Winningest Senior Class
December 31, 2008 11:58 AM | General
December 31, 2008
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| Ryan Stanchek |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s senior class full of two-star recruits with five-star hearts wound up their careers as the winningest group of football players in school history.
The seniors’ four-year record of 42-9 includes bowl victories over Georgia in the Sugar, Georgia Tech in the Gator, Oklahoma in the Fiesta and now North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
They are now the standard for all future West Virginia classes.
“It has been the land of the misfits since we’ve been here and it’s been very special what we’ve done,” admitted senior offensive tackle Ryan Stanchek, himself one of those two-star recruits.
Of course the heart and soul of the senior class is quarterback Pat White, who decided to sign with West Virginia out of Daphne, Ala., because the Mountaineer coaches held true to their promise of giving him a shot to play quarterback. Other schools like LSU and Alabama wanted White to play wide receiver.
With his four bowl wins White is now the most successful starting quarterback in bowl game history.
“We’ve been successful in bowl games since I’ve been behind center,” White said. “We’ve had a lot of great players come through to help us out. We’ve had great coaching staffs. At the end of the year we definitely wanted to finish strong.”
“The one thing we do is win bowl games and it was neat to see Pat be our first quarterback with four bowl wins,” said Stanchek, a two-time All-American. “It’s exciting to send the seniors out the right way.”
Five years ago no one could have predicted this. White and Stanchek’s WVU recruiting class in 2004 was rated the 47th-best in the country by Rivals. The two most highly rated players in that group didn’t finish their careers at WVU, joining 11 others from that 24-player class who left West Virginia prematurely.
The ones that stayed, like two-star recruits Mortty Ivy, Mike Dent, Jake Figner and Doug Slavonic, certainly reaped the benefits of their Mountaineer association.
“It has been amazing from the start and I just want to thank the people of West Virginia for always being there for me and being the best fans in the country,” said Stanchek.
Regardless of the circumstances, Stanchek says Mountaineer fans are one of a kind.
“They are there, win, lose or draw and a lot of places you can’t say that,” Stanchek said. “They may even be angry with you but they’re still there.”
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| Pat White |
This class has managed to win despite enduring an upsetting coaching transition last winter that played out in the newspapers for several months. The offensive linemen, wide receivers and quarterbacks have had three different coaches during the last three years, and still they have managed to win.
The new coaches on this year’s staff like Steve Dunlap have an appreciation for what this class has accomplished, even during a difficult year of transition.
“They could have thrown in the towel after the East Carolina and the Colorado debacles and it just wasn’t in them,” Dunlap said. “It’s about players and they continued to get better week after week.”
For all of his records and honors, Pat White has always been a bottom-line guy. He hates losing with every fiber of his being. That is ultimately why he has been so successful.
“I’m just satisfied that we could get a win for my teammates,” White said. “Knowing this was the last time I was going to put on this uniform I definitely wanted to go out on top and we accomplished that.”
White also had a special message for the thousands of fans in Mountaineer Nation.
“I enjoyed every second from the time I took my visit to the time I showed up for my first camp until today,” White said. “West Virginians are special people and I will never forget them. Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer.”
