Football Notebook
November 29, 2009 08:29 PM | General
November 29, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Suddenly there is a lot more than just a 14-game winning streak against Rutgers on the table when West Virginia takes on the Scarlet Knights Saturday afternoon in Piscataway, N.J.
 |
|
| Noel Devine runs for an 88-yard touchdown against Pitt Friday night at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.
AP photo |
West Virginia’s 19-16 victory over eighth-ranked Pitt on Friday put the Mountaineers back in the national rankings (23rd in coaches’ poll and 24th in the AP poll) and also back into contention for a Gator Bowl berth awarded to the No. 2 team from the Big East.
“We’re 8-3 and we need to finish strong,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “That has been our motto all season.”
According to Sunday’s Florida Times-Union, West Virginia (8-3, 4-2) has vaulted to the top of the Gator’s wish list after Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford Saturday night left the Irish with a 6-6 record. Gator Bowl officials told the Times-Union that a West Virginia loss to Rutgers won’t necessarily eliminate the Mountaineers from consideration when bids are awarded next Sunday.
That’s because West Virginia has historically traveled well to the Jacksonville bowl. Three of the Gator Bowl’s top-eight attended games involve the Mountaineers, including the 1989 game against Clemson that set a Gator Bowl record of 82,911.
West Virginia has played before at least 67,000 fans in each of its last seven bowl games, including a sellout crowd of 73,712 in last year’s Meinke Car Care Bowl against North Carolina.
“I can’t stop what people put out there,” said Stewart. “As soon as we got off the field on Friday night, I started hearing things about the Gator Bowl and the Meineke Car Care Bowl. It’s the same thing I said last season – let us get through game 12 before we worry about game 13.”
It’s no secret that ticket sales have always been a top priority for the Gator Bowl, which switches conference affiliations next year when it will pit teams from the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences. As for this year’s game, no Big East school has a track record of selling tickets like West Virginia.
The Gator could also choose the loser of Saturday’s Pitt-Cincinnati game for the Big East championship. The fourth Big East team under consideration is Rutgers (8-3, 3-3), winners of four of its last five games including a 34-14 victory over Louisville last Friday afternoon.
“No one is eliminated with a loss Saturday,” said Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett.
Rutgers has recovered nicely from a 47-15 season-opening loss to Cincinnati and will play in a bowl game for the fifth straight year under Coach Greg Schiano.
“We have a tough chore this weekend,” said Stewart. “Rutgers is back. They were hitting on all cylinders this past weekend. We could barely get through Louisville at home this season, and they just absolutely dismantled them.”
Freshman quarterback Tom Savage has had a solid rookie year for the Scarlet Knights, completing 54.5 percent of his passes for 1,764 yards and 11 touchdowns. Against Louisville, Savage threw for 163 yards and a touchdown, wide receiver Mohamed Sanu ran for a career-high 148 yards in the Wildcat formation, and Joe Martinek added 90 yards and a TD on the ground.
Schiano told the Newark Star Ledger that he won’t have to remind his players about West Virginia’s long winning streak against the Scarlet Knights.
“I’ll probably leave that up to you guys (the media), because I’m sure it will probably be written about enough and talked about enough,” Schiano said.
“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are gunning for the Mountaineers,” added Stewart.
West Virginia wrapped up its first undefeated home campaign since 1993 with Friday’s victory over Pitt, and now the Mountaineers have to figure out how to play better on the road.
West Virginia is 1-3 in road games this year, winning at Syracuse and losing at Auburn, South Florida and Cincinnati.
“I’ve thought about that,” said Stewart of his team’s so-so road performances this year. “I take it back to the 2008 Connecticut game. They had 11 wins at home and no one had beaten them until we did. We (had) the approach to go up there and set our alarms. That’s when I started the 6 a.m. workouts because it was a noon game.”
Rutgers is 4-2 at Rutgers Stadium this year including a 31-0 victory over South Florida on Nov. 12. The Scarlet Knights defense limited the Bulls to just seven first downs and 159 yards of offense. That same South Florida offense torched West Virginia’s defense for 421 yards.
“When I watched that USF video and saw them do to (USF quarterback) B.J. Daniels what no one else has been able to do, I thought ‘Wow! These gentlemen know how to play.’ When they crank it up they are really good,” said Stewart.
All three of West Virginia’s losses to Rutgers since 1980 have come at Rutgers Stadium in 1984, 1992 and 1994.
Saturday’s game will be televised by ESPN and will kick off at noon.
