Preview 2010: Scouting the Mountaineers
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West Virginia running back Noel Devine: 3,381 career yards in three seasons.
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9-4 -- 2009 record
-- lost to Florida State, 33-21, in Gator Bowl
Coach: Bill Stewart -- 3rd Season • W-L: 19-8
4: vs. Coastal Carolina, 3:30 p.m.; 10: at Marshall, 7 p.m.; 18: vs. Maryland, noon; 25: at LSU, 8 p.m.
9: vs. UNLV, 3:30 p.m.; 14: vs. South Florida, 7:30 p.m.; 23: vs. Syracuse, TBA; 29: at Connecticut, 8 p.m.
13: vs. Cincinnati, TBA; 20: at Louisville, TBA; 26: at Pitt, TBA.
4: vs. Rutgers, TBA.
Sept. 25 at LSU. ... This game almost has an in-season bowl feel. While it is the fourth game -- the Mountaineers have a very good chance to be 3-0 -- the pageantry of a trip to Baton Rouge is secondary. If West Virginia can beat an SEC team on the road, it could springboard them through the rest of the schedule in a positive fashion.
RB Noel Devine; WR Jock Sanders; LT Don Barclay; DT Chris Neild; LB J.T. Thomas; DB Brandon Hogan; S Robert Sands.
With nine starters returning on each side of the ball, the Mountaineers look to have a chance to fight for the conference crown, as did last year's team that came within a possession -- and what Stewart has called "a blown call" -- from beating Big East champion Cincinnati. Devine and Sanders are the known anchors on offense, just as Neild, Thomas and Sands -- from front to back -- are the same on defense. But there is one glaring question: How will sophomore Geno Smith, pictured at left, in his first season as the starting quarterback, perform now that it is his time?
First Published September 1, 2010 12:00 am
