The Year of the Mountaineer!
June 20, 2008 03:22 PM | General
June 20, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No one even remotely associated with West Virginia University will ever forget the image of Bill Stewart being carried off the football field after the Mountaineers’ unexpected, 48-28 victory over fourth-ranked Oklahoma in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
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| Interim coach Bill Stewart gets a ride off the field following West Virginia's stunning 48-28 upset of Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Stewart was named head coach later that night.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
It was one of the most stunning performances in BCS bowl history. West Virginia, having missed its chance to face Ohio State in the national championship game by losing to 28-point-underdog Pitt in the regular season finale, was given little chance to beat the Big 12 champion Sooners.
Oklahoma ran Missouri off the field in the Big 12 championship game and there was no reason to believe that the Sooners would not do the same to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma also had plenty of motivation. All week leading up to the game Sooner players talked about not repeating the disappointing performance they had in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. There were going to be no marriage proposals in the 2008 game.
But West Virginia came out faster, quicker and more aggressive and took it to Oklahoma. The game was over when Darius Reynaud scored a 30-yard touchdown on a reverse to put the Mountaineers up 34-15 late in the third quarter. The icing on the cake was a pair of long fourth-quarter touchdowns by Tito Gonzales and Noel Devine. Quarterback Pat White was named the game’s MVP – his second in as many years – and fullback Owen Schmitt’s tears of joy on national television had all Mountaineer supporters misty-eyed and nostalgic.
West Virginia fans in an online poll overwhelmingly picked the Fiesta Bowl triumph as their favorite bowl victory, topping WVU’s 38-35 victory over Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl.
Stewart was the only interim coach to win a bowl game in 2007, his status as well as the rest of the coaching staff’s situation in doubt after Rich Rodriguez chose to take the Michigan job three weeks before the big game. Most of the coaches wound up going with Rodriguez to Michigan with the exception of defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel, defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich and graduate assistant Pat Kirkland, who was filling in as the team’s secondary coach for the Fiesta Bowl.
Stewart was named the permanent head coach that night after the bowl game at the team hotel and he quickly went out and assembled an outstanding coaching staff comprised of several former Mountaineer players and assistant coaches eager to return to their alma mater.
It was easily the top story in what will long be remembered as the Year of the Mountaineer.
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| Guard Joe Mazzulla celebrates West Virginia's win over No. 2-seeded Duke in an NCAA Tournament second round game in Washington, D.C.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Bob Huggins made his triumphant return to Morgantown by taking a team full of jump shooters and showing them how to play tough, aggressive basketball. The result was a surprising Big East Tournament run with victories over Providence and Connecticut to get West Virginia back into NCAA Tournament play for the third time in the last four years.
The No. 7-seeded Mountaineers knocked off Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C., to earn the right to play No. 2-seeded Duke.
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but West Virginia got back into the game by doing something it couldn’t do in the past – dominate on the glass. West Virginia destroyed the Blue Devils, 47-27, on the backboard and used an 18-3 second-half run to pull off a 73-67 victory.
Forward Joe Alexander’s 22 points and 11 rebounds gave further proof that he was one of the elite players in the country. The Mountaineers made the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years and finished ranked 17th in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
Eleven months earlier Huggins said that it was great to be home when he was introduced as John Beilein’s replacement. No one will argue that point. In May, Huggins signed an 11-year contract extension that will keep him at his alma mater until he’s 65. He says his No. 1 goal is to bring a national championship to Morgantown.
Speaking of national championships, Nikki Izzo-Brown’s women’s soccer program made its deepest run ever in NCAA Tournament play in 2008, falling to eventual national champion USC, 1-0, before the largest crowd to ever watch a college soccer match in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers have become a powerhouse program in women’s soccer, making eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Big East Tournament champions had three All-Americans and six all-Big East players in 2007, finishing ranked seventh in the country.
Women’s basketball had a wire-to-wire finish in the national rankings for the first time in school history, placing 20th in both polls. Mike Carey’s seventh season at West Virginia was his best with WVU once again reaching the NCAA Tournament.
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| Center Yinka Sanni, now playing professionally for the Detroit Shock, puts in two for West Virginia during its upset victory over No. 4-rated Rutgers in Morgantown.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
West Virginia stunned No. 4-ranked Rutgers at the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 29, 63-54, for perhaps the finest victory in school history. The Mountaineers were able to pull away without their best player, Olayinka Sanni, who was saddled with early foul trouble. LaQuita Owens stepped up and scored 23 points, making four 3-pointers.
West Virginia reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in school history in 2008.
Rifle, under second-year coach Jon Hammond, is on the comeback trail. The Mountaineers made a return to nationals where they placed sixth with a score of 4,616. Two shooters were named to the All-America first team and another pair was named to the second team. Freshman Brandi Eskew placed fourth at the Junior Olympics and Hammond qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, competing for his native Great Britain.
Marlon LeBlanc’s men’s soccer program reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history in 2007. The Mountaineers have been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons and counted a triumph over No. 1-ranked Connecticut among their many accomplishments in ‘07. West Virginia went 3-1 against Top 10-ranked teams in 2007, beating Maryland and Duke on the road as well.
Swimming’s Kevin Donohue made program history by becoming the first individual All-American performer at WVU. Donohue qualified for NCAAs in the 100 and 200 breast stroke and placed fifth in the 100 breast, giving West Virginia a 33rd place finish at nationals under first-year coach Vic Riggs.
The women’s program had three swimmers qualify for NCAAs in sophomores Kayla Andrews and Morgan Callaway, and junior Lindsey Largo. West Virginia was one of just four Big East schools to send swimmers to nationals.
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| Women's cross country celebrates its first-ever Big East title. The sophomore-dominated Mountaineers placed second at regionals and finished ninth at nationals.
Big East photo |
Sean Cleary’s first year as head cross country and track coach was a memorable one. His sophomore-dominated cross country team placed first at the Big East Championships for the program’s first conference title. After a second-place finish at NCAA Regionals, the Mountaineers were ninth at NCAAs – the first Top 10 placing in school history.
Cleary’s track program was 29th at indoor nationals behind the outstanding performances put forth by the distance medley relay team of Keri Bland, Marie-Louise Asselin, Karly Hamric and April Rotilio, and Asselin in the 3,000-meter run. The DMR placed fourth with a school-record time of 11:07.64, while Asselin finished seventh in the 3,000 with a time of 9:14.44.
Asselin took a redshirt for the outdoor season, but Bland and Clara Grandt qualified for nationals in the 1,500 and 10,000 respectively. Bland, an All-American in cross country and indoor track, earned her third All-America citation by placing 10th in the 1,500 at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
Bland is the only female in school history to be an All-American in three sports in the same year.
Linda Burdette’s gymnastics team returned to the top of the rostrum by winning the 2008 EAGL Championships in Morgantown. The Mountaineers, behind EAGL individual champion Mehgan Morris, earned a trip to NCAA Regionals for the 25th time since 1983. West Virginia finished the season with an outstanding 23-8 record.
Wrestling had a winning 8-5 mark during the dual match season and sent seven competitors to nationals. Jared Villers and Kurt Brenner claimed EWL individual titles at 184 and 197 pounds respectively. The Mountaineers took third at the EWL championships.
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| All-American shortstop Tyler Kuhn became the first player in school history to record 100 hits in a season. Kuhn was taken in the 15th round of the draft by the Chicago White Sox.
Wayne Litmer photo |
Baseball made another post-season appearance with a 35-21 record behind the outstanding play of All-Americans Tyler Kuhn and Jedd Gyorko. Kuhn became the first player in school history to record more than 100 hits in a season and was a 15th-round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox. Pitcher Josh Whitlock was also drafted in the 26th round by the Chicago Cubs.
Gyorko batted .409 and was named Big East and ECAC rookie of the year while also making the Louisville Slugger and NCBWA Freshman All-America teams.
Women’s tennis made its fourth consecutive trip to post-season play and had five performers win more than 20 matches for the first time since 2004. Coach Marc Walters’ Mountaineers finished the year with a 15-10 record after producing a 13-12 mark during his initial campaign in 2007.
Rowing’s Varsity Four boat of Caroline Rettig, Kim Benda, Alita Meyers, Brittany Brooks and coxswain Stephanie Brown placed fourth at the Dad Vail Regatta to cap a successful season. The varsity pair also had a fine showing with a fifth-place finish in the semifinal round. First-year coach Jimmy King was encouraged with the result and says that performance was something to build upon for 2009.
Veteran coach Veronica Hammersmith produced another winning season in volleyball with a 16-14 record in 2007. Tammy Wolf was named the team’s most outstanding player, freshman libero Bonnie West was named rookie of the year, and Kailee Goold was recognized as a three-time academic all-district performer.
All but two of West Virginia’s teams finished with winning records. Mountaineer teams posted a combined 204-94-4 record for a .682 winning percentage. WVU is presently ranked 23rd in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings with baseball still remaining to be tabulated.
WVU is expected to have its best ever finish in the Directors’ Cup standings when they are announced later this month - the previous best was a 41st place finish in 1998.
Yes, indeed, it was certainly the Year of the Mountaineer.
