 New Darlings Return Talent West Virginia’s post-season turmoil was overwhelming. They missed the BCS Championship Game due to a devastating loss to Pitt in the season-finale. Then, beloved alumnus and head coach, Rich Rodriguez, abandoned the program to take over for Lloyd Carr at Michigan. Complicating bowl preparation and recruiting, Rod was sure to, and, in fact, will, take several coaches with him. The split became so ugly that the school and the coach now lie on opposite ends of the “v.” in a lawsuit over whether the school is due to receive a $4 million buy-out which it negotiated after Coach Rod flirted heavily with Alabama last year. Enter Bill Stewart. The man whose Indian-name might be “Smiles-a-lot” was named interim head-coach and, with his promotion (from associate head coach as well as coach of the team’s TE’s, FB’s and special teams), he brought an infectious enthusiasm to a program full of hard-working young men who felt abandoned and dejected and were desperate to find any evidence of light at the end of their tunnel. Stewart’s leadership sparked an inferno of vocal leadership in his program’s most valuable player, QB Pat White, as well as the player who Coach Stewart called “the heart and soul” of the program, FB/TE Owen Schmitt. Stewart, White and Schmitt (who has broken 10 face masks in his career according to the WVU media guide) changed the team’s dejection and desperation into confidence and enthusiasm. And, evidence of their collective character, they never publicly insulted Rodriguez. In fact, Schmitt is on record for stating a public empathy for his old coach’s decision and has thanked Rod for giving him the chance to play at WVU. 83% of the nation were certain that Oklahoma would beat WVU. Without Rodriguez, how could they win, right? They won. By 20. White had 150 yards rushing and threw two TD’s passes while Scmitt threw a barrage of devastating blocks to spring scoring plays and busted out with a 57-yard scamper midway through the second quarter to record the game’s first touchdown. So, the Mountaineers are the 2008 Fiesta Bowl winners and everyone not wearing OU’s Crimson and Cream who stayed up to watch the game in its entirety couldn’t help but enjoy the outcome. But, where do they go from here? Offensively, the Mountaineers lose only two seniors, though they are both impact players. The curtain has now been drawn on Scmitt’s WVU career and the same is true of their leading receiver, Darius Reynaud (64-733, 12 TD’s in ‘08). The entire offensive line returns intact along with impact freshman skill guys, Noel Devine and Jock Sanders. Devine ran for 108 yds and two TD’s against OU and finished with 627 rushing yards and six scores this year. Also back are Dorell Jalloh and Tito Gonzales, who are promising young receivers. Gonzales made his one catch count against OU, taking it 79 yards to paydirt. The clear questions on offense are the status of super-juniors Pat White and TB Steve Slaton. However, Slaton’s injury woes did his draft status no favor and White’s talent package is unlikely to take him to a QB spot with a professional team. Therefore, there are true market forces which could influence each of those players to stick around for their final season. Pro-Bill Stewart sentiment could solidify those decisions. If White and Slaton return then, literally, WVU proceeds next season with the loss of only two starters on offense. Defense is a different story. Lost in the hype of the nation’s 4th-ranked rushing attach (293 ypg), was the identical ranking for the team’s stop-unit (292 ypg). Running out of an atypical 3-3-5 alignment, the ‘Neers were in the top-15 in both rushing and passing defense. Unfortunately, four of the five starting DB’s (and 6 of the 10 DB’s listed in the 2-deep depth chart) graduate this spring as do two of the three defensive linemen. Nose tackle Keilen Dykes ends his career after 44 straight starts in the middle of WVU’s line while SS Eric Wicks started his 38th straight game against Oklahoma. All is not lost, however. Bandit safety Quinton Andrews has started 20 games while linebackers Reed Williams and Mortty Ivy have combined for 26 career starts. Redshirt freshman Scooter Berry made quite an impact at his tackle position and could anchor the line in 2008. The defense will certainly have to rebuild and it is not yet certain whether that project will be undertaken by Jeff Casteel, the team’s defensive coordinator under Rodriguez. Plenty of rumors have him wearing Ann Arbor’s Big Blue next season. But, WVU has faced its share of adversity before. They’re awful glad to face this next round with Smiles-a-lot at the helm.
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