Football Notebook
October 15, 2007 10:24 AM | General
October 15, 2007
MORGATOWN, W.Va. – It’s back to work for the West Virginia football team. The Mountaineers (5-1) had their first break last weekend after playing six games in 36 days.
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| West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez expects a difficult test this weekend when Mississippi State comes to Milan Puskar Stadium.
Brian Persinger photo |
“At times we’ve been excellent and at other times we haven’t, and when you build a program I think you build a program based on excellence and success is just a by-product,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “We’ve been excellent at times and at other times we haven’t been.
“We have some challenges and some big games coming up and a lot is going to happen, as you all see every week in college football,” Rodriguez said.
West Virginia will be tested this Saturday by a 4-3 Mississippi State team whose losses have come against LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Bulldogs also show a 19-14 victory over Auburn on Sept. 15.
Last weekend against Tennessee, Mississippi State was down just 17-14 at halftime and was trailing 24-21 midway through the third quarter before the Volunteers used three field goals by Daniel Lincoln to pull out a 33-21 victory.
Anthony Dixon carried the football 26 times for 108 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Wesley Carroll completed 18 of 33 passes for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Mississippi State’s offense is drastically better than the one West Virginia faced last year in Starkville when the Bulldogs were searching for consistent quarterback play.
Dixon is ranked 33rd in the country in rushing averaging 99.1 yards per game. He has scored 10 touchdowns and is averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Carroll has assumed control of the offense after Michael Henig made three early starts. Carroll has completed 40 of 74 passes for 381 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He did not play in last year’s 42-14 Mountaineer victory.
Tony Burks and Jamayel Smith led Mississippi State with 16 catches each, combining for 474 yards and three touchdowns. In last year’s game Burks finished with four catches for 116 yards while Dixon scored on a 1-yard rush.
Briefly
“We pretty much know what we’re going to run,” he explained. “What we may do on an off week is put a wrinkle or two in there or emphasize a segment of our offense that we are executing better and try to feature it. The same thing is true with our defense.”
South Florida, with victories over Auburn and West Virginia, is No. 2 this week behind just Ohio State. Cincinnati is 23rd.
Quarterback Patrick White is ranked ninth in passing efficiency this week with a 163.49 rating. White had a week to rest his injured shoulder.
“I think he should be fine,” said Rodriguez.
