Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
PrintMORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- With the 19-16 victory Nov. 27 against Pitt, West Virginia polished off its home schedule a spotless 7-0 -- something the program hadn't done since 1993.
That's great stuff for the Mountaineer Field season-ticket holders, who -- as coach Bill Stewart likes to say -- "come from all corners of the great state of West Virginia to cheer on their beloved young men."
But when those same fans have hit the road this season, it has been different.
Much different.
- Matchup: No. 24 West Virginia (8-3, 4-2) vs. Rutgers (8-3, 3-3), noon today, Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J. The Scarlet Knights are favored by 11/2.
- TV/RadioInternet: ESPN; WWVA-AM (1170) and Mountaineer Sports Network.
- West Virginia: Has won 14 consecutive games against Rutgers, dating to 1994. ... With win last week against Pitt, quarterback Jarrett Brown improved his record to 10-3 as a starter. ... Is 54-4 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle. ... Running back Noel Devine is second in the Big East Conference at 112 yards per game and is coming off a 134-yard game against Pitt.
- Rutgers: Is one of the youngest teams in the Big East, having 20 players on its two-deep roster with two or more years of eligibility remaining, including eight freshmen, one of whom is starting quarterback Tom Savage. ... Has five players on its roster -- Mohamed Sanu, Joe Matinek, Jourdan Brooks, De'Antwan Williams and Kordell Young -- who have rushed for 100 yards or more in a game.
- Hidden stat:West Virginia leads series, 30-4-2, against the Scarlet Knights.
West Virginia (8-3, 4-2), No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll, has played four times away from home this season and won just once, against lowly Syracuse.
The Mountaineers fumbled away what could have been a win at Auburn, let the Bulls run all over them at South Florida and, most recently, slugged it out with a top-10 team but lost at Cincinnati last month.
What gives on the road?
"We start off slow when we go on the road for some reason," safety Robert Sands said. "Anytime we have gone on the road, offensive-wise and defensive-wise, we've just been a little too relaxed.
"We start off too slow and we just need to pick up the tempo."
Sands hit on something. The tempo needs to be picked up in the running game when West Virginia hits the road, as the Mountaineers will do for the final time in the regular season today, when they play at noon at Rutgers (8-3, 3-3).
In games at Mountaineer Field this season, West Virginia has averaged 198 yards rushing, but when West Virginia plays away from home, those numbers decrease dramatically -- 163.5 yards per game.
And the flip side yields a similar disparity.
When West Virginia is at home, its defense gives up only 111.29 yards a game on the ground, but in the four games away from Mountaineer Field, teams have run for 144.25 yards.
Defensive lineman Chris Neild looks at everything and is mystified as to why this team has, up until this point, gone 1-3 on the road "I can't figure it out, I really can't," he said.
"I think it might have to do with us feeding off our crowd so much at home, but that's kind of an excuse.
"What it comes down to is us not performing, and we better show up at Rutgers, we better wake up ready to play, because we know they are going to be ready to play."
Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
