Posted on 01/02/2008 9:28:45 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Rich who?
The West Virginia Mountaineers didn't need coach Rich Rodriguez. They had Pat White, and their elusive quarterback led them to a surprising 48-28 romp over Oklahoma (No. 4 BCS, No. 3 AP) in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night.
White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers (No. 9 BCS, No. 11 AP), who rushed for 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma in a bowl game.
Since arriving in the desert last week, the Mountaineers (11-2) said they had bonded behind interim coach Bill Stewart, who took over when Rodriguez bolted for Michigan in mid-December. And they vowed to rebound from a 13-9 loss to Pitt that knocked them out of the Bowl Championship Series title game.
The Mountaineers were right on both counts, turning in an emotional effort and overcoming the loss of star tailback Steve Slaton to a first-quarter leg injury. Noel Devine replaced Slaton and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns -- a 17-yarder and a 65-yarder that clinched the game in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers became the first of six teams to win under an interim coach in this bowl season. They improved to 2-0 in the Bowl Championship Series.
Oklahoma (11-3) endured another disappointment on the same field where the Sooners lost a classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise State one year ago. The Sooners have dropped four straight BCS games.
The Sooners had no answer for White, whose 79-yard touchdown pass to Tito Gonzales in the fourth quarter was the longest in Mountaineers bowl history.
The Mountaineers' fourth-rated defense limited the potent Sooners to well below their scoring average of 43.4 points per game, third in the nation.
The Mountaineers harassed Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, sacking the nation's top-rated passer four times and intercepting him in the end zone. Bradford completed 21 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
It is confirmed that interim West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart has been named head coach.
The official announcement is expected at 11 a.m. today from Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wednesday night, Stewart led WVU to a 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
Stewart will replace Rich Rodriguez, who left WVU for Michigan last month.
Stewart, a New Martinsville native, came to WVU as a quarterback coach in January 2000 from the Canadian Football League.
from www.wtov.com
One funny picture. LOL
thanks! see post 61
thanks! see post 61
Congrats on a job well done by the Mountaineers. They brought glory to the Big East. :)
they enjoy sitting together for that reason....there are tshirts like that
Last night was a great night for both WVU and the Big East. :) =^..^=
Thanks for all the accolades for my Mountaineers.
Stewart is being announced as new head coach right now. Although he is loved by many, whether he can be a good HEAD coach remains to be seen. IMO, the admin. at WVU just found a way to get a native son as coach.....on the cheap. We shall see if I’m correct or not.
Frankly the remarks are no suprise by the strange remarks.
This regular/bowl seasons should be the reason for the need for a bracket based playoff system.
Good for WVU to give the job to Bill Stewart. Last night’s sucessful game was his needed job interview. Even the Governor went to see the game last night. Would not suprise me if WV’s Governor gaved a good word to the WVU’s AD. Best wishes for Coach Stewart. :)
“Respect” that’s the buzz word for virtually every team with the BCS BS. It resolves nothing most of the time.
I think Ohio State is 0-8 vs. the SEC in bowl games lifetime.
If you get respect next week you definitely will have earned it!
LSU 37
Ohio St. 17
You heard it here first!
You will be wrong !
The entire country will see that the Buckeyes are fr’eal.
Good Luck!
Great game and good win for WV...Oklahoma should maybe consider passing on the Fiesta Bowl if they are invited next season. LOL!!
LOL!
I feel your pain!
I drove over to San Diego last night to a meeting so got scamp coverage in the mountains.
Last I heard it was 28 to 15 I think with all the static and the Sooners had the ball ready to score.
I then lost radio coverage of the game thinking the Sooners had an opportunity to recover and possibly win the game.
What a shock when I head the final score.
Oklahoma has a better team than the one that showed up the last two years in Phoenix.
I am still wondering why a kid who has the potential to make millions in the NFL would go to the trouble of stealing a $60.00 dollar jacket and possibly jeopardize a great career.
There are any number of fans that would have taken the jacket off their backs and loaned it to him to keep warm.
Putting on my tinfoil, it appears that the BCS wanted weak matchups at their lesser bowls to avoid any challenge to the 'big game'. A winner of a USC-Ga game would have had a legitimate right to call themselves national champs if the BCS game been messy.
They may be shooting themselves in the foot, however. There were a lot of non-bcs bowls that were more likely to hold viewers than did the Sugar - and at the end of the day, the advertisers want eyes on the screen.
(Then, of course, you get lousy non -BCS games like this year's Cotton Bowl. They didn't do themselves any favors.)
Agreed.
It’s a mess...a non-fixable one IMO. Too bad it’s already been what? 10 years?
It shouldn’t have taken this long to figure out the problems it was created to address are only worse.
And if this year doesn’t prove beyond a shadow of a doubt this just ain’t workin’ then we’re doomed to at least 10 more years of this idiocy, or more!
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