West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA Football 2004)

[superjames1992]

Week 11 Overview

SI Cover:
"Upset Weekend! Bulldogs are one of the many upset victims, this week falling to SMU."

Top 25
1. Miami (34) (9-0)
2. Arkansas (23) (9-0)
3. Nebraska (1) (10-0)
4. Oklahoma (9-1)
5. Ohio State (8-1)
6. Oregon State (1) (9-0)
7. Virginia Tech (7-1)
8. Auburn (8-1)
9. Tennessee (7-2)
10. USC (7-1)
11. Arizona State (9-1)
12. Texas (7-2)
13. Wisconsin (8-1)
14. Pittsburgh (6-2)
15. NC State (8-2)
16. Georgia (6-2)
17. Mississippi State (7-1)
18. Syracuse (6-3)
19. Colorado State (8-1)
20. Michigan (9-2)
21. Wake Forest (6-3)
22. Virginia (7-2)
23. Fresno State (7-1)
24. Iowa (6-3)
25. Florida (5-4)

Big East Standings
1. #1 Miami 9-0 (4-0)
2. #7 Virginia Tech 8-1 (3-1)
3. #18 Syracuse 6-3 (2-1)
4. #14 Pittsburgh 6-2 (2-1)
5. Temple 5-3 (2-1)
6. West Virginia 5-3 (1-2)
7. Boston College 3-6 (0-4)
8. Rutgers 0-8 (0-4)

[superjames1992]

Eagles Score 31 Second Half Points, Marshall Goes Down for West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, WV - The Boston College Eagles (4-6, 1-4) picked up their first Big East Conference win of the season this afternoon, defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers on the road 31-24.

After a fairly uneventful first half that saw West Virginia (5-4, 1-3) up 10-0 as both teams went to the locker room, the action picked up in the second half. The Eagles finally got on the board early in the second half as Dallas Colbert found pay dirt from just a yard out, his first of three rushing touchdowns on the day.

The turning point came on the next drive, when West Virginia senior quarterback Rasheed Marshall broke his hand on an option play. The Mountaineers went on to score on the drive to go up 17-7 with backup quarterback Charles Hayes at the helm, but things would begin to fall apart thereafter with Marshall's absence.

Marshall had thrown for 63 yards and rushed for another 77 yards, and threw for a touchdown and an interception.

Dallas Colbert broke free on a critical fourth-and-one from the 30-yard line on Boston College's next drive to cut the WVU lead to 17-14. Charles Hayes fumbled the ball on West Virginia's next drive, setting up another Boston College touchdown as quarterback Karlim El Nokali found found tight end David Kashetta for a 12-yard touchdown pass to put Boston College up for the first time, 21-17, early in the fourth quarter.

West Virginia struck back on their ensuing drive as wide receiver Miquelle Henderson took a simple slant route to the house, breaking a couple tackles along the way to score on a season-long 69-yard passing touchdown, putting the Mountaineers back up 24-21. The West Virginia defense continued to struggle, however, as the Eagles marched down the field once again and Dallas Colbert scored his third and final rushing touchdown of the day with 4:17 remaining as he punched the ball in from three yards out to put Boston College up 28-24.

After a Charles Hayes interception and another stop, the Eagles added to their lead with 32 seconds remaining with a 22-yard field goal for the game's final score, putting Boston College up 31-24.

Dallas Colbert rushed for 75 yards and three touchdowns for Boston College. Quarterback Karim El Nokali threw for 243 yards and a touchdown, as well. His top target was senior wide receiver Joel Hazard, who caught seven passes for 91 yards. Tight End David Kashetta also added six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Boston College held a +3 turnover margin as they did not turn the football over a single time. West Virginia turned the football over three times, twice via interceptions and once via fumble.

Rasheed Marshall is expected to miss the rest of the regular season for West Virginia. He will likely be back for the team's bowl game, provided the Mountaineers qualify for one. Charles Hayes will get the nod as West Virginia's starter from here on out, but he's been dreadful and a turnover-machine in his action this year and last year, so the road could be rocky for the Mountaineers as they close out the season against ranked Pittsburgh and Syracuse and a surprisingly good Temple squad. They will need at least one win to qualify for a bowl game.

West Virginia will face No. 14 Pittsburgh in the annual Backyard Brawl next week.

Boston College 31, West Virginia 24

BC - 00 / 00 / 07 / 24
WVU - 07 / 03 / 07 / 07

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter:
(4:48) WVU: 5 yard pass from Marshall to Wright (7-0 WVU)

2nd Quarter:
(5:04) WVU: 32 yard field goal by Cooper (10-0 WVU)

3rd Quarter:
(2:58) BC: 1 yard run by Colbert (10-7 WVU)
(0:27) WVU: 2 yard run by Wright (17-7 WVU)

4th Quarter:
(7:25) BC: 30 yard run by Colbert (17-14 WVU)
(6:29) BC: 12 yard pass from QB #8 to TE #86 (21-17 BC)
(5:55) WVU: 65 yard pass from Hayes to Henderson (24-21 WVU)
(4:17) BC: 3 yard run by Colbert (28-24 BC)
(0:32) BC: 22 yard field goal by Fredrickson (31-24 BC)

Maryland Terrapins

QB #8: 22/33, 243 Yds, TD
D. Colbert: 1/2, 25 Yds, 18 Car, 75 Yds, 3 TD
WR #17: 7 Rec, 91 Yds
TE #86: 6 Rec, 83 Yds, TD
WR #5: 4 Rec, 43 Yds

FS #23: 9 Tkl, 2 TFL, Int, FF
DT #56: 7 Tkl, TFL, Sck
MLB #3: 6 Tkl
DT #96: 2 Tkl, FR
A. Lockhart: Int

B. Fredrickson 1/2 FG, Long 22, 4/4 PAT
D. Bolden: 5 Punts, 218 Yds, 43.6 Avg, 1 Inside 20

West Virginia Mountaineers

R. Marshall: 9/16, 63 Yds, TD, Int, 8 Car, 77 Yds
C. Hayes: 4/10, 108 Yds, TD, Int
K. Harris: 11 Car, 28 Yds
B. Wright: 5 Car, 25 Yds, TD, 2 Rec, 7 Yds, Rec TD
J. Colson: 4 Car, 25 Yds
S. Garrett: 6 Car, 20 Yds
M. Henderson: 3 Rec, 74 Yds, TD
R. Bolden: 2 Rec, 35 Yds

D. Hall: 8 Tkl, TFL
M. Lorello: 6 Tkl, TFL
A. Lehnortt: 5 Tkl
D. Hackett: 5 Tkl
J. Colson: 4 Tkl, TFL, Sck

B. Cooper: 1/1 FG, Long 32, 3/3 PAT
E. Burgess: 4 Punts, 162 Yds, 40.5 Avg, 0 Inside 20

[superjames1992]

Week 12 Overview

SI Cover:
"Undefeated No More. USC puts an end to Oregon State's winning streak."

Top 25
1. Miami (33) (9-0)
2. Arkansas (24) (10-0)
3. Nebraska (2) (11-0)
4. Oklahoma (10-1)
5. Ohio State (9-1)
6. USC (8-1)
7. Auburn (9-1)
8. Tennessee (7-2)
9. Pittsburgh (7-2)
10. Oregon State (9-1)
11. Texas (8-2)
12. Virginia Tech (7-2)
13. NC State (8-2)
14. Georgia (7-2)
15. Mississippi State (8-1)
16. Syracuse (7-3)
17. Colorado State (9-1)
18. Michigan (9-2)
19. Wake Forest (7-3)
20. Arizona State (9-2)
21. Virginia (7-2)
22. Fresno State (8-1)
23. Iowa (7-3)
24. UCLA (8-2)
25. Wisconsin (8-2)

Big East Standings
1. #1 Miami 9-0 (4-0)
2. #16 Syracuse 7-3 (3-1)
3. #9 Pittsburgh 7-2 (3-1)
4. #12 Virginia Tech 7-2 (3-2)
5. Temple 5-4 (2-2)
6. West Virginia 5-4 (1-3)
7. Boston College 4-6 (1-4)
8. Rutgers 0-9 (0-4)

[superjames1992]

Just as an FYI, I went back in and added reports for the Miami and Rutgers games. I wrote these reports awhile back and am trying to get them caught up to where I actually am in the game, and I accidentally skipped over those two games when posting them here. Oops!

[superjames1992]

No Marshall, No Problem as Mountaineers Blank No. 9 Pitt 28-0 in Huge Upset

PITTSBURGH, PA - It's often said that you can throw out the record books in rivalry games. That was never more true that tonight as No. 9 Pittsburgh (7-3, 3-2) got roughed up at home by unranked West Virginia (6-4, 2-3) in the two teams' annual Backyard Brawl.

The Panthers' offense was never able to get anything going all night and went down in a crushing 28-0 defeat that saw Pitt's slim Big East Conference title hopes go down in flames with their second conference loss of the season.

The Pittsburgh offense generated just 161 yards overall, including -27 yards on the ground, largely because of their inability to protect the quarterback. Junior quarterback Tyler Palko was sacked a season-high eight times, costing the Panthers 56 yards of lost yardage. Ronald Green was leading man for West Virginia on the defensive line as he got to Palko a career-high four times, accumulating six tackles overall.

Tonight's win is even more surprising when you consider Charles Hayes got the start at quarterback for West Virginia in Rasheed Marshall's absence due to his broken hand sustained in last week's game at Boston College. Hayes, who has had a penchant for throwing interceptions throughout his career at West Virginia, put together a marvelous game tonight. The senior signal caller completed 14/25 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. He added a second touchdown on the ground and rushed for 36 yards. Most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.

Rayshawn Bolden was Hayes' leading target as he hauled down a 21-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to put the Mountaineers on the board and tallied five receptions for 68 yards overall. Kay Jay Harris had a nice game on the ground of the Mountaineers as he rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries.

The Mountaineers kicked off the scoring with just one second remaining in the first quarter as Hayes found Bolden for the aforementioned 21-yard touchdown pass to put the Mountaineers up 7-0. Things went from bad to worse for Pitt as Tyler Palko threw a pick-six to reserve middle linebacker Alex Lake midway through the second quarter, putting West Virginia up 14-0. The Mountaineers added another touchdown just four seconds remaining before the half as Hayes took a quarterback sneak in for six points to put the Mountaineers in a commanding position, up 21-0, at the halftime break.

The Panthers' offense continued to struggle in the third quarter, and West Virginia iced the game early in the fourth quarter as freshman fullback Sylvester Garrett put his signature on the game with a five-yard rushing touchdown to put the visiting team up by four touchdowns with just seven minutes remaining.

Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko threw for 188 yards, but also threw two costly interceptions, including the interception which was returned for a touchdown by Alex Lake. Larry Fitzgerald, who torched the Mountaineers last season, was held to just 54 yards receiving and four catches.

"This is a huge win for us," said West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez. "Not many people gave us a chance with Rasheed's [Marshall's] injury, but we really went out and put on maybe our most complete performance of the season tonight. I really want to give credit to our defense for an impressive shutout, but we also played well enough on offense to keep things under control and Charles [Hayes] put on a masterful performance.

Next, West Virginia will host No. 16 Syracuse in Morgantown next Saturday night.

West Virginia 28, #9 Pittsburgh 0

WVU - 07 / 14 / 00 / 07
PITT - 00 / 00 / 00 / 00

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter:
(0:01) WVU: 21 yard pass from Hayes to Bolden (7-0 WVU)

2nd Quarter:
(4:25) WVU: 27 yard interception return by Lake (14-0 WVU)
(0:04) WVU: 1 yard run by Hayes (21-0 WVU)

3rd Quarter:
(No Scoring)

4th Quarter:
(7:08) WVU: 5 yard run by Garrett (28-0 WVU)

West Virginia Mountaineers

C. Hayes: 14/25, 185 Yds, TD, 10 Car, 36 Yds, Rush TD
K. Harris: 18 Car, 87 Yds
S. Garrett: 2 Car, 5 Yds, TD
R. Bolden: 5 Rec, 68 Yds
J. Colson: 5 Car, 7 Yds, 3 Rec, 35 Yds

R. Green: 6 Tkl, 4 TFL, 4 Sck
J. Colson: 4 Tkl, TFL, Sck
D. Hall: 4 Tkl, TFL, Sck
C. Wilson: 4 Tkl, 3 TFL, 2 Sck
D. Hackett: Int
A. Lake: Int, TD

B. Cooper: 0/1 FG, N/A Long, 4/4 PAT
E. Burgess: 4 Punts, 143 Yds, 35.7 Avg, 2 Inside 20

Pittsburgh Panthers

QB #3: 15/32, 188 Yds, 2 Int
HB #43: 6 Car, 20 Yds, 3 Rec, 19 Yds
WR #85: 5 Rec, 81 Yds
WR #1: 4 Rec, 54 Yds

MLB #40: 7 Tkl
DT #96: 6 Tkl, TFL
FS #20: 6 Tkl
D. Helms: 4 Tkl, TFL
CB #2: 4 TKl

K #16: 0/0 FG, N/A Long, 0/0 PAT
C. Bullard: 6 Punts, 217 Yds, 36.1 Avg, 0 Inside 20

[superjames1992]

Week 13 Overview

SI Cover:
"Upended! #9 Pittsburgh is one of the many upset victims of the week."

Top 25
1. Miami (38) (10-0)
2. Arkansas (21) (10-0)
3. Oklahoma (11-1)
4. Ohio State (10-1)
5. Tennessee (8-20
6. Oregon State (10-1)
7. Texas (9-2)
8. Georgia (8-2)
9. Nebraska (11-1)
10. NC State (9-2)
11. Auburn (9-2)
12. Colorado State (10-1)
13. Michigan (10-2)
14. USC (8-2)
15. Wake Forest (7-3)
16. Arizona State (10-2)
17. Virginia (8-2)
18. Mississippi State (7-3)
19. Pittsburgh (7-3)
20. Fresno State (9-1)
21. Iowa (8-3)
22. UCLA (9-2)
23. Virginia Tech (7-3)
24. Wisconsin (9-2)
25. Syracuse (7-4)

Big East Standings
1. #1 Miami 10-0 (5-0)
2. #25 Syracuse 7-4 (3-2)
3. #19 Pittsburgh 7-3 (3-2)
4. Temple 6-4 (3-2)
5. #23 Virginia Tech 7-3 (3-3)
6. West Virginia 6-4 (2-3)
7. Boston College 5-6 (2-4)
8. Rutgers 0-10 (0-5)

[superjames1992]

Pacman Jones' Pick-Six Spurs 38-34 Upset Win Over No. 25 Syracuse

MORGANTOWN, WV - Xzavier Gaines threw for 309 Yds and two touchdowns for No. 25 Syracuse this evening, but he threw an interception to West Virginia junior cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones with under two minutes remaining that was returned 54 yards to the house, turning a 34-31 Syracuse lead into a 38-34 deficit, the Orangemen's first deficit of the game.

Gaines was again intercepted on Syracuse's ensuing possession, his second and last interception of the game, and West Virginia was able to bleed out the rest of the clock to secure the come-from-behind victory.

Tonight's home win gives West Virginia (7-4, 3-3) two wins in a row over top 25 teams. Tonight's result also gives No. 25 Syracuse (7-5, 4-3) their second consecutive loss, and they will likely fall out of the top 25 rankings in tomorrow's polls.

Syracuse led West Virginia 20-10 at halftime and had amassed nearly 300 yards of total offense by halftime, but the West Virginia offense played much better in the third and fourth quarters, and the defense was able to get just enough stops to get the win.

Syracuse racked up 485 yards of total offense this evening in comparison to West Virginia's 440 yards. However, the Mountaineers had two takeaways tonight compared to Syracuse's one, and the critical pick-six was ultimately a deciding factor.

Walter Reyes ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries for Syracuse. Jared Jones also caught six receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown.

Charles Hayes had a nice game filling in for the injured Rasheed Marshall for West Virginia. The senior signal caller completed 12/23 passes for 191 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Additionally, he was particularly effective on the ground, rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries. Bryan Wright carried the football 15 times for 82 yards and two scores. Kay Jay Harris carried the rock eight times for 48 yards before getting knocked out of the game with an injury in the third quarter. He is expected to be healthy and ready to go for next week's game against Temple, though.

Tonight's win allows the Mountaineers to retain the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy for the third straight year.

West Virginia will close out the regular season next week at Temple.

West Virginia 38, #25 Syracuse 34

SU - 10 / 10 / 07 / 07
WVU - 07 / 03 / 14 / 14

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter:
(4:38) SU: 30 yard field goal by K #17 (3-0 SU)
(3:38) SU: 53 yard run by HB #39 (10-0 SU)
(3:18) WVU: 15 yard pass from Hayes to Henderson (10-7 SU)

2nd Quarter:
(7:31) WVU: 29 yard field goal by Cooper (10-10)
(4:41) SU: 15 yard pass from QB #16 to Washington (17-10 SU)
(0:01) SU: 23 yard field goal by K #17 (20-10 SU)

3rd Quarter:
(6:32) WVU: 18 yard run by Hayes (20-17 SU)
(3:25) SU: 1 yard run by HB #1 (27-17 SU)
(2:38) WVU: 22 yard run by Wright (27-24 SU)

4th Quarter:
(7:57) SU: 13 yard pass from QB #16 to WR #12 (34-24 SU)
(5:03) WVU: 11 yard run by Wright (34-31 SU)
(1:52) WVU: 54 yard interception return by Jones (38-34 WVU)

Syracuse Orange

QB #16: 20/38, 309 Yds, 2 TD, 2 Int
HB #39: 18 Car, 111 Yds, TD
HB #1: 4 Car, 47 Yds, TD, Rec, 18 Yds
WR #12: 6 Rec, 126 Yds, TD
WR #80: 3 Rec, 76 Yds
J. Washington: 7 Rec, 63 Yds, TD

DT #96: 6 Tkl, TFL
CB #26: 4 Tkl, TFL
DT #70: 4 Tkl, TFL
SS #22: 4 Tkl
LOLB #42: 4 Tkl

K #17: 2/2 FG, Long 30, 4/4 PAT
P #47: 3 Punts, 110 Yds, 36.6 Avg, 0 Inside 20

West Virginia Mountaineers

C. Hayes: 12/23, 191 Yds, TD, Int, 8 Car, 80 Yds, Rush TD
B Wright: 15 Car, 82 Yds, 2 TD
K. Harris: 8 Car, 48 Yds
A. Means: 5 Car, 32 Yds
M. Henderson: 3 Rec, 79 Yds, TD
K. Huff: 3 Rec, 57 Yds

J. Addae: 8 Tkl, 2 TF
A. Jones: 6 Tkl, Int, TD
D. Hall: 5 Tkl, TFL, Sck
D. Hackett: 5 Tkl, TFL
L. Audena: 4 Tkl, Int

B. Cooper: 1/3 FG, Long 29, 5/5 PAT
E. Burgess: 2 Punts, 64 Yds, 32.0 Avg, 0 Inside 20

[superjames1992]

Week 14 Overview

SI Cover:
"Shoo-In? The latest Bowl Rankings have Miami playing for the National Title."

Top 25
1. Miami (59) (11-0)
2. Oklahoma (12-1) - #3 BCS
3. Ohio State (11-1) - #2 BCS
4. Tennessee (9-2)
5. Oregon State (11-1)
6. Texas (9-2)
7. Georgia (9-2)
8. Nebraska (11-1)
9. Arkansas (10-1)
10. NC State (10-2)
11. Auburn (10-2)
12. Colorado State (11-1)
13. Mississippi State (9-2)
14. USC (9-2)
15. Wake Forest (8-3)
16. Virginia (9-2)
17. Pittsburgh (8-3)
18. Fresno State (10-1)
19. Michigan (10-3)
20. Iowa (9-3)
21. Virginia Tech (8-3)
22. Louisville (9-2)
23. West Virginia (7-4)
24. Arizona State (10-3)
25. Texas A&M (8-4)

Big East Standings
1. #1 Miami 11-0 (6-0)
2. #17 Pittsburgh 8-3 (4-2)
3. #21 Virginia Tech 8-3 (4-3)
4. #23 West Virginia 7-4 (4-3)
5. Syracuse 7-5 (4-3)
6. Temple 6-5 (3-3)
7. Boston College 5-7 (2-5)
8. Rutgers 0-11 (0-6)