Strange Game
October 21, 2007 01:57 PM | General
October 21, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A funny game college football can be sometimes. Consider the dramatic momentum swings that took place yesterday at the start of West Virginia’s contest against Mississippi State. Steve Slaton muffed the opening kickoff and the ball wound up in the hands of a Mississippi State player deep in West Virginia territory.
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| Defensive end Johnny Dingle helped West Virginia's defense hold its opponent to less than 300 yards of offense for the fifth straight game.
AP photo |
It was a perfect spot on the field for Mississippi State to execute its game plan of pounding West Virginia’s small defense with 240-pound tailback Anthony Dixon and an offensive line that averages more than 300 pounds. If State finds its way into the end zone it can stick to its plan of running the football, milking the clock and using play action passes.
But the Bulldogs were whistled for offsides on the kickoff, nullifying a great opportunity to set the tone for the game.
“If I’m on their side I’m thinking Geez we’ve got momentum,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “The happiest guy for the offsides was Steve. He was so excited. He was begging us to put him out there on the return so I was glad he was able to get redemption on that.”
Redemption came twenty seconds later when West Virginia quarterback Patrick White was standing in the end zone after running the Mountaineers’ opening play from scrimmage 64 yards for a touchdown.
After that the scoring came in waves. Two Mississippi State turnovers set up touchdowns by Owen Schmitt and Darius Reynaud, and Slaton got into the end zone on a 26-yard run with 2:20 still left on the clock in the first quarter.
Six seconds into the second quarter when Pat McAfee kicked a 42-yard field goal the game was already decided, a large number of WVU students already returning to their tailgates and whatever else they do on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
“Obviously we came out of the gates very well. We had a couple of nice turnovers and executed well offensively,” said Rodriguez.
And then what looked to be a record-setting day for offense at Milan Puskar Stadium fizzled out just like the atmosphere inside the stadium.
“After the first quarter we just went flat. The team went flat the crowd went flat because the team was going flat and we kind of slept-walked through the last couple of quarters,” Rodriguez said.
Some of that had to do with Mississippi State, too. This is a team that beat Auburn and also fought it out with South Carolina and Tennessee. The Bulldogs have pride and some pretty good young players on both sides of the ball.
West Virginia had 221 yards of offense in the first quarter. It had 125 yards the rest of the game. The Mountaineers had minus-3 yards in the second quarter while the Bulldogs regained their composure, turning great field position into a five-play, 29-yard touchdown drive.
Mississippi State had the football once again at the West Virginia 30 with 1:30 remaining in the half after a 30-yard Wesley Carroll-to-Co-Eric Riley pass play. But WVU was able to dodge that bullet by forcing two incomplete passes and a punt.
“You’ve got to give those guys credit, too. They’ve got players and they kept playing hard,” Rodriguez said.
Mississippi State (4-4) took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and had its best scoring drive of the game, covering 58 yards in 13 plays. Even though a two-point conversion went awry, the Bulldogs had carved 13 points out of West Virginia’s 31-point lead.
“It was a tremendous crowd and I was trying to get the crowd into it on third down but I think everybody was thinking about the homecoming dance or whatever is going on later on,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think anybody was really into the plays.”
West Virginia, going scoreless for the first time this year in the third quarter, finally found the end zone with 14:19 left in the game when backup quarterback Jarrett Brown connected with Darius Reynaud on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
“There wasn’t a lot of ranting and raving (at halftime) but we did talk about finishing the job and not giving a team hope. When you let somebody hang around you give them hope,” Rodriguez said. “Certainly when they took that second-half thing down you give them a little bit of hope.
“That’s why I was pleased with Jarrett getting that one touchdown in the second half because that kind of ends all of their hopes so to speak,” Rodriguez said. “We can’t afford to do that. We’ve got to learn how to put somebody away when they’re down.”
West Virginia’s defense played well once again, holding the Bulldogs to just 214 yards of offense. The defense has improved with each game, holding opponents to less than 300 yards in five straight games after allowing Marshall a season-high 387 yards on Sept. 8.
Jeff Casteel’s unit is now ranked fourth in the country in total defense giving up just 254.7 yards per game. The Mountaineers are fifth against the pass, 12th against the run and are ranked 10th in scoring defense giving up 16.6 points per game.
“I thought our defense was in control for most of the game,” said Rodriguez.
“I thought our guys up front were really stout against the run. Everyone knew that they were going to run the football and we were able to force them into third and long situations. For the most part our defense forced them into what we wanted to force them into and then when you get a lead you take them a little bit out of their game,” said Rodriguez.
Now everyone’s attention turns to Rutgers and the nation’s fourth-leading rusher Ray Rice. The Scarlet Knights put themselves back into the Big East race with a 30-27 victory over No. 2 USF last Thursday night. Rodriguez admitted yesterday that he already began thinking about Rutgers as he was walking off the field.
“We’re playing some of the most talented players in the country at their place,” Rodriguez said. “I’m right on them already as I was walking off the field and I’m hoping my players are thinking the same thing.”
