The List: Greatest Players 50-26
July 02, 2007 09:32 PM | General
July 2, 2007
ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel recently offered us his version of college football’s 100 iconic moments, rolling out 138 years worth of history in five days. Recruits are ranked. The History Channel has the show The Most.
If they can come up with lists, why can’t we?
Over the next three weeks we will reveal the 50 greatest college football players, the 20 greatest coaches and the 25 best teams West Virginia has faced on the gridiron.
Of course many of the choices are obvious. Pitt’s Tony Dorsett abused the Mountaineers for four years. Same goes for Larry Csonka. Joe Paterno, Jock Sutherland, Tom Osborne and Bobby Bowden rank among the greatest coaches in NCAA history. Miami, Pitt, Nebraska, Syracuse and Penn State all won national championships during years it faced West Virginia.
However, some of our picks weren’t quite so obvious.
Our criteria were simple: the players, coaches and teams had to not only achieve fame but also perform well against West Virginia. That eliminates many great players like Franco Harris, John Mackey, Michael Irvin and Barry Sanders who had exceptional playing careers but had ordinary games against West Virginia.
Is this a definitive list of the very best players, coaches and teams West Virginia has faced? Probably not. We’re sure you’ll come up with many more. So without further delay, let the arguing begin!
50 Greatest Players: 50-26
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50. Joe Morris, RB, Syracuse
West Virginia certainly did its part in helping Joe Morris become Syracuse’s all-time leading rusher. Morris antagonized the Mountaineers for three years, running for 166 yards in 1979, 192 yards in 1980 and 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a senior in 1981. That’s 526 yards in three games.
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49. Mel Renfro, RB, Oregon
Later a well-known all-pro defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys, Mel Renfro was an All-American halfback for the Oregon Ducks in 1962. He helped Oregon to a 35-0 victory over WVU in 1963 by accounting for 102 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. And after the Ducks scored touchdowns – which happened quite a bit in '63 -- Renfro also kicked the conversions.
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48. Randy Moss, WR, Marshall
Randy Moss is no stranger to West Virginia having grown up in Rand, W.Va. After trying Notre Dame and then Florida State, Moss settled at Marshall and had a record-breaking career with the Herd. In 1997 in his only game against West Virginia, Moss showcased his immense talents by catching seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in Marshall’s 42-31 loss to the Mountaineers. He has since become one of pro football’s top wide receivers.
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47. Shawne Merriman, DE, Maryland
It’s no wonder West Virginia couldn’t beat Maryland with players like Shawne Merriman running around on the Terp defense from 2002-04. The Upper Marlboro, Md., resident played a part in three straight victories over West Virginia in 2002 and 2003, producing 17 tackles, four tackles for losses and a pair of sacks. Today he is one of the NFL’s top pass rushers.
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46. Bernie Kosar, QB, Miami
This almost-Mountaineer completed 19 of 36 passes for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 20-3 Miami victory against West Virginia in 1983. Kosar went on to lead the Hurricanes to their first national title that season, beating Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl.
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45. Art Monk, WR, Syracuse
Long before Art Monk was setting records in the NFL with the Washington Redskins he was making his mark as a receiver for Syracuse. Against West Virginia in a 28-14 Orangemen victory in 1979, Monk caught three passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. His NFL career reception record was eventually eclipsed by Jerry Rice.
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44. Ted Kwalick, TE, Penn State
Penn State coach Joe Paterno once said of Ted Kwalick, “He’s what God had in mind when he made a football player.” West Virginia thought so much of Kwalick that they double and tripled-teamed him at the expense of others like running back Charlie Pittman. The day after Penn State beat West Virginia 21-14 in 1967, Kwalick got married. Now that’s Joe Paterno’s kind of player.
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43. Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech
Calvin Johnson put on a clinic for NFL scouts against West Virginia at the 2007 Toyota Gator Bowl, catching nine passes for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was the second overall player selected in the 2007 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.
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42. Edgerrin James, RB, MiamiM
West Virginia got a preview of the all-pro running career of Edgerrin James in 1998 when he ran for 162 yards in helping the Hurricanes to a 34-31 victory over the Mountaineers in Morgantown. James has become a 1,000-yard rusher with both the Colts and now the Cardinals.
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41. Bruce Clark, DT, Penn State
Bruce Clark won the Lombardi Award in 1978 as college football’s top defensive lineman. He helped form an impenetrable wall for Penn State that led to 49-21 and 31-6 victories over West Virginia in 1978 and 1979. Clark was a No. 1 draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in 1980.
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40. Marvin Harrison, WR, Syracuse
Marvin Harrison owns the Syracuse record for the longest touchdown catch of 96 yards against West Virginia in 1995. Harrison finished that game catching nine passes for 213 yards and he continues to catch passes today as an all-pro receiver for the Indianapolis Colts.
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39. Rickey Jackson, DE, Pitt
The Pahokee, Fla. native played in the shadow of Hugh Green at Pitt before going on to earn six pro bowl trips in the NFL with the Saints and 49ers. In a 1980 win over West Virginia, Jackson, Green and Co. limited the Mountaineers to just 177 yards of offense. Jackson and Green made up one of the most formidable defenses in NCAA history.
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38. Mike Reid, DL, Penn State
The extraordinarily talented Mike Reid was a unanimous All-American; an Outland Trophy and Maxwell Award winner in 1969 for Penn State. He led a dominant ‘69 Nittany Lion defense with 89 tackles on the way to a perfect 11-0 season and an Orange Bowl victory. Reid played five seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals before choosing to focus on a country music career.
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37. Pepper Rodgers, QB, Georgia Tech
West Virginia got an unpleasant dose of southern style football in the 1954 Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech. Pepper Rodgers jump-passed his way to a 42-19 Yellow Jacket victory, completing 16 of his 26 aerials for 195 yards and three touchdowns.
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36. Jim Nance, RB, Syracuse
A two-time NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion, Jim Nance was no lightweight on the football field either. Bridging the gap between Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, Nance ran for 163 yards in Syracuse’s 28-27 upset loss to West Virginia in 1964. The Orangemen had already accepted a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl before the West Virginia game in Morgantown.
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35. Lenny Moore, RB, Penn State
The first in a long line of great Penn State tailbacks, Lenny Moore gave West Virginia fits in the mid 1950s. He ran for 139 yards and a touchdown in 1954 and followed that up with a 17-carry, 131-yard performance in 1955. Moore later had a distinguished career in professional football with the Baltimore Colts.
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34. Harry Agganis, Boston University
Boston University’s first All-American football player showed his passing touch against West Virginia in 1949, firing three TD passes and running for another in Boston’s stunning 52-20 victory over the Mountaineers. A year after setting the school record for touchdown passes, Agganis left school to join the Marine Corps. The college football hall of famer later briefly played for the Boston Red Sox before dying tragically of a pulmonary embolism at age 26 in 1955.
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33. Dave Robinson, DE, Penn State
Penn State’s two-way end Dave Robinson earned college football player of the year honors by the Newark Athletic Club in 1962. Robinson keyed a Penn State defense that limited West Virginia to just a pair of touchdowns in 1961 and 1962. A first-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers, Robinson was a three-time all-pro and MVP of the 1967 Pro Bowl.
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32. Terry Baker, QB, Oregon State
Scrambling Terry Baker was the second of three straight Heisman Trophy winners West Virginia faced from 1961-63. Baker helped his Heisman cause in 1962 with a 177-yard, three-TD performance against the Mountaineers on the way to a 51-22 Beaver victory. He was also a point guard on the Oregon State basketball team that reached the Final Four in 1963.
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31. Matt Millen, DT, Penn State
West Virginia fans can back up the claim made by many faithful Detroit Lion supporters that Matt Millen was a much better football player than he is a football executive. Millen spent three years ruining West Virginia coach Frank Cignetti’s afternoons from 1977-79. The All-American defensive tackle went on to earn four Super Bowl rings in the NFL with the Raiders and the 49ers.
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30. Jerome Brown, DT, Miami
Jerome Brown was pro football’s top defensive lineman before tragically dying in an automobile accident at age 27 in 1992. Brown is most known for leading a walkout at the 1987 Fiesta Bowl dinner against Penn State famously saying, “Did the Japanese sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed them?” Three months earlier Brown and his Miami teammates were bombing West Virginia, 58-14 in Morgantown.
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29. Bill Fralic, OT, Pitt
A two-time consensus All-American, Bill Fralic was also a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist – a rarity for offensive linemen. College football’s most dominant blocker of his time paved the way to three straight Panther bowl appearances in 1982, 1983 and 1984. The No. 2 overall player selected in the 1985 NFL draft, Fralic was a member of the NFL all-decade team for the 1980s.
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28. Thurman Thomas, RB, Oklahoma State
You’ve got to be a pretty good running back to keep Barry Sanders on the sidelines and that’s exactly what Thurman Thomas was able to do in 1987. In the 1987 Sun Bowl, West Virginia managed to hold Thomas to 157 yards and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s 35-33 triumph.
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27. Randy White, DT, Maryland
The one-time snuff pitch-man first began rubbing out football players at Maryland where he won the Outland Trophy in 1974. Once a fullback, White moved to defensive tackle under new Maryland coach Jerry Claiborne in 1973. In his very first game at defensive tackle against West Virginia, a White-led Terp defense permitted less than 250 yards of offense and only eight first downs in a 20-13 loss to the Mountaineers. The game’s deciding play was a last-second Danny Buggs punt return for a touchdown.
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26. Warren Sapp, DT, Miami
Outspoken Warren Sapp won the Bronko Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik and Lombardi Award as college football’s top defensive lineman in 1994. Sapp’s dominant play in the middle led to a 38-6 Hurricane victory over West Virginia in 1994. He went on to earn seven trips to the Pro Bowl and was the 1999 NFL defensive player of the year.
On Wednesday: 25-1
