Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Dominant Performances From Stills Brothers Making People Take Notice
November 01, 2019 02:33 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - As far as West Virginia football fans are concerned, the Stills brothers are probably the best thing to come out of Marion County since the pepperoni roll!
Darius and Dante Stills, Fairmont Senior High products and the sons of former Mountaineer pass-rushing standout Gary Stills and Janeen Floyd, really put on a show during last night's nationally televised 17-14 loss at Baylor.
They were responsible for five of West Virginia's eight sacks - Darius producing three himself to go along with an impressive 10 total tackles.
It's just the 20th time in school history a Mountaineer player has registered three sacks in a game and only the seventh instance when it was done by a guy with his hand on the ground.
Graduate assistant coach Julian Miller accomplished the feat an impressive four times during his outstanding Mountaineer career, including a career-high four sacks in the last Backyard Brawl in 2011.
Henry Slay did it against Miami in the Orange Bowl on Sept. 27, 1997 and Noble Nwachukwu had three sacks against Texas on Nov. 14, 2015.
That's it among WVU defensive linemen, which gives you an inkling of just how special these two players are becoming.
Through eight games, Darius ranks fifth on Vic Koenning's defense with 32 tackles to complement his team-best seven sacks and 12 tackles for losses. Dante is one sack behind his older brother and ranks second on the team with 8 ½ tackles for losses.
Added up, Janeen Floyd's two gifts to West Virginia University have produced 13 sacks and 20 ½ tackles for losses, or close to about half of what last year's defense generated for the entire season.
We certainly know all about them, and the guys who study the coaches' tape are beginning to take notice as well.
This is what Baylor's Matt Rhule had to say about the Stills brothers when he was asked a question last night about his offensive line giving up eight sacks.
"I want to make sure I say this … 56 (Darius) is one of the best players we've played against," he said. "I said that coming in. I told you people, 'Hey, this kid 56, he's everything that I thought he was going to be, and 55 (Dante) his brother … lights out. Some people say the Big 12 D-linemen … that's the thing that's out there … well, watch 56 because he gets everybody. I love him."
So do we, coach Rhule.
If you are looking for silver linings from last night's loss, those two guys are a good place to start. The good news is they have four more regular season games this year.
The great news is they've got 13 more games together in 2020.
When you start thinking about the young, high-motor, scheme-altering defensive duos West Virginia has had through the years you have to think long and hard.
Gary Stills and Canute Curtis in 1996?
Renaldo Turnbull and Chris Parker in 1988?
Or how about going back a little farther … Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, Dennis Fowlkes and Darryl Talley, in 1982?
When Talley and Fowlkes were playing for the Mountaineers, people used to say practices didn't start until a fight was broken up. Those dudes hit anything and everything that moved – an arm, a hand, a pinky, it didn't matter.
They beat people up and took names, just like Darius sort of did last night when he walked up to ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath during the game and told her what he thought about Baylor's offensive line in no uncertain terms.
It's been a while since we've seen that type vinegar around here, and I like it. It was said that Talley used to walk around campus with a black Member's Only jacket and the word "Assassin" stitched on the front.
He had that reputation as a football player, too. His performance against Pitt in 1982 remains the single greatest individual effort in the history of Mountaineer football by any player, offensive or defensive, in my opinion.
It was better than Tavon's game against Oklahoma, which veteran Big 12 observer Berry Tramel likened to Gale Sayers, better than Geno's passing performance against Baylor or Stevie Slaton and Pat White running their personal track meet up at Pitt in 2006.
I wasn't around to see Bruce Bosley and Sam Huff whip Penn State's Rosey Grier in 1954, but the old-timers say Art Lewis was so overcome with joy that afterward he gave Huff one of his best sport coats and basically let Bosley do whatever he wanted for the rest of his Mountaineer career.
As for Talley's game at Pitt, if you recall that afternoon he lined up at nine of the 11 defensive positions against the second-ranked Panthers with all of those Hall of Fame players - Pro Football Hall of Famers, not College Hall of Famers, mind you. Darryl was intercepting passes, sacking quarterback Dan Marino, blocking punts, covering slot receivers and chasing down running backs from behind like a man possessed.
The Stills brothers didn't quite get there last night against Baylor, but it was good enough to at least get this old guy thinking about what Talley did up at Pitt in 1982.
If 55 and 56 can keep this up, West Virginia's climb up Neal Brown's mountain is going to get a helluva lot easier.
Darius and Dante Stills, Fairmont Senior High products and the sons of former Mountaineer pass-rushing standout Gary Stills and Janeen Floyd, really put on a show during last night's nationally televised 17-14 loss at Baylor.
They were responsible for five of West Virginia's eight sacks - Darius producing three himself to go along with an impressive 10 total tackles.
It's just the 20th time in school history a Mountaineer player has registered three sacks in a game and only the seventh instance when it was done by a guy with his hand on the ground.
Graduate assistant coach Julian Miller accomplished the feat an impressive four times during his outstanding Mountaineer career, including a career-high four sacks in the last Backyard Brawl in 2011.
Henry Slay did it against Miami in the Orange Bowl on Sept. 27, 1997 and Noble Nwachukwu had three sacks against Texas on Nov. 14, 2015.
That's it among WVU defensive linemen, which gives you an inkling of just how special these two players are becoming.
Through eight games, Darius ranks fifth on Vic Koenning's defense with 32 tackles to complement his team-best seven sacks and 12 tackles for losses. Dante is one sack behind his older brother and ranks second on the team with 8 ½ tackles for losses.
Added up, Janeen Floyd's two gifts to West Virginia University have produced 13 sacks and 20 ½ tackles for losses, or close to about half of what last year's defense generated for the entire season.
We certainly know all about them, and the guys who study the coaches' tape are beginning to take notice as well.
This is what Baylor's Matt Rhule had to say about the Stills brothers when he was asked a question last night about his offensive line giving up eight sacks.
"I want to make sure I say this … 56 (Darius) is one of the best players we've played against," he said. "I said that coming in. I told you people, 'Hey, this kid 56, he's everything that I thought he was going to be, and 55 (Dante) his brother … lights out. Some people say the Big 12 D-linemen … that's the thing that's out there … well, watch 56 because he gets everybody. I love him."
So do we, coach Rhule.
If you are looking for silver linings from last night's loss, those two guys are a good place to start. The good news is they have four more regular season games this year.
The great news is they've got 13 more games together in 2020.
When you start thinking about the young, high-motor, scheme-altering defensive duos West Virginia has had through the years you have to think long and hard.
Gary Stills and Canute Curtis in 1996?
Renaldo Turnbull and Chris Parker in 1988?
Or how about going back a little farther … Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, Dennis Fowlkes and Darryl Talley, in 1982?
When Talley and Fowlkes were playing for the Mountaineers, people used to say practices didn't start until a fight was broken up. Those dudes hit anything and everything that moved – an arm, a hand, a pinky, it didn't matter.
They beat people up and took names, just like Darius sort of did last night when he walked up to ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath during the game and told her what he thought about Baylor's offensive line in no uncertain terms.
It's been a while since we've seen that type vinegar around here, and I like it. It was said that Talley used to walk around campus with a black Member's Only jacket and the word "Assassin" stitched on the front.
He had that reputation as a football player, too. His performance against Pitt in 1982 remains the single greatest individual effort in the history of Mountaineer football by any player, offensive or defensive, in my opinion.
It was better than Tavon's game against Oklahoma, which veteran Big 12 observer Berry Tramel likened to Gale Sayers, better than Geno's passing performance against Baylor or Stevie Slaton and Pat White running their personal track meet up at Pitt in 2006.
I wasn't around to see Bruce Bosley and Sam Huff whip Penn State's Rosey Grier in 1954, but the old-timers say Art Lewis was so overcome with joy that afterward he gave Huff one of his best sport coats and basically let Bosley do whatever he wanted for the rest of his Mountaineer career.
As for Talley's game at Pitt, if you recall that afternoon he lined up at nine of the 11 defensive positions against the second-ranked Panthers with all of those Hall of Fame players - Pro Football Hall of Famers, not College Hall of Famers, mind you. Darryl was intercepting passes, sacking quarterback Dan Marino, blocking punts, covering slot receivers and chasing down running backs from behind like a man possessed.
The Stills brothers didn't quite get there last night against Baylor, but it was good enough to at least get this old guy thinking about what Talley did up at Pitt in 1982.
If 55 and 56 can keep this up, West Virginia's climb up Neal Brown's mountain is going to get a helluva lot easier.
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