No. 22: Syracuse, 1998
June 18, 2010 10:43 PM | General
July 9, 2010
Chain-smoking Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel never disguised his distaste for Morgantown, West Virginia on Saturdays when the Orangemen faced the Mountaineers. Whenever Syracuse made the trip to West Virginia Crouthamel would give the players some advice on how to deal with the crowd.
"Keep your helmet on," Crouthamel said. "If you do that, there's a lot less chance of getting hurt."
There is another remedy Crouthamel preferred even more for taming West Virginia's sometimes rowdy fans, as he once related to USA Today.
"Last time down there (in 1996) it was quite congenial," he said. "We kicked their a---- and the fans left at halftime."
Actually, Syracuse kicked the Mountaineers' behinds in 1995 (22-0), 1996 (30-7) and 1997 (40-10).
West Virginia, losers of two straight against Miami and Virginia Tech after beginning the 1998 season ranked 10th in the country, held a player's only meeting after the Tech loss to try and right the ship with conference games remaining against Syracuse, Rutgers, Boston College and Pitt.
A successful season hinged on WVU's meeting against the 15th-rated Orangemen at Mountaineer Field.
In West Virginia's favor was a passing attack ranked among the best in the country and a Syracuse pass defense among the worst. Not in Wst Virginia's favor was Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb, who assembled quite a highlight reel in three prior games against the Mountaineers.
But as it turned out running back Amos Zereoue was the difference in the game, slicing through Syracuse's defense for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
And it was Zereoue's running that set up the game-winning play when Bulger faked a handoff to Zereoue, bootlegged to his left, and hit a wide open David Saunders for a 45-yard touchdown with 3:04 remaining in the game to give the Mountaineers a 35-28 lead.
Syracuse had an opportunity to tie the game when Kevin Johnson took the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to the West Virginia 36. From there, McNabb got the ball to the WVU 19 with a 17-yard pass to Darryl McDaniel.
On second down, a screen pass to Kyle McIntosh was stopped cold for no gain. Then West Virginia defensive tackle Kevin Landolt came up with a big sack of McNabb on third down, presenting the Orange with a fourth and 13.
Following a Syracuse timeout, McNabb tried to hit Kevin Johnson on a streak down the seam but the ball sailed over Johnson's head, giving the ball back to West Virginia on downs. Bulger was able to scramble for a first down at midfield to run out the clock.
"Our defense, I've never seen us play better," said West Virginia coach Don Nehlen. "That guy (McNabb) is the slipperiest devil I've ever seen. We're awful happy to have won the game. In my opinion, this team is better than both teams we lost to."
At one point in the first half West Virginia's defense forced Syracuse three-and-out five straight times.
