Rutgers Preview
October 01, 2008 11:09 AM | General
October 1, 2008
GAME RELEASE | GAME INFORMATION
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two schools picked to finish near the top of the Big East standings will meet in Morgantown on Saturday afternoon when West Virginia (2-2) takes on Rutgers (1-3).
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| Noel Devine is coming off a 14-carry, 125-yard performance against Marshall last Saturday.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Both teams have encountered unexpected difficulties, but it’s now the beginning of a new season with the start of league play this weekend.
Rutgers earned its first victory of the year last weekend against Morgan State in Piscataway, 38-0. Rutgers held Morgan State to just 109 total yards and forced four turnovers that led to 24 points.
Mike Teel passed for 188 yards and a touchdown against Morgan State, starting the game by completing his first eight pass attempts. Teel is completing 59 percent of his passes for 825 yards and two touchdowns. In 39 career games, the senior has passed for 6,790 yards and 36 touchdowns, including a career-high 20 touchdown passes last season.
“Mike Teel, I’m a big fan of,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “He is a fifth-year man and I’ve seen him make some great throws and he has played very well against us in the past.”
Senior Tiquan Underwood has been one of Teel’s favorite targets, catching 13 passes for 155 yards this year and 105 receptions for 1,592 yards and 11 touchdowns for his career. Underwood posted career highs of 11 catches against Connecticut and 248 receiving yards against Buffalo last year as a junior.
Kenny Britt is the team’s leading receiver in 2008 with 21 catches for 262 yards and an average of 12.5 yards per catch. Britt has also had a very productive career, catching 112 passes for 1,934 yards and 10 touchdowns. Britt shoes career highs of 12 catches against Louisville and 176 yards against Syracuse in 2007.
“They have two big-time receivers with Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood,” Stewart said.
Senior tight end Kevin Brock has become a big part of the passing game, catching 13 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown. Brock has caught 36 passes for 419 yards in his last 17 games.
“Their tight end Kevin Brock can make plays and can kill us. He worries me,” said Stewart. “With their receivers, Teel, and the tight end we’re going to have our hands full. I pray that we can get him out of rhythm. If we can’t get Teel out of rhythm then we will not get off the field.”
The rushing attack is undergoing a transition with the early departure of Ray Rice to the pros. Freshman Jourdan Brooks leads Rutgers with 241 yards rushing and five touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Sophomore Mason Robinson has also gotten plenty of action with 28 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown. Kordell Young returned to the lineup against Fresno State after missing most of the 2007 season with a knee injury.
Young ran for 94 yards and scored a touchdown in the opener against Fresno State before missing the last three games with knee soreness. Young is listed as a co-starter on Rutgers’ depth chart this week. Overall, Rutgers is averaging 136.2 yards per game and 4.0 yards per carry on the ground.
“I’m sure they miss Ray Rice like we miss a couple of our backs,” Stewart said. “They don’t have a marquee back out there like Rice but that doesn’t mean the other guys are out there reading.”
Defensively, Rutgers is fielding another stout unit that is surrendering just 317.5 yards per game. The 109 yards Morgan State managed against Rutgers were the fewest ever allowed by a Greg Schiano defense. It was the third straight year the Scarlet Knights have posted a shutout victory.
“I see a group that is a lot like East Carolina and Colorado,” Stewart said. “They have a veteran front four led by (Jamaal) Westerman – he’s tough. We beat them last year with a lot of big plays – we didn’t have a lot of drives. We are really going to have to stay patient, stay in the game, chip away here and there and use some creativity like we did last week.”
Senior linebacker Kevin Malast ranks third in the Big East with 32 tackles after finishing second on the team in 2007 with 92 total stops. Malast was the leading tackler in the Fresno State game with nine tackles.
West Virginia coaches are impressed with Rutgers’ front four of George Johnson, Pete Tverdov, Alex Silvestro and Jamaal Westerman. Tverdov leads the team with five tackles for losses. Tverdov shows 15 ½ career tackles for losses in 30 career games.
Senior defensive end Jamaal Westerman has been one of the most productive defensive players in the Big East the last four years, accumulating 21 ½ sacks, 37 tackles for losses and 117 total stops in 42 career games. This year, Westerman shows 1 ½ sacks and three tackles for losses.
The Rutgers secondary has a pair of seniors in the back end in corner Jason McCourty and safety Courtney Greene. Junior Devin McCourty will line up at the other corner while sophomore Joe Lefeged will start at strong safety. The four have combined to appear in 126 career games.
“They are a good, solid defense that is going to give us some problems, I’m sure,” Stewart said. “We are going to have to be ready and go and try and move the ball around.”
West Virginia evened its record with a 27-3 victory over Marshall last Saturday in Morgantown. Noel Devine ran for 125 yards and a touchdown and Pat White completed 17 of 21 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to backup Jarrett Brown midway through the third quarter. Brown finished the game 5 of 7 for 44 yards through the air while rushing eight times for 78 yards.
Jock Sanders was West Virginia’s leading receiver with eight catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
In four games, White has completed 63 of 86 pass attempts (73.3 percent) for 453 yards and seven touchdowns.
Devine leads West Virginia with 399 yards rushing and an average of 6.5 yards per carry; White is averaging 6.3 yards per rush and shows 369 yards and two touchdowns.
Sanders is the Mountaineers’ top receiver with 20 catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns. Devine has 13 catches for 57 yards while Alric Arnett shows 10 catches for 129 yards and two scores.
Junior safety Quinton Andrews leads the defense with 34 tackles. Senior linebacker Mortty Ivy shows 30 tackles, four tackles for losses, ½ sack and a pair of interceptions.
Linebacker middle linebacker Reed Williams has played extremely well since his return from off-season shoulder surgery but he has been experiencing increasing soreness after the games. Stewart said on Tuesday that Williams was questionable for Rutgers.
“Last Saturday he was good but he was hurting. He has played hurt in the past and I want to make sure he doesn’t get hurt,” Stewart said. “We’ll have to see how he does.”
Last weekend the Mountaineer defense limited Marshall to just 158 yards of offense. West Virginia has not allowed a touchdown in seven straight quarters dating back to the overtime loss at Colorado.
“Those two games, East Carolina and Colorado, I think our football team grew. Did it grow for the better? We’ll see,” Stewart said. “We gelled a little bit offensively and against Colorado we grew defensively.”
Last year, West Virginia defeated Rutgers 31-3 in Piscataway and two years ago the Mountaineers had to pull out a 41-39 decision in triple overtime in one of the classic games in Big East history.
Saturday’s game will kickoff at noon and will be televised by ESPN Plus (Mike Gleason, John Congemi and Quint Kessenich). MSN’s radio coverage begins with the Mountaineers Today at 11:30 am and can be accessed through the Internet on MountaineerTV.
