Last Call
December 04, 2008 05:09 PM | General
December 4, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – What began in the heat and humidity in August wraps up with the possibility of some snow showers and sub-freezing temperatures when West Virginia takes on South Florida Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium.
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| West Virginia's seniors make their last appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday.
Dan Friend photo |
It is the final home appearance for 19 West Virginia University seniors, including record-setting quarterback Pat White.
“This senior class has done much more than any senior class and we just happened to be led by a guy named White,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. Pat White is the greatest winner in college football today, but he would not be one iota without 18 brothers who have helped him along the journey.”
West Virginia University has designated Saturday’s game a “White Out” with fans encouraged to wear white in honor of Pat White. South Florida has also agreed to wear green jerseys to permit the Mountaineers to play in white uniforms.
Those white jerseys may blend in well with the possibility of some flying snow. South Florida has had difficulties in the cold weather in the past, a couple of recent late November losses at Cincinnati and Connecticut coming to mind, but the Bulls have owned West Virginia the last two seasons.
In 2006, South Florida came up to Morgantown on Nov. 25 and stunned the No. 7-rated Mountaineers 24-19. Pat White was held to just 17 yards rushing, was sacked four times and threw a pair of interceptions in the upset loss.
Last year in Tampa, South Florida forced six West Virginia turnovers and held the Mountaineers to just 5 of 17 on third down in a 21-13 victory. White played just two quarters of the game before suffering a thigh bruise on a first-down scramble.
Back up quarterback Jarrett Brown came in to complete 11 of 20 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, but the sophomore threw a pair of picks.
USF quarterback Matt Grothe completed 11 of 20 passes for 135 yards including a 55-yard touchdown in last year’s win after posting a 279-yard, one-TD passing performance in Morgantown two years ago.
South Florida (7-4) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 17-13 win over Connecticut on Nov. 23. Prior to that, the Bulls lost 24-20 at Louisville, 24-10 at Cincinnati and 49-16 at home against Rutgers.
South Florida also dropped a 26-21 decision at home against Pitt on Oct. 2.
The Bulls are once again leaning on a defense that ranks 14th in the country giving up 292.8 yards per game. South Florida remains the stingiest team in the conference against the run, permitting an average of just 93.9 yards per game. USF has surrendered just 19 rushing touchdowns in its last 26 games and 21 over its last 29 games.
USF has also intercepted a pass in 19 of its last 24 games and has 33 picks during that span. Last year, USF was ranked fourth nationally with 23 interceptions in 2007.
Linebacker Tyrone McKenzie is ranked second in the Big East in tackles with 94 and he ranks eighth in tackles for losses per game (1.0). McKenzie was recently invited to play in the East-West Shrine game to be played on Jan. 17 at the University of Houston.
McKenzie has been able to operate freely because teams have spent so much time accounting for junior defensive end George Selvie. Last year as a sophomore in 2007 Selvie had a staggering 31 ½ tackles for losses and 14 ½ sacks. His numbers have been reduced significantly this year because teams have chosen to run away from him or use extra blockers to help in passing situations.
Still, Selvie has managed five sacks and 11 tackles for losses. In three seasons Selvie has accumulated 58 ½ tackles for losses and 25 sacks as one of college football’s most dominant defensive performers.
“George Selvie is a one-man wrecking crew,” said Stewart.
The West Virginia coaches are also impressed with number 90 Jarriett Buie, who lines up on the opposite side of Selvie. Buie has made 22 tackles, 7 ½ tackles for losses and 4 ½ sacks.
Junior safety Nate Allen has also performed well for the Bull defense, making a key interception that set up the winning field goal in the Kansas victory. Last year, Allen forced key turnovers in victories against Auburn, West Virginia and Pitt.
This season Allen shows 45 tackles, a sack and an interception.
“Their secondary is good and they have locked us up in the past and made things very difficult for us,” said Stewart.
Offensively, the Bulls have once again heavily relied on the throwing and running of junior quarterback Matt Grothe. In 11 games Grothe has completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 2,486 yards and 15 touchdowns. He threw for 292 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Rutgers and had a 30-of-40, 344-yard, two-TD performance in a narrow loss to Louisville.
Grothe has once again matched his freshman and sophomore totals in interceptions (12), but he has attempted more passes and has completed a higher percentage of them this year. Grothe told the Tampa Tribune two weeks ago that he was interested in exploring his projected draft status but has since changed his mind and has indicated that he will return for his senior season.
“Matt Grothe is a winner and a real competitor,” said Stewart. “He does not see a pass that he doesn’t like and that’s good because that’s what you want your quarterback to do. You don’t want your quarterback playing on egg shells. I like how he competes.”
Grothe is also the team’s leading rusher with 444 yards and an average of 3.6 yards per carry. Five different players have gained more than 250 yards this year on the ground with Moise Plancher being the most effective ball carrier, scoring five touchdowns and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Overall, USF runners are averaging 159.2 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry.
“Their offense is a real challenge,” said Stewart.
Jessie Hester is one of the most productive receivers in the Big East this season, catching 50 passes for 524 yards and three touchdowns. Taurus Johnson shows 34 catches for 458 yards and five TDs.
“I am so impressed with their receivers and I don’t know how we are going to slow them down,” said Stewart.
South Florida was off last weekend and has had two weeks to prepare for Saturday’s game.
“They have speed. They run to the ball; their defensive ends are tremendous and they have a great group of linebackers who are veterans,” said Stewart.
Kickoff is set for 8 pm and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham and Jack Arute).
West Virginia’s two most likely bowl destinations are either the Sun or the Meineke Car Care, while South Florida is probably locked into the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl to face 6-6 Memphis of Conference USA, regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game.
Even if West Virginia stumbles against USF it is difficult to imagine the Meineke Car Care Bowl passing on the chance of getting a West Virginia-North Carolina match up.
Remember, it was West Virginia that helped put more than 70,000 fans in the stands for the inaugural game in 2002. That was the second largest crowd ever for an inaugural bowl game and was the most attended bowl game outside of the BCS games.
An estimated $46 million was brought into the city of Charlotte for that game, according to the Meineke Car Care Bowl web site.
