On the Mend
June 16, 2007 08:00 PM | General
June 16, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Perhaps Playboy Magazine had something in mind when it chose to have West Virginia’s Steve Slaton and Arkansas’ Darren McFadden room together at last month’s All-America photo shoot at the Hilton Pointe Resort at Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix. The two are considered preseason favorites to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.
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| Steve Slaton is aiming for a pain-free junior season for West Virginia in 2007.
AP photo |
Slaton said he enjoyed his weekend getting to know McFadden.
“Without football we probably wouldn’t have had a chance to meet up and with football we had a chance to meet up,” Slaton said. “He’s a real nice guy and he’s the type of guy I could see myself hanging out with.”
Slaton, McFadden and Rutgers junior Ray Rice were the three running backs selected to the most prestigious preseason All-America team -- and with good reason.
Last year as a sophomore McFadden ran for 1,647 yards and scored 14 touchdowns to lead the Razorbacks to a Capital One Bowl appearance against Wisconsin.
Rice actually finished ahead of Slaton to claim the 2006 Big East rushing title, running for 1,794 yards and scoring 20 touchdowns. Slaton had 1,744 yards and 16 touchdowns but did so with 87 fewer carries than Rice.
Slaton had an opportunity to get to know his top rushing rival in the Big East a little better as well.
“He stayed right down the hall and the previous things they had arranged for us we all met up and hung out, too,” Slaton said.
Slaton says the weekend he spent in Arizona was both relaxing and fun.
“I met a lot of guys and a lot of guys that have names to themselves,” Slaton said. “It was a good time to meet with guys that I’m going to get to play against. It was just a special event.
“There were a lot of competitive things,” Slaton added. “We broke up into teams and competed against each other. There were a couple of picnics and a couple of pool parties. It was just a time to relax.”
After the year Slaton went through in 2006, he deserves at little R&R. A painful right wrist injury forced him to carry the football exclusively in his left hand. For most of the year he was able to get away with it until the Louisville game when two critical second-half fumbles led to Cardinals scores and a 44-34 Mountaineer loss.
“It was frustrating,” Slaton admitted. “A running back needs both his hands and just having one to use at one time it was frustrating.
“The biggest difficulty was just keeping the ball in one hand and not being able to switch it when defenders close and not being able to shut them off,” Slaton said.
And just before the Gator Bowl against Georgia Tech, Slaton suffered a deep thigh bruise in practice a day before the team departed for Christmas break that severely limited him in the bowl game. He wound up carrying just three times for 11 yards and catching two passes for 20 yards in West Virginia’s 38-35 victory.
“I think the season kind of took its toll,” Slaton said. “The thigh thing was just a freak accident in practice. We didn’t have any pads on and I got hit in my thigh and it just got worse.”
Slaton elected to have surgery to repair his wrist shortly after the bowl game and used the time off to improve his mental approach to the game.
“Watching from a coach’s perspective and seeing how the plays are going and seeing how they want them to be run,” remarked Slaton of how he spent his time off during the spring. “It gave me enough time to do what I needed to do to get healthy.”
The most important thing, says Slaton, is to be injury-free when fall camp begins in August.
“I think it will just be like it was my freshman year,” he said. “I will be able to switch (the football) around and it will be instinctive. Going in pain-free and not worrying about an injury just helps your game out a lot.”
Slaton is excited about what West Virginia has returning this fall and the high praise the Mountaineer program is receiving. WVU a consensus preseason Top 5 pick.
“That is what we work for,” he said. “That’s where we need to be and I think we are just going to take it in stride and show everyone that we’re No. 1.
“It’s another season of football and whenever football comes around you get a little excited,” he said.
Some have already begun speculating that this year might be Slaton’s last at West Virginia. He is now eligible to enter the NFL draft and he could be a first-round pick. Slaton says he hasn’t even given that a thought.
“It hasn’t started and it hasn’t ended yet and when everything comes to an end that’s when I’ll make my decision,” he said.
Of course in order to be in that position he must have another outstanding, injury-free season. Slaton has put in a lot of work to make sure that happens.
“Hopefully with all the work I’ve put in this year it will pay off,” he said. “Each year you want to get better and the season I had last year I want to do again this year.”
