Matt Freed, Post-Gazette West Virginia coach Rich Rodriquez has not been happy with his players' attitude.. Click photo for larger image. Bowl bound What: Gator Bowl Who: West Virginia Mountaineers, probably vs. Florida State Seminoles. Where: Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla. When: 12:30 p.m., Jan. 1 Tickets: $40 through Ticketmaster.com

The most enjoyable part of Rich Rodriguez's message to his West Virginia football team yesterday was short and sweet.

The Mountaineers will play in the Gator Bowl -- probably against Florida State -- in Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 1.

The rest of Rodriguez's message was not short, definitely not sweet and, for perhaps a few Mountaineers, not even inclusive.

"We're going to put a heavy emphasis during the next few weeks on doing things the West Virginia football way," he said yesterday morning. "That might affect some guys. Maybe some won't make it to the bowl game, but the ones who do will be focused.

"We have a lot we need to get corrected, and it's not just football-related. We need our young men to make a recommitment to the program -- both in football and as student-athletes. There are a handful of guys -- a small handful of guys -- who need to take their academics more seriously. There has been discipline [in the past], but this time there will be more bite to it.

"You can't just show up [for classes]. You have to make the effort. You have to sit the near the front, ask questions and be interested in getting educated. You've got to work at it."

With final exams looming in about a week, Rodriguez indicated "there could be" some Mountaineers who will be academically ineligible for the Gator Bowl.

Junior wide receiver Chris Henry, who leads the Mountaineers with 49 catches for 811 yards and a school-record 12 touchdowns, particularly is under the radar.

Henry was suspended for the first half of the Temple game Nov. 6 because he was ejected from the Rutgers game Oct. 30 after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Henry also was suspended for the Pitt game Thursday -- which West Virginia lost, 16-13 -- for violating team rules. It's generally accepted that meant, among other transgressions, Henry had missed a class and missed a mandatory team weightlifting session.

Henry remains on the team, but his availability for the Gator Bowl could be on a day-to-day basis.

"It really depends on what he does in the next couple weeks -- and it's not just him," Rodriguez said. "He's in a situation academically, weightlifting-wise and practice-wise where he's going to have to be perfect."

Rodriguez is especially annoyed with the way the Mountaineers, at one time 4-0 and ranked sixth in The Associated Press poll and later 8-1 and on the verge of clinching a BCS bowl spot, finished the regular season.

A special teams collapse cost them dearly in a 36-17 loss to Boston College at home Nov. 13. And penalties, a season-long problem, cost them a bunch in the loss at Pitt.

"That stuff sticks with you," Rodriguez said. "There's a sense of immediacy to get it corrected. I don't like to wait. This is not my first rodeo. If you're a head coach, you go through [rough times]. The best way to handle it is to get a hold of it and attack it right away -- and that's what we're going to do."

It seemed that Rodriguez sensed this team wasn't quite as hungry, wasn't quite as charged up, as the teams of the previous two seasons. The 2002 and 2003 Mountaineers overcame sluggish starts and roared into their bowl games with momentum.

This season, it seemed the Mountaineers went through the motions a lot, perhaps having bought too heavily into their preseason ranking of 10th in the AP poll.

"Maybe in some ways," Rodriguez said. "But I'm not going to get Freudian and try to psychoanalyze now. I know what I feel and sense going on.

"The thing is, there was so much buildup -- too much buildup and too soon. No matter what we did, we couldn't make people happy -- including ourselves. We had talent, but we were still a team that had to go play. We couldn't win just by showing up. At times, we did play hard. Other times, it didn't seem we did it.

"We still have eight wins. It wasn't like the season was a total bust. It's not like I want the players and coaches to jump off [a] bridge. At times, the effort was OK. But sometimes the discipline and execution ... it was very disturbing and frustrating."

The discipline and execution pieces manifested themselves in a rash of penalties. The Mountaineers rank 115th among the 117 Division I-A teams with an average of 80.6 yards per game in penalties.

Florida State, which will be announced as West Virginia's opponent today, isn't much more circumspect. The Seminoles (8-3) rank 110th with an average of 78.2 penalty yards per game.

The Mountaineers and Seminoles have met just once previously -- in the 1982 Gator Bowl. On a rainy, messy day, Greg Allen-led Florida State beat West Virginia, 31-12.

Rodriguez played in that game on West Virginia's special teams.

"I remember getting wet and muddy," Rodriguez said. "They were running by us and through us and doing whatever they wanted to do. Florida State was established then -- but not nearly as established as it is now. It's one of the elite programs in the country."

West Virginia is 0-4 in Gator Bowl games, including a 41-7 wipeout by Maryland last season.

"It's a nice honor," Rodriguez said of being invited back. "We had a tremendous experience there last year -- until the game."