Sanders: Bowden a Winner
December 26, 2009 10:37 PM | General
December 26, 2009
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The way Jock Sanders sees it, if West Virginia can somehow overcome all of the emotion and the odds stacked against it and beat Florida State in Bobby Bowden's final college football game, the Mountaineers may one day be an answer to one of those crazy Aflac trivia questions.
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| Jock Sanders enjoys a laugh during Saturday's team dinner in Jacksonville. West Virginia faces Florida State in the 2010 Konica Minolta Gatgor Bowl on Jan. 1
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
"It could be a question that will come on at halftime when they do those trivia questions," Sanders said last week. "If it's what team beat Florida State then it could be us."
Having grown up in nearby St. Petersburg Sanders knew all about Bowden's Florida State program. The Seminoles were one of the teams he always followed.
"I lived in Florida so Florida, Miami and Florida State - you always follow those teams," Sanders said. "Now that you are playing one of those teams it's like, wow, it's a dream come true."
The one Florida State player Sanders tried to pattern his game after was Peter Warrick, someone very similar to Sanders in size.
"Peter Warrick was my idol when I was growing up," Sanders said. "I loved Peter Warrick - just seeing the kind of work he put in at Florida State and the caliber of team they are ... they had their ups and downs this year but that doesn't determine who they are."
Of Florida's big three - Florida, Florida State and Miami - the Gators were the only school that showed interest in signing Sanders. He said a bunch of his high school classmates wound up going to FSU and they have since been battling it out on Facebook when the matchup was announced three weeks ago.
"You get a whole bunch of stuff on Facebook," Sanders laughed. "A whole bunch of my friends go to Florida State from my high school so they've been talking a lot of trash. I like playing in front of my hometown because there is always something more that you have to prove."
Sanders has done quite a bit of proving this year as West Virginia's No. 1 receiver. The junior has snared 70 passes for 674 yards and three touchdowns. Last year as a sophomore, Sanders caught 53 balls for 462 yards and seven touchdowns.
He also shows 98 career carries for 523 yards and five TDs as the Mountaineers' backup running back to starter Noel Devine. Sanders has accounted for 15 career touchdowns heading into the Gator Bowl. With so many friends and family expected to be at Jacksonville Stadium on Jan. 1, Sanders believes it will be an exciting and very lively atmosphere to play in.
"I'm pretty sure their guys will be hyped up because it is their coach's last game," Sanders said.
Asked to discuss what he knows about Bowden, Sanders said he has always saw Bowden as a big winner.
"He knows how to win. They have had a great program for the years that he has been there and he's going to go out a winner," Sanders said.
Sanders would also like to end the season on a winning note. A 10th victory would make it five out of the last six seasons the Mountaineers have had at least 10 wins in a year.
And that would put WVU in some pretty elite company.
"That is very important to build on for next year, just to see where the team is right now," he said. "Then for us to build on it for next year would be very good because we would be going into next year with 10 wins and three losses where those three losses could have easily been wins.
"That is definitely something to build on for next year."
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