Charleston Gazette: Mountaineers seeking retribution

[Jim Johnson]

Mountaineers seeking retribution

Players, coaches haven’t forgotten last season’s loss to South Florida

By Dave Hickman

Staff writer

MORGANTOWN  In Tampa, Friday night’s nationally televised game between No. 18 South Florida and No. 5 West Virginia is probably the biggest game the Bulls have ever played.

But it’s no small deal at WVU, either.

Sure, the Mountaineers have been in arguably bigger games just in the past few seasons. The Sugar Bowl against Georgia at the end of the 2005 season and a game at Louisville that matched Top 5 teams last November come easily to mind.

But in neither of those games did the Mountaineers necessarily feel a sense of reprisal, at least regarding the team on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

“We’ve been waiting for this since last year when we lost to them,’’ wide receiver Darius Reynaud said.

Indeed, last year’s 24-19 loss to South Florida at Mountaineer Field has haunted West Virginia since then.

Forget the fact that it quite probably cost the team a BCS bowl berth. WVU had bounced back from a loss at Louisville three weeks earlier to pound Cincinnati and Pitt and had climbed back to No. 7 in the polls.

Then came a game in which the Bulls simply took it to the Mountaineers on their home field, stuffing WVU’s run game, forcing four turnovers and controlling the clock.

“It was a big win for them and a horrible loss for us,’’ quarterback Patrick White said. “We want to get that corrected.’’

At that time, USF was largely an unknown quantity. That’s not the case now. The Bulls are off to a 3-0 start that includes an overtime win at Auburn and are ranked No. 18 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25.

“People talk about revenge, but I don’t think that’s a great motivator,’’ West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. “But it’s a conference game and our guys are anxious to play in the Big East. And I think they’re excited about trying to play better against them than we did last year.’’

Friday’s 8 p.m. game at Raymond James Stadium will be televised by ESPN2. West Virginia is an early 7-point favorite.

How big is the game in Tampa? Well, considering that the Bulls had never been ranked before last week it is obviously the first time USF has ever hosted a game matching Top 25 teams. Raymond James Stadium  which is primarily the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home field  holds 65,000 fans, but has never hosted more than 50,000 for a Bulls game. In fact, the upper level is usually closed for USF games.

This week, though, only about 3,000 tickets remain and a first-ever USF sellout is possible.

Oh, and it’s not as if the Bulls haven’t been looking forward to playing West Virginia in that type of environment.

“I started thinking about it mid-fourth quarter,’’ USF receiver Taurus Johnson said after the Bulls 37-10 win over North Carolina, played in front of a crowd of about 37,000.

The Bulls have played some good teams at home, though, and have won. Two years ago Louisville found out what it could be like when USF played its first-ever Big East game and crushed the No. 9 Cardinals 45-14. Aside from a win over No. 25 Bowling Green in 2002, that was the only win over a Top 25 team in USF’s brief 11-year history until the game in Morgantown last November.

“They’ve been in big games. I remember them beating Louisville a couple years ago,’’ Rodriguez said. “They’ve been in some big games, we’ve been in big games. When you’re a road team going into that kind of environment you just kind of have to tune out everything but the 11 guys on the field that you’re competing against.’’

Briefly

Rodriguez said he wasn’t quite as impressed Sunday by his team’s performance in a 48-7 rout of East Carolina as he was Saturday after the game.

“After watching the film I thought we could have executed better. We had some mistakes you normally make in the first half of the season and we made a few more than I thought,’’ Rodriguez said. “At the same time, Pat was sharp and making good decisions, Steve [slaton] was running well and our guys made some plays in space. And obviously the design of the offense is to make plays in space and we did a nice job of that.’’

• The only injury in Saturday’s game was a shoulder problem incurred by freshman wide receiver Will Johnson while playing on special teams. Rodriguez said he didn’t know Johnson’s status yet.

• West Virginia remained No. 5 in both major polls Sunday. Rutgers moved up a notch to No. 10 in the AP poll and while Louisville dropped out Cincinnati made an appearance at No. 24.

“I think what you’re seeing each week is the strength of the Big East Conference. We’ve been saying it for a couple of years that all of the programs in our league are continuing to grow,’’ Rodriguez said. “I think we’re going to beat each other up in the Big East again this season.’’

• Rodriguez is a voter in the coaches poll, but wouldn’t say where he put USF on his ballot.

“I’d have them ranked higher,’’ said Rodriguez, who refuses to reveal his ballot until the end of the season. “I can tell you this: I believe South Florida is better than 18th.’’

Link to Story

[bull_roarer]

It's clear we've earned their respect. That's gratifying. This could be the next big rivalry in college football. (And yes, I know they already have a rival, but hey, you can never have too many.)

[cal]

Sorry boys...not today! (or friday)

[TheBullies]

• Rodriguez is a voter in the coaches poll, but wouldn’t say where he put USF on his ballot.

“I’d have them ranked higher,’’ said Rodriguez, who refuses to reveal his ballot until the end of the season. “I can tell you this: I believe South Florida is better than 18th.’’

AWESOME