West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA 10)

[Marino]

Damn you James, you make me want to start one.

[superjames1992]

Big East Scoreboard

#8 West Virginia (4-0) - 70
Virginia Tech (2-2) - 41

#14 South Florida (3-0) - 35
Louisville (1-3) - 27

Buffalo (0-3) - 17
Connecticut (2-1) - 27

FCS Midwest - 0
#20 Rutgers (3-0) - 37

FCS Midwest - 21
Syracuse (3-1) - 41

Pittsburgh (3-0) - 20
Northwestern (3-1) - 13

#4 Oklahoma (2-1) - 17
#19 Cincinnati (4-0) - 22

Top 25 Losses

Stanford (2-1) - 30
#21 Notre Dame (2-2) - 27 (OT)

Tennessee (1-2) - 38
LSU (2-2) - 10

#4 Oklahoma (2-1) - 17
#19 Cincinnati (4-0)

Top 25
1. Ohio State (40) (3-0)
2. USC (21) (3-0)
3. Oklahoma State (3-0)
4. North Carolina (3-0)
5. Wisconsin (3-0)
6. Georgia Tech (3-0)
7. West Virginia (4-0)
8. Penn State (1-1)
9. Florida (3-1)
10. Nebraska (4-0)
11. Oklahoma (2-1)
12. Texas (3-1)
13. Auburn (3-0)
14. South Florida (3-0)
15. Alabama (2-1)
16. California (4-0)
17. Cincinnati (4-0)
18. Georgia (3-0)
19. Oregon (4-0)
20. Rutgers (3-0)
21. Utah (3-1)
22. UCLA (3-1)
23. Michigan (3-0)
24. Tennessee (1-2)
25. South Carolina (2-1)

Others Receiving Votes: Mississippi, Pittsburgh, LSU, Kansas, Boise State

Dropped Out: #21 Notre Dame, #22 LSU

Heisman Watch
1. Noel Devine - HB - West Virginia
2. Deonte Thompson - WR - Florida
3. Marvin Jones - WR - California
4. Tyler Melton - WR - Georgia Tech
5. Jeremiah Masoli - QB - Oregon

National Players of the Week
Offense: Jeremiah Masoli - QB - Oregon
Vs. Arizona State (W 34-26)
34-48, 482 Yds, 4 TD, 8 Car, 12 Yds

Defense: Nate Carter - ROLB - UNLV
Vs. Wyoming (W 30-0)
11 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sck, Int, FF, FR

Big East Players of the Week
Offense: Noel Devine - HB - West Virginia
Vs. Virginia Tech (W 70-41)
18 Car, 150 Yds, 2 TD, 3 Rec, 106 Yds, TD

Defense: Dominique Battle - CB - Cincinnati
Vs. Oklahoma (W 22-17)
3 Tkl, 2 Int

Big East Standings
1. #14 South Florida 3-0 (1-0)
2. #7 West Virginia 4-0 (0-0)
3. #17 Cincinnati 4-0 (0-0)
4. #20 Rutgers 3-0 (0-0)
5. Pittsburgh 3-0 (0-0)
6. Syracuse 3-1 (0-0)
7. Connecticut 2-1 (0-0)
8. Louisville 1-3 (0-1)

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by Marino

Damn you James, you make me want to start one.

You should do one, perhaps with N.C. State.

Perhaps in your dynasty, they won't lose 7-3 to South Carolina.

[OliDegu2008]

James - looking good bro.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by OliDegu2008

James - looking good bro.

Thanks.

[superjames1992]

Syracuse 33

#7 West Virginia 34

1 2 3 4 T SU (3-2) 3 7 14 9 33 Final WVU (5-0) 14 3 0 17 34

September 25th, 2010 Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV

Morgantown, WV (AP) - After demolishing the Virginia Tech Hokies 70-41 just last week, most expected the #7 West Virginia Mountaineers (5-0, 1-0 Big East) to easily roll over the Syracuse Orange (3-2, 0-1 Big East) in their conference opener. However, that was not the case.

After taking a 14-0 first-quarter lead, West Virginia looked in total control but an inept defense combined with an inept offense nearly drove the Mountaineers into the ground as the 'Eers suddenly found themselves down 27-17 early in the 4th quarter, and having been held to only a field goal since scoring twice in the first quarter, there didn't seem to be much hope for a comeback. The Mountaineers would shock the world, much like they did in 2007 when they were knocked out of the National Title Game by 4-7 Pittsburgh, and blow a game they should have easily won.

Then Brandon Hogan stepped in front of Ryan Nassib's pass and took it 48 yards to the house with 4:53 remaining in the game.

But the Mountaineers didn't stop there. After forcing Syracuse into a three-and-out, the Mountaineers marched downfield and set up Tyler Bitancurt with a 45 yards field goal attempt with 2:42 remaining, which he promptly nailed to tie the game up at 27.

However, the Mountaineer defense suffered on the following possession and Syracuse's Delone Carter scored with only 1:15 remaining to give Syracuse the lead once again. but Sean Raupers somehow shanked the PAT attempt and Syracuse only led 33-27. This would give the Mountaineers some positive momentum and Eugene Smith took it from there, rally his team on a drive that lasted under 40 seconds as he found Stedham Bailey for a score from 17 yards out with 35 seconds remianing. Tyler Bitancurt nailed the PAT and West Virginia had their first lead since the third quarter at 34-33.

The defense stepped up and held on and West Virginia came away with a crucial victory.

"We played terribly today and there is absolutely no excuse for it," stated WVU head coach Doc Holliday. "Every unit on this football team is to blame. We all sucked and it just about bit us in the butt."

One thing the West Virginia defense did was force three key turnovers. And while the West Virginia offense struggled mightily, the offense still did not turn over the ball once and maximized its drives. The Mountaineer defense once again allowed their opponents to gain over 400 yards of total offense as the Orange racked up 436 yards. West Virginia was held to a miserable 238 yards of total offense, by far the least amount of points the Mountaineers have scored this season. It is remarkable that the Mountaineers still won despite being outgained by 198 yards.

Whatever the case, the Mountaineers will live to fight another day and will begin preparing for their game against #20 Rutgers next week in Morgantown.

Box Score
1st Quarter:
WVU: 35 yard fumble return by Tandy (7-0 WVU)
WVU: 3 yard run by Devine (14-0 WVU)
SU: 24 yard field goal by Raupers (14-3 WVU)

2nd Quarter:
SU: 1 yard run by Carter (14-10 WVU)
WVU: 32 yard field goal by Bitancurt (17-10 WVU)

3rd Quarter:
SU: 8 yard run by Carter (17-17)
SU: 3 yard run by Carter (24-17 SU)

4th Quarter:
SU: 38 yard field goal by Raupers (27-17 SU)
WVU: 48 yard fumble return by Hogan (27-24 SU)
WVU: 45 yard field goal by Bitancurt (27-27)
SU: 7 yard run by Carter (XP Failed) (33-27 SU)
WVU: 17 yard pass from Smith to Bailey (34-33 WVU)

Team Statistics (SU/WVU)
First Downs: 19/14
Total Offense: 436/238
Rushes-Yards: 36-104-4/36-82-1
Comp-Att-TD: 25-41-0/16-22-1
Passing Yards: 332/156
Turnovers: 3/0
Total Yards: 640/444
Penalties-Yards: 3-25/4-37
T.O.P.: 16:21/15:39

Individual Statistics
Syracuse Orange
R. Nassib: 25-41, 332 Yds, 2 Int
D. Carter: 26 Car, 98 Yds, 4 TD, Fum
A. Lemon: 8 Rec, 110 Yds
D. Merkerson: 3 Rec, 57 Yds
D. Bailey: 4 Rec, 54 Yds
M. Sales: 4 Rec, 53 Yds
V. Chew: 3 Rec, 36 Yds

D. Hogue: 11 Tkl, 4 TFL, Sck
S. Kimmel: 11 Tkl, TFL
K. Scott: 9 Tkl
D. Graham: 8 Tkl, 2 TFL
R. Tucker: 7 Tkl, 2 TFL, 2 Sck
C. Jones: 7 Tkl, TFL, Sck
M. Suter: 7 Tkl

West Virginia Mountaineers
E. Smith: 16-22, 156 Yds, TD
N. Devine: 24 Car, 72 Yds, TD
B. Starks: 4 Rec, 77 Yds
S. Bailey: 3 Rec, 29 Yds, TD

A. Leonard: 11 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sck
S. Glover: 11 Tkl
R. Sands: 9 Tkl
T. Finau: 8 Tkl, TFL, Sck
J. Scott: 8 Tkl, FF
J. Thomas: 6 Tkl
B. Hogan: 5 Tkl, 2 Int, TD
K. Tandy: 5 Tkl, FR, TD

[superjames1992]

Big East Scoreboard

Syracuse (3-2) - 33
#7 West Virginia (5-0) - 34

FCS Midwest - 7
#17 Cincinnati (5-0) - 58

FCS West - 3
Connecticut (3-1) - 52

#20 Rutgers (3-1) - 21
Pittsburgh (4-0) - 52

Top 25 Losses

#25 South Carolina (2-2) - 13
#13 Auburn (4-0) - 34

#2 USC (3-1) - 22
#16 California (5-0) - 27

#5 Wisconsin (3-1) - 10
#8 Penn State (2-1) - 17

#20 Rutgers (3-1) - 21
Pittsburgh (4-0) - 52

Iowa State (4-1) - 23
#12 Texas (3-2) - 15

#1 Ohio State (3-1) - 7
Indiana (3-1) - 17

#4 North Carolina (3-1) - 10
Florida State (3-1) - 49

#9 Florida (3-2) - 7
#15 Alabama (3-1) - 24

Arizona State (2-2) - 41
#22 UCLA (3-2) - 19

#21 Utah (3-2) - 13
Colorado State (2-2) - 27

#11 Oklahoma (2-2) - 13
#3 Oklahoma State (4-0) - 44

Top 25
1. Oklahoma State (47) (4-0)
2. Penn State (2-1)
3. Georgia Tech (11) (4-0)
4. West Virginia (2) (5-0)
5. USC (3-1)
6. Nebraska (1) (5-0)
7. Wisconsin (3-1)
8. Alabama (3-1)
9. Auburn (4-0)
10. California (5-0)
11. South Florida (3-0)
12. North Carolina (3-1)
13. Cincinnati (5-0)
14. Ohio State (3-1)
15. Florida (3-2)
16. Georgia (4-0)
17. Oregon (5-0)
18. Oklahoma (2-2)
19. Florida State (3-1)
20. Texas (3-2)
21. Michigan (4-0)
22. Pittsburgh (4-0)
23. Tennessee (2-2)
24. Mississippi (4-0)
25. Iowa State (4-1)

Others Receiving Votes: Rutgers, LSU, Boise State, South Carolina, Oregon Sate, Arizona State

Dropped Out: #20 Rutgers, #21 Utah, #22 UCLA, #25 South Carolina

Heisman Watch
1. Noel Devine - HB - West Virginia
2. Jeremiah Masoli - QB - Oregon
3. Tyler Melton - WR - Georgia Tech
4. Kevin Riley - QB - California
5. Deonte Thompson - WR - Florida

National Players of the Week
Offense: Taylor Potts - QB - Texas Tech
Vs. Texas A&M (W 46-31)
31-54, 559 Yds, 6 TD

Defense: Alex Hrebec - ROLB - Kansas State
Vs.Baylor (W 7-3)
12 Tkl, 5 TFL, 2 Sck, 2 Int, FF

Big East Players of the Week
Offense: John Goebel - HB - Cincinnati
Vs. FCS Midwest (W 56-7)
36 Car, 184 Yds, 2 TD, 3 Rec, 44 Yds, 2 TD

Defense: Brandon Hogan - CB - West Virginia
Vs. Syracuse (W 34-33)
5 Tkl, 2 Int, TD

Big East Standings
1. #4 West Virginia 5-0 (1-0)
2. #22 Pittsburgh 4-0 (1-0)
3. #11 South Florida 3-0 (1-0)
4. #13 Cincinnati 5-0 (0-0)
5. Connecticut 3-1 (0-0)
6. Rutgers 3-1 (0-1)
7. Syracuse 3-2 (0-1)
8. Louisville 1-3 (0-1)

[superjames1992]

Rutgers 17

#4 West Virginia 22

1 2 3 4 T Rutgers (3-2) 3 7 7 0 17 Final WVU (6-0) 7 6 9 0 22

October 2nd, 2010 Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV

Morgantown, WV (AP) - The #4 West Virginia Mountaineers (6-0, 2-0 Big East) continued on with their unblemished record this afternoon against Rutgers (3-2, 0-2 Big East), but the game came with some very unfortunate news. While WVU nudged the Scarlet Knights 22-17, the Mountaineers also lost starting quarterback Eugene Smith for an estimated four weeks, which will likely sideline him in games against Louisville, #11 South Florida, Virginia, and possibly #13 Cincinnati. Smith had thrown 10 touchdown passes and completed 64% of his passes for 1,315 yards through the first six games of the seaosn before his injury late in the fourth quarter.

The Smith uinjury will thrust Coley White back in to the starting quarterback position, much like what happened last year when Jarrett Brown went down for a couple weeks.

Depsite the injury to Eugene Smith, there was some good news for the Mountaineers, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The defense held the Scarlet Knights to only 17 points, which ties Marshall for the least points scored against this WVU defense thus far this season. However, in the Marshall game, the Thundering Herd still racked up 443 yards of total offense, so the Herd still moved the ball. The Scarlet Knights only gained 242 offensive yards on the day and also turned the ball over three times, which is a vast improvement for the WVU defense, which, despite WVU being 6-0, has struggled quite a bit this season, allowing 29 points per game in the first five outtings. Fortunately, the WVU offense also stepped up their game, scoring 46.8 points per game in their first five games.

Noel Devine had another 100+ yard game for the Mountaineers as he continued to put up nice numbers for the Heisman race as he ran for 103 yards and a touchdown. Eugene Smith threw for 216 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions before getting injured. He also added 33 yards on the ground. Stedham Bailey caught Smith's only touchdown pass of the game as he gained 75 yards and a 64 yard touchdown off three catches.

Box Score
1st Quarter:
WVU: 64 yard pass from Smith to Bailey (7-0 WVU)
RU: 35 yard field goal by Te (7-3 WVU)

2nd Quarter:
WVU: 32 yard field goal by Bitancurt (10-3 WVU)
RU: 4 yard run by Martinek (10-10)
WVU: 26 yard field goal by Bitancurt (13-10 WVU)

3rd Quarter:
WVU: 32 yard field goal by Bitancurt (16-10 WVU)
RU: 2 yard run by Morales (17-16 RU)
WVU: 2 yard run by Devine (2-Pt Failed) (22-17 WVU)

4th Quarter:
No Scoring.

Team Statistics
First Downs: 15/21
Total Offense: 242/398
Rushes-Yards: 40-121-1/49-182-1
Comp-Att-TD: 12-20-0/14-27-1
Passing Yards: 121/216
Turnovers: 3/4
Total Yards: 388/509
Penalties-Yards: 3-31/2-18
T.O.P.: 13:48/18:49

Individual Statistics
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
D. Natale: 12-20, 121 Yds, Int
K. Young: 26 Car, 124 Yds, Fum
J. Martinkey: 6 Car, 25 Yds, TD
T. Wright: 4 Rec, 63 Yds

P. Kivlehan: 14 Tkl
J. Lefeged: 10 Tkl
B. Bing: 8 Tkl, TFL, Int
A. Silvestro: 7 Tkl, 4 TFL
M. Abreu: 7 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sck
D. Rowe: 7 Tkl
J. Freeny: 6 Tkl, 4 TFL, 2 Sck, FR

West Virginia Mountaineers
E. Smith: 14-26, 216 Yds, TD, 2 Int, 11 Car, 33 Yds
N. Devine: 27 Car, 103 Yds, TD, 3 Rec, 29 Yds
T. Austin: 10 Car, 36 Yds
S. Bailey: 3 Rec, 75 Yds, TD
K. Heastie: 3 Rec, 37 Yds
W. Johnson: 2 Rec, 32 Yds
J. Sanders: 2 Rec, 32 Yds

A. Leonard: 10 Tkl, FF, FR
P. Lazear: 9 Tkl, FF
R. Sands: 9 Tkl, FF
S. Glover: 8 Tkl, FR
J, Scott: 7 Tkl
K. Tandy: 6 Tkl
C. Neild: 5 Tkl, 4 TFL, 2 Sck
T. Finaue: 5 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sck
S. Berry: 5 Tkl, TFL, Sck