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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Going north and south isn't only a direction for West Virginia running back Noel Devine.
It is an attitude.
It is a message.
It is an escape from a stereotype.
• Matchup: West Virginia (3-1, 0-0 Big East) vs. Syracuse (2-3, 0-1), noon today, Carrier Dome. The Mountaineers are favored by 10.
• TV, radio, Internet: WPCW; WWVA-AM (1170) and Mountaineer Sports Netwo.
• West Virginia: Coming off a 35-24 win Oct. 1 in which RB Noel Devine had a career-high 220 yards on 22 carries. ... FB Ryan Clarke has 12 carries and three touchdowns, with two against Colorado. ... Scored 55 points in its last visit to Syracuse, a runaway win in 2007.
• Syracuse: Led by WR Mike Williams, who ranks fifth nationally with 124.6 receiving yards per game and is seventh at 8.2 catches a contest. ... Will name the field 'Ernie Davis Legends Field' in a halftime ceremony, a tribute to the 1961 Heisman winner.
• Hidden stat: The winner of this game is awarded the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy in honor of the former West Virginia letterman who became a Syracuse coach.
At 5 feet 8, 176 pounds, Devine has been known all his football-playing life as a speedster.
After last week's 35-24 victory against Colorado, just about everyone on the Mountaineers coaching staff marveled at Devine's ability to hit-it-up inside more, churn out the tough yards and largely bull through the middle en route to a career-high 220 yards.
Could we be seeing a progression to a Noel Devine ready to pack a more powerful punch as West Virginia plays Syracuse today?
The Orange linebackers' coach Dan Conley thinks so.
"I told my kids, and this is no disrespect to any player we are going to play against, but Noel Devine might be the best football player we play against this season," Conley said. "As an ex-linebacker, I'm watching this kid play and I'm thinking, 'OK, here is where he is definitely going to cutback.' Sometimes he does, and other times he doesn't; instead, he just lowers that shoulder and he just goes through people.
"Now, the kid is, what, 5 feet 7? But, that's rocked-up, all-muscle, put-together 5 feet 7 we are talking about, so you better be ready when he comes at you."
For his part, Devine admitted he has become less of a dancer than when he arrived in Morgantown in 2007. He has advanced his game to where there is no question he is still one of the top run threats in the country, but when a play starts to dissolve, he is more apt now to attempt to run through a defender than try to string the play out laterally and risk a loss.
He also acknowledged more inside runs are now being designed for him.
"I'm still the same person," Devine said. "I just got a little better at running north and south. It is maturity."
Perhaps the truest gauge of Devine developing a power game has been the smack talk after plays.
"I've heard some stuff," Devine said of when the pile unfurls after a play.
Like what, Noel?
"Like, they didn't think this little guy was that strong," he said. "It probably surprises them this little guy is that strong; it keeps them on their toes. Now, they never know what I'm going to do. I could juke them or just lower the shoulder."
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