The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – West Virginia – INSIDE SLANT
It made no sense, considering the high hopes into which this season was born, but WVU found itself mired in a five-game losing streak and still trying to reach bowl qualification entering the season’s final two games.
That they were able to go on the road and win 31-24 at Iowa State in a hard-fought, back-and-forth game was a sign of character in a team that had gone through a stretch of really tough losses, including a 50-49 defeat to Oklahoma and an overtime loss to TCU.
The character his team showed, even more than the 75-yard touchdown play that WR/RB Tavon Austin scored to give the Mountaineers the lead and the fumble forced by safety Darwin Cook that saved the game, was important to coach Dana Holgorsen.
“I’m proud of the way they rebounded,” he said. “They regrouped and had plenty of opportunities going back to the Texas game to where they could have said enough is enough and quit. We had a couple of bad games over the middle of the season, but I think our approach has been pretty good over the last month, we just came up a little short.”
The victory in a 17-degree wind chill took away a great deal of the heat everyone was feeling.
“(The locker room) is different obviously, guys are in better spirit,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “I think we had the right amount of leadership throughout this tough losing streak that we had to keep guys focused and to keep things in perspective. That carried a long way, we just had to stay focused and keep working hard throughout the week.”
That was crucial, along with the return of running back Shawne Alston from a deep thigh bruise that had taken him out of the equation since the season’s first game, in changing things and giving the season meaning into the final game, Dec. 1 against cellar-dweller Kansas at home.
A victory in that game would give WVU a 7-5 record for the season.
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NCAAF Team Report – West Virginia – NOTES, QUOTES
–When WVU held Iowa State without a point in the first quarter of the Nov. 23 game, it marked the first time all year a Big 12 opponent had not scored on the Mountaineers in the opening quarter. On the other hand, WVU has given up 21 or more points in seven different quarters to Big 12 teams.
–Then there is the matter of the second quarter, as Iowa State scored in the final minute of the first half. Five Big 12 opponents have scored on WVU in the final minute of the first half.
–WVU achieved the balance most teams seek against Iowa State, passing for 236 yards and rushing for 239.
–WVU had been hit by only 41 penalties all season until the Iowa State game, in which it was penalized 11 times for 111 yards.
WHAT’S AHEAD: West Virginia will be flying high for its final game of the regular season, facing a Kansas team that has won only one game against 10 losses this season, but a team that has had a number of difficult defeats. The Mountaineers are bowl qualified but the word is that there’s a strong possibility that with a win they could go to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl, possibly paired up with USC in what would have been a dream game in September. Kansas runs the ball extremely went under Charlie Weis but has not thrown well at all, which means they can’t take advantage of WVU’s biggest weakness — pass defense. West Virginia and Kansas have never met in football.
LOOKING GOOD: All of a sudden, WVU’s strength has gone from its passing game to its running game. With the return of RB Shawne Alston to give them an inside game and with the move of WR Tavon Austin to running out of the backfield and challenging the corners, WVU has run for more yards than it has passed for in two straight games … and 75 of the passing yards against Iowa State were on a touch pass that QB Geno Smith uses to get the ball to Austin on what is, essentially, a sweep. Safeties Darwin Cook, a junior, and Karl Joseph, a freshman, have been the bright spots on the defense with their hard hitting. Austin’s return game has been spectacular. Against Iowa State he broke a fantastic 68-yard punt return for a score, only to have it called back by a holding call behind the play.
STILL NEEDS WORK: The Mountaineers’ defense, while much improved against an Iowa State team with a quarterback in Sam B. Richardson making his first start, still showed cracks and almost let the rookie QB march his team in for a winning score in the final minute before S Darwin Cook forced a fumble that was recovered by fellow S Karl Joseph. Normally penalty-free, WVU was hit with 11 penalties for 111 yards, including one that brought back a Tavon Austin punt return that had gone for a touchdown. RG Quinton Spain had a particularly tough time with penalties.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “That was just a great call by Shannon (offensive coordinator Dawson). He called it on the sideline before we went in. We’d set it up all game.” — WVU QB Geno Smith on the touch pass call to WR/RB Tavon Austin that went 75 yards for the winning touchdown against Iowa State.
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NCAAF Team Report – West Virginia – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–Despite a strong wind, PK Tyler Bitancurt went 2-for-2 on extra points and 3-for-4 on field goals to give him 344 career points, second on the WVU all-time kicker scoring list.
–WR Stedman Bailey caught his 21st touchdown pass of the season, which leads the nation. Bailey caught passes for 82 yards against Iowa State, giving him 1,342 for the season, a school record.
–WR Tavon Austin finished the game with 106 receptions for the year, breaking his own school record of 101 set last year. Austin had 261 all-purpose yards, giving him 2,573 for the year, which left him one yard short of his WVU record set last year.
–RB Shawne Alston rushed for a career-high 130 yards against Iowa State and his 19 carries were one shy of his career best.
–QB Geno Smith has 97 touchdown passes in his career, six short of Pat White’s record of 103 set from 2005 to 2008.
ROSTER REPORT
–RB Shawne Alston had seen sporadic action since suffering a deep thigh bruise in the season’s second game against James Madison but returned against Iowa State and rushed for a career-high 130 yards. While he put on a strong performance, he still had moments when he seemed to be in some discomfort.
–C Joe Madsen made his 49th career start for WVU against Iowa State, high on the team.
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