Big East Recap: West Virginia secures BCS berth

When West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez was hired by his alma mater, he said he was leaving Clemson to bring a national championship to his home state.

Today, he’s one step away from playing for that championship.

After securing a share of the Big East title and a Bowl Championship Series berth with a 66-21 rout of Connecticut, the Mountaineers are in line for a slot in the Jan. 7 Allstate BCS National Championship to be played at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. They are ranked No. 1 in the USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 2 in the BCS standings.

When reminded of his initial WVU press conference, Rodriguez smiled.

“We’re closer,” he said. “We’re not there yet. We’re not even in the game yet. But we’re closer than we’ve been before. It’s always been a work in progress and always will be, but I’m proud of the way these guys have responded.”

There was certainly little to pick at after Saturday’s game. Pat White continued his late season rush for Heisman Trophy consideration by completing 9-of-13 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and running for a jaw-dropping 186 yards and two more scores. One of those rushing touchdowns was of the highlight-reel variety. He ran straight at UConn linebacker Danny Lansanah, froze him in his tracks and reversed field en route to a 24-yard touch.

“Obviously I’m biased, but I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the country,” Rodriguez said. “He might be the best who has ever played at West Virginia. He was the Big East player of the year last year and he’s better this year.”

“He has my vote,” said Connecticut coach Randy Edsall. “I talked to him after the game and told him I think he should come out [in the NFL draft] after this year. Hopefully, he’ll take my advice.”

The final game numbers were downright ridiculous. Playing against the Big East’s No. 1 scoring defense, West Virginia gained 517 rushing yards and 624 overall. Starting tailback Steve Slaton scored on runs of 31 and 3 – yet finished as the team’s No. 5 rusher. Highly touted freshman Noel Devine had 118 yards on just 11 carries.

WVU’s defense, meanwhile, held Connecticut to 7-of-18 on third down opportunities. The Mountaineers helped force three Husky turnovers, which turned into 21 West Virginia points. UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen was sacked five times. He threw for just 151 yards, all but 13 in the first half.

“We really took advantages of some turnovers,” Rodriguez said. “They really took care of the ball most of the game, but when we got it, we made something of it.”

If the Mountaineers defeat Pittsburgh this Saturday in Morgantown, they would more than likely become just the second Big East school to play for a national title. The other was Miami, which won it all after the 2001 season and lost to Ohio State after the 2002 season.

Connecticut’s ugly loss, meanwhile, clouded the Huskies’ bowl picture.

“Connecticut, they’re still a great story this year no matter how you look at it,” said Sun Bowl committee chair John Folmer. “But that wasn’t a pretty picture there in West Virginia.”

So the Sun, which will probably take the Big East No. 2 team instead of the Gator, will look at the Huskies, Cincinnati Bearcats and South Florida Bulls – all of which are 9-3.

The latter two, like West Virginia, took care of business on Saturday. Cincy defeated Syracuse 52-31, while USF downed Pittsburgh 48-37. The Big East has tie-ins with the Sun, Meineke Car Care, Papajohns.com and International bowls.

If you go by the latest BCS standings, South Florida is the highest Big East team after West Virginia. The Bulls are No. 21, while Cincinnati is No. 23. The Bearcats, however, are ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press poll, while USF is No. 25. In the coaches’ poll, UC is No. 24, while South Florida is unranked.

The Bulls intercepted Pitt freshman quarterback three times in the second half of their game and returned two for touchdowns en route to the win at Heinz Field.

“I told the defense at halftime, ‘We really have to try to get some turnovers,’” said USF coach Jim Leavitt. “And they did. They really did a good job.”

Nate Allen and Trae Williams scored on their interceptions and linebacker Ben Moffitt returned his to the Pitt 1 to set up a score. Quarterback Matt Grothe ran 80 yards for a score on the first play of the third quarter. Tailback Mike Ford had two rushing TDs.

South Florida has now topped the 40-point mark for the third consecutive game.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, fell to 4-7.

“It’s disappointing, the way the game unfolded,” said Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt. “I really thought we were focused to start the game and at the half. And then we went out there in the second half and we give up that one big play [Grothe’s run] and then, for whatever reason, after that, offensively, we just came totally unglued.”

Syracuse did likewise to finish a disappointing season that may lead to coach Greg Robinson’s departure. The Orange wound up 2-10 overall and 1-6 in Big East play. It’s the second 10-loss season in three years.

There were a couple of bright spots in the loss to Cincinnati. The offense woke up a bit with quarterback Andrew Robinson completing 29-of-47 passes for 419 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Mike Williams had nine catches for 160 yards, while junior Taj Smith had five for 126.

But once again, Robinson had bruises. Cincinnati sacked the QB 11 times.

“I felt like our team, they laid it out there,” Robinson said. “They really did.”

Cincy, meanwhile, rewrote its record books. The Bearcats broke their school record for points in a season (434). Quarterback Ben Mauk broke a record for touchdown passes (27) in a season. And receiver Marcus Bennett broke the mark of most TD receptions (13) in a season.

Mauk passed for a career-high 431 yards against the Orange.

“He accounted for five touchdowns,” Cincy coach Brian Kelly said of Mauk. “And we needed every one.”

Player of the Week: West Virginia QB Pat White
White led his team to the brink of a national title berth by rushing for 186 yards and two touchdowns and throwing for 107 more and another score in a 66-21 rout of then-No. 20 Connecticut.

Game of the Week: Cincinnati 52, Syracuse 31
The Bearcats looked ripe for an upset, but quarterback Ben Mauk stepped up to complete 29-of-42 passes for 431 yards to stave off the Orange.

Freshman Impact: West Virginia RB Noel Devine
Devine overshadowed mentor Steve Slaton by rushing for 118 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown, on 11 carries in WVU’s 66-21 win over Connecticut.

Stats of the Week:
The 66 points posted by West Virginia against Connecticut were the most since piling up 80 against Rutgers in 2001.

Connecticut outgained WVU 261-200 in the first half and had 13 first downs in the span to the host’s eight. In the third quarter, however, the Mountaineers had 266 offensive yards.

South Florida cornerback Trae Williams returned his third consecutive interception for a touchdown in Saturday’s 48-37 win over Pitt.  He now has four picks for a score in his career.

Pittsburgh middle linebacker Scott McKillop had a career-high 18 tackles, including three for losses, against South Florida.

Additional Notes:
West Virginia’s Pat White and Steve Slaton individually reached the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season on back-to-back plays in the second quarter against Connecticut. It’s just the third time in NCAA history that two teammates reached 1,000 yards in two consecutive seasons.

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall started Robert McClain in place of Robert Vaughn at safety in an attempt to inject speed against West Virginia.

South Florida converted a fake punt for the second year in a row against Pittsburgh.

USF linebacker Donte Spires made his first career start and recorded his first sack in the game against Pitt.

Cincinnati QB Ben Mauk’s 27th touchdown pass broke Gino Guidugli’s record of 26 set in 2004.

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