaineer Field, WVU holds a 113-46-4 all-time record at the facility, which opened in 1980. Nearly eight million fans have watched games at the stadium since it was opened.
Fans coming to the game this weekend and attempting to access Rawley Lane from Patteson Drive will no longer be able to. The road between Patteson and Evansdale Drive will be closed on Saturday from 6 am to 3 pm.
Here is Saturday’s Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – Quarterback Patrick White’s TEN completions last Saturday against Marshall was the second-best of his career. He completed a career-high 11 passes against Georgia in last year’s Nokia Sugar Bowl.
9 – Sophomore running back Steve Slaton is already NINTH in career rushing touchdowns with 19 heading into Saturday’s game against Eastern Washington. Slaton has 21 total touchdowns in his last NINE games dating back to last year’s Louisville win.
8 – The Mountaineers have turned the football over just five times in their last EIGHT games dating back to last year. During that same span, the WVU defense has forced 23 turnovers for a plus-18 margin.
7 – First-time starter Charles Pugh had a career-high SEVEN tackles in last Saturday’s 42-10 victory over Marshall. Pugh was the team’s second-leading tackler behind linebacker Kevin McLee’s nine stops.
6 – West Virginia has SIX players entering Saturday’s game with Eastern Washington with at least 13 career starts: Dan Mozes (37), Jeremy Sheffey (22), Kevin McLee and Keilen Dykes (19), Brandon Myles (17) and Eric Wicks (13).
5 – FIVE true freshmen saw the field for West Virginia during last weekend’s 42-10 victory over Marshall: FB Maxwell Anderson, WR Wes Lyons, DBs Guesly Dervil and Franchot Allen, and LB James Thomas.
4 – Saturday’s game is just the FOURTH time Eastern Washington has traveled east of the Mississippi River to play a college football game. The last trip east was in 2001 when the Eagles defeated Connecticut 35-17 in Storrs.
3 – The average losing margin in Eastern Washington’s last THREE games against Division I-A teams dating back to 2004 is 25 points. The Eagles dropped a 42-20 decision at Air Force in 2004, lost 35-21 at San Jose State last year and fell 56-17 to Oregon State last weekend.
2 – Eastern Washington is making its SECOND-EVER trip to Morgantown. In 1967 the Eagles played Fairmont State at old Mountaineer Field in the NAIA national championship game, losing 28-21 to the Falcons.
1 – Saturday’s game is the FIRST meeting between these two schools on the gridiron.
Enjoy Saturday’s game and be sure to stop back for highlights, podcasts and a complete post-game wrap up.
