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United Bank Playbook: Baylor
November 30, 2016 04:46 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - It’s the Baylor Bears on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium for the 2016 regular season finale - the last time West Virginia University’s 21-player senior class will perform in front of the home crowd.
“This is a fun week,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. “If you rank them, I think they’re all fun. Thanksgiving Week is special and you’re always going to remember it. You’re always anticipating the first game, that’s the most anticipated week of the year, but the one I probably like more than anything is the last one - Senior Day - especially if you’re in a situation where you can do some things that these seniors can be really proud of.”
West Virginia’s 21 seniors are:
* Justin Arndt, LB, Martinsburg, W.Va.
* Christian Brown, DL, Fort Myers, Fla.
* Antonio Crawford, CB, Tampa, Fla.
* Rasul Douglas, CB, East Orange, N.J.
* Maurice Fleming, CB, Chicago, Ill.
* Jarrod Harper, S, Frostburg, Md.
* Darrien Howard, DL, Dayton, Ohio
* Skyler Howard, QB, Fort Worth, Texas
* Nana Kyeremeh, CB, Worthington, Ohio
* Devonte Mathis, WR, Miami, Fla.
* Tony Matteo, OL, Clinton, Ohio
* Noble Nwachukwu, DL, Wylie, Texas
* Adam Pankey, OL, Hamilton, Ohio
* Tyler Orlosky, C, Cleveland, Ohio
* Khairi Sharif, S, Houston, Texas
* Rushel Shell III, RB, Hopewell, Pa.
* Daikiel Shorts Jr., WR, Clayton, N.J.
* Sylvester Townes, OL, Memphis, Tenn.
* Jeremy Tyler, S, Lithonia, Ga.
* Sean Walters, LB, Hollywood, Fla.
* Brendan Willis, OL, Centerville, Va.
What these guys have an opportunity to accomplish on Saturday only eight other teams in 125 years of football at WVU have managed to do - win at least 10 games in a season.
Holgorsen’s first team did it in 2011, three of Rich Rodriguez’s teams did in in the mid-2000s, Don Nehlen had teams accomplish it in 1988 and 1993, Jim Carlen’s team once in 1969, as did Dr. Clarence Spears’ Mountaineers back in 1922.
That’s it.
“If you’re playing in a game and you have a chance to do something like that is pretty special, that’s just an awesome way to close out the year,” Holgorsen said.
Baylor, despite a disappointing 6-5 record that includes a five-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s game, will not be willing accomplices, however.
The Bears are still a very dangerous team with many players still around from last year’s 62-38 victory over West Virginia in Waco, and the 73-42 dismantling Baylor put on the Mountaineers back in 2013.
Running back Shock Linwood “shocked and awed” West Virginia to the tune of 84 yards and a touchdown in last year’s game, and was also a key component in Baylor’s 73-point explosion in 2013.
He ran for 126 yards on just 14 carries in that game. Linwood’s 722 yards ranks second on the team to Terrence Williams’ 855 yards and 20 touchdowns.
“There rushing attack is as good as there is,” Holgorsen noted.
KD Cannon took part in last year’s game and he’s back to lead another talented Bear receiver corps this season with 68 receptions for 905 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Starting center Kyle Fuller also started last year’s game, as did a number of guys on Baylor’s defense.
That alone will get the players’ attention.
“Our two games in Waco have not been great for the Mountaineers, so our guys are going to be fired up about playing this game because of who they’re playing,” Holgorsen said.
The guys can also put on the tape from earlier this year to see Baylor’s total body of work when things were going much better in victories over Northwestern State, SMU, Rice, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas.
The Bears reached No. 6 in the coaches poll before things began to unravel.
Acting coach Jim Grobe, a Huntington native West Virginians know well from his days coaching at Ohio and Wake Forest, will turn in his keys to the office in a couple of weeks to make way for another coach.
The members of the staff he inherited from former coach Art Briles - including Briles’ son Kendal, who coordinates the offense - will likely be looking for jobs.
How they approach this week and how they get their players prepared is one of the intriguing unknowns heading into Saturday’s game.
“I’ve never been in that situation, thankfully, but it’s not for me to worry about,” Holgorsen said. “I don’t care what they have going on, it’s not for me to worry about that. My job is to worry about our 21 seniors and prepare them. We know who their personnel are, we know who their coaches are, we know what their schemes are, we know what time the game is, so we’re going to prepare to try and win and that’s all I care about.”
The Bears still have plenty of good football players left from their historic three-year run that included a 38-12 overall record and two Big 12 titles since 2013.
Thirty-three freshmen, including 14 true freshmen, and 25 first-time starters will also be auditioning for spots on the team in 2017.
And, a bowl game is also still in the offing for Baylor, so there is still plenty for the Bears to play for on Saturday.
Meanwhile, 14th-ranked West Virginia (9-2, 6-2) is looking to put the finishing touches on its most successful season ever in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers, predicted to finish seventh, are going to finish third with a shot of possibly reaching the Alamo Bowl, depending upon the outcome of Saturday’s Bedlam game as well as other games throughout the country.
If not for three bad quarters against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the Mountaineers could be looking at an undefeated regular season and a spot in this year’s college football playoff.
That’s how far Holgorsen has elevated his WVU program in six seasons at the helm. His 45 victories have now moved him past Ira Errett Rodgers for fourth all-time in school history with 13 to go to tie Art Lewis for third place.
Indeed, a lot of progress has been made this year so far with plenty more to be made, starting with Saturday’s game against Baylor.
“We have a lot of guys that have been in the program for a while - a lot of fourth- and fifth-year seniors last year who taught these guys how to do these guys how to do things the right way,” Holgorsen said. “Last year, those guys had a lot of adversity that they had to deal with, with how October went, injuries and all that good stuff.
“This senior group this year, they learned a lot from that group, and they’ve taken what we built on last year and improved and got better, so I’m really proud of these guys. This is going to be a great week to be able to send those guys out the right way,” Holgorsen said.
A 3:30 p.m. kickoff has been set for Saturday’s game, to be televised nationally on FS1 (Justin Kutcher and Petros Pakadakis).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG’s radio coverage begins at noon with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show on stations throughout West Virginia and online via leanStream and the mobile app TuneIn.
Tickets still remain and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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