Lake Fong, Post-Gazette WVU running back Kay-Jay Harris carries the ball against Maryland. Click photo for larger image.

West Virginia tailback Kay-Jay Harris had high hopes personally for this football season.

"I set my goals at 1,500-plus yards and 15 touchdowns," he said.

Then, after the first game, those hopes soared.

"After that, I jumped those goals up to 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns," Harris said.

Not surprising. In that first game against East Carolina, he scored four touchdowns and rushed for a Big East Conference-record 337 yards on 25 carries in the Mountaineers' 56-23 romp.

East Carolina is East Carolina, but it appeared the sky could be the limit for Harris.

A week later, that sky came crashing down.

Harris left the game against Central Florida after two carries because of a hamstring injury, the first of several injuries that nagged him and curbed his effectiveness the rest of the season.

Turned out, there would be no 2,000 yards rushing for Harris. No 25 touchdowns, either. In fact, he'll have to have a great performance against Florida State in the Gator Bowl Saturday just to reach 1,000 yards this season.

Harris, a senior from Tampa, Fla., enters his final college game with 825 yards, nine touchdowns and a sense of resignation.

"Injuries are part of football," he said. "Fortunately, I didn't break any bones. None of the injuries were career-ending."

Which is important to Harris because he dreams of playing in the National Football League. He thinks the Gator Bowl can be his showcase and never mind that Florida State leads Division I-A in rushing defense, grudgingly yielding 69 yards a game.

"I want to have a successful rushing game as well as have us win," he said. "I'm going to pull everything out of my bag -- everything out of my arsenal -- to make a statement about the next level and show that I can run against that defense."

That will not be easy.

"They have defensive linemen who can run with our wideouts, so it will be quite a challenge," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.

To cope, Harris might have to draw on his experiences as a minor-league baseball player.

"Baseball taught me patience," said Harris, who played three seasons in the Texas Rangers' organization before going to junior college (Garden City Community College in Kansas) to play football. "All those long road trips and being in hotel rooms in small cities I'd never heard of taught me patience. And matured me years ahead of time."

Harris did not have to think long when somebody asked him if there were one small city he had never heard of that particularly stood out.

"Pulaski, Virginia," Harris said immediately. "It was really amazing. It only has a couple thousand people, and it's kind of like a retirement city. Playing there was the lowest of the lows."

Harris, a leadoff hitter and center fielder, spent that summer playing against future Atlanta Braves Rafael Furcal and Marcus Giles.

And C.C. Sabathia, who soon would be with the Cleveland Indians.

"I think I was the first batter he faced in pro baseball," Harris said. "He threw in the mid-90s, but the thing that stood out to me was how big his legs were. I'm standing in and thinking, 'This is a big guy.' He threw the first pitch, and I just thought, 'Wow!' I don't think I swung."

In time, there were too many Sabathias during Harris' minor- league baseball career. He wasn't making rapid progress toward the major leagues, so he turned to football.

A two-year stint at Garden City produced 2,087 yards, 20 touchdowns and a highlight reel to show Rodriguez in hopes of landing a scholarship.

"The first thing that caught my eye was that he was the wedge-buster on the kickoff team," Rodriguez said. "He was blowing up the wedge, beating everybody downfield. That right there was enough for me."

Harris visited West Virginia and asked quarterback Rasheed Marshall to be his host.

"We pretty much hit it off right away," Marshall said. "He talked a lot about baseball and junior college. I thought, 'I've got to see this guy play. The guy must be a player.' And he backed it up."

Last season, Harris backed up starting tailback Quincy Wilson, who rushed for 1,380 yards and 12 touchdowns. There was enough playing time left for Harris to rush for 524 yards and four touchdowns.

Those totals offered promise for this season -- a promise largely unfulfilled because of the injuries.

"The expectations probably were a little too high from him and us and the fans," Rodriguez said. "The injuries set him back. He could have had a great year. Each week, when he was healthy, he was making great progress.

"But I'm proud of him. He's become a better player certainly than he was when he got here. And I think he really had fun being part of the program and enjoyed being in college."

Harris also enjoyed taking a trip to Florida and down memory lane with Marshall during spring break earlier this year.

Not that Marshall had that many laughs.

"He must think he played in a major-league All-Star Game, the way he talks," Marshall said, with a grin. "Every small city we traveled through, there was some kind of story about the Rivercats or Muddogs or whatever.

"And," Marshall finished, "I've heard enough about Pulaski."