by Mike Mitchell
12/28/06
1:56 am est
When
head coach Rich Rodriguez was heavily recruited by Alabama as
its next head coach, the West Virginia Mountaineers proved they
could keep the family fed and ponied-up a heaping helping of
bubbling crude to keep their football coaching hero in Morgantown.
West Virginia hopes to end the year with 11 wins for the second
straight season and welcomes back starting quarterback Pat White
to help them accomplish that feat. White sat out the season finale
win over Rutgers with an ankle injury but has been named the
starter for the Gator Bowl.
Along with running back Steve Slaton, the dynamic duo accounted
for 4,331 of West Virginia's 5,556 total yards - a whopping 78
percent.
Both players posted gaudy numbers. White completed 109-of-164
passes for 1,524 yards, 11 TD's and 7 INT's while adding 1,074
yards and 17 TD's on the ground. Slaton rushed for 1,733 yards
and 16 touchdowns, and added 340 yards receiving for 2 more TD's
on 25 receptions. Both players averaged over 7 yards per carry.
They can play run defense, too, ranking 9th nationally in that
department. But the secondary ranked near the bottom of all 1-A
teams as it allowed 2,837 yards.
Georgia Tech's defense is almost a mirror image of WVU's. Against
the run, the Yellow Jackets rank 16th nationally, but they clock
in at just a few spots above West Virginia in pass defense with
2,610 yards allowed. That could get worse with cornerback Kenny
Scott ruled academically ineligible for the bowl game. Scott
had 50 tackles, 2 interceptions and 10 passes broken-up during
the regular season.
However, the biggest question mark for the Ramblin' Wreck is
the offense. Reggie Ball, who has seemingly been behind center
since the dawning of the age of Aquarius, is also academically
ineligible for the game. His performance as a four-year starter
alternated constantly between hero and goat. But the new starter,
Taylor Bennett, has thrown just 29 passes all season.
Georgia Tech limps into this game having lost a heartbreaker
to state rival Georgia, and the ACC Championship to Wake Forest.
In those two games, the Jackets were an offensive wreck that
produced a total of 18 points and just one touchdown.
West Virginia can wonder what might have been, too. The Mountaineers
were the pick of the Big East media to win the conference, but
the Congrove Computer Rankings projected Louisville as champs
with the Mountaineers in second. A loss at Louisville made West
Virginia's conference title run a longshot, and an upset home
loss to South Florida flushed that dream down the drain. A triple-overtime
win over Rutgers in the season finale kept the Mountaineers from
sliding farther down the bowl ladder.
West Virginia is just 2-11 in its last thirteen bowl games. Last
year's Sugar Bowl victory was the Mountaineer's first bowl victory
under Rodriguez (1-3).
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