Mountaineers Seek 4th Straight Bowl Victory
The West Virginia Mountaineers will be in search of their first four-game bowl winning streak in school history at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., when they face the North Carolina Tar Heels. The storylines are plentiful in this game — both teams were hoping for something bigger than the Meineke Car Care Bowl at the outset of the season; it’s WVU quarterback Pat White’s last game; will West Virginia’s No. 1-ranked red zone defense make its presence felt? — but a four-game bowl winning streak is a chart topper on the Mountaineers’ side. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago the school had an eight-game bowl losing streak that ended the same day Don Nehlen’s coaching career did (Dec. 28, 2000), dating back to the 1984 Bluebonnet Bowl. But the times have changed. During the last three seasons, West Virginia has won the Sugar Bowl, Gator Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl, marking the first time in school history it has won three bowls in successive seasons. The only other three-game bowl streak in school history took place during a 27-year period from 1922-1949 (East-West Bowl in 1922, Sun Bowl in 1938, and 1949 Sun Bowl). That they’ve gone from losing eight straight during a 16-year period to participating in seven consecutively to potentially winning four straight, says a few things. 1). There are a lot more bowl games. 2). The program is on another level. 3). They’ve figured out how to win these games. ‘‘Non grinding.
» Full StoryWVU 2008: Examining What Might Have Gone Wrong
There have been any number of theories about what went wrong for the 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers, who had visions of spending the first week of 2009 in Miami, Fla., but instead might wind up in Charlotte, N.C., or worse, Birmingham, Ala.
» Full StorySouth Florida Has Had West Virginia’s Number
In the preseason, this game looked like it might be for the Big East title.
Instead, the big motivator for Saturday night’s West Virginia-South Florida title might just be win to avoid playing a bowl game in Canada.
It Would Be Difficult to Make This Story Up
Well, it’s time for the “Backyard Brawl.”
And there’s really no place to begin when trying to put the 101st game of the rivalry into perspective, mainly because the hangover sometimes still throbs in Morgantown from the 100th meeting.
White Will Be the Focus of the Panthers ‘D’
By JIM ELLIOTT
Mountaineer Madness!
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt guesses it was four or five games ago that the West Virginia coaches unleashed quarterback Pat White.
The statistics say he’s pretty close.
How About a Hand for the ‘Casteel Curtain’
When the book closes on this Mountaineers season — and despite the outlook of some, it hasn’t — the most outstanding chapter will be about the defense that couldn’t, yet did.
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