West Virginia & Brown come up short vs. UC

West Virginia Mountaineers 2009 ... Head Coach: Bill Stewart

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 9-3
2009 Record: 7-2

9/5 Liberty W 33-20
9/12 E Carolina W 35-20
9/19 at Auburn L 41-30
9/26 OPEN DATE
10/1 Colorado W 35-24
10/10 at Syracuse W 34-13
10/17 Marshall W 24-7
10/24 Connecticut W 28-24
10/30 at USF L 30-19
11/7 Louisville W 17-9
11/13 at Cincinnati L 24-21
11/21 OPEN DATE
11/27 Pitt
12/5 at Rutgers

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 10-2
2008 Record: 9-4

8/30 Villanova W 48-21
9/6 at East Carolina L 24-3
9/13 OPEN DATE
9/18 at Colorado L 17-14 OT
9/27 Marshall W 27-3
10/4 Rutgers W 24-17
10/11 Syracuse W 17-6
10/18 OPEN DATE
10/23 Auburn W 34-17
11/1 at Conn.W 35-13
11/8 Cincinnati L 26-23 OT
11/15 OPEN DATE
11/22 at Louisville W 35-21
11/28 at Pitt L 19-15
12/6 South Florida W 13-7
Meineke Car Care Bowl
12/27 No. Carolina W 31-30

West Virginia Mountaineers

Nov. 13
at Cincinnati 24 … West Virginia 21
Tony Pike threw two touchdown passes and Isaiah Pead barely crossed the goal line on a two-yard run, which was reviewed for being a fumble, as Cincinnati held on to beat the Mountaineers. The Bearcats weren’t sharp, but with a 38-yard Jake Rogers field goal with just over two minutes to play, they had a ten-point lead and appeared to be set. But West Virginia rolled down the field in just over a minute getting a three-yard Bradley Starks touchdown catch with 39 seconds to play, but Cincinnati recovered the onside kick. West Virginia’s first score, a run from QB Jarrett Brown, came off a fumble. It was UC’s first lost fumble of the season.
Player of the Game: Cincinnati RB Isaiah Pead ran 18 times for 175 yards and a score, and he caught two passes for 13 yards.
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 17-25, 188 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Noel Devine, 25-88, Receiving: Bradley Starks, 5-50, 1 TD
Cincinnati: Passing: Zach Collaros, 17-24, 205 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Isaiah Pead, 18-175, 1 TD, Receiving: Armon Binns, 5-62, 1 TD
What It All Means: Jarrett Brown is fantastic when he can simply let it rip. When he’s able to get on the move and make plays with his athleticism and creativity, the offense moves much better. The coaching staff appears to be doing more and more to help do more to be a baller, and doing less to try to restrict him and make him into a pocket passer. He held up well against Cincinnati’s pressure, and he was terrific on the final scoring drive in the last few minutes, but it wasn’t enough. There’s still time to pull off a ten-win season, and there’s still a chance to play the spoiler role with Pitt and at Rutgers to close.

Nov. 7
at West Virginia 17 … Louisville 9
West Virginia struggled offensively, but it got just enough to get by with Jock Sanders catching an eight-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and Tavon Austin ran for a nine-yard score in the third. Louisville got a tremendous 164-yard rushing day from Darius Ashley, but he couldn’t carry the offense that only managed two Chris Philpott field goals.
Player of the Game: In a losing effort, Louisville RB Darius Ashley ran 33 times for 164 yards, and he ran three times for 12 yards.
Louisville: Passing: Will Stein, 14-26, 100 yds
Rushing: Darius Ashley, 33-164, Receiving: Cameron Graham, 4-40
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 9-17, 94 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jock Sanders, 12-66, Receiving: Alric Arnett, 3-46
What It All Means: West Virginia didn’t exactly go through the motions against Louisville, but this was hardly the game the team was looking to have after the loss at South Florida. The run defense struggled yet again, while the offense sputtered and coughed with now passing game and little running pop with Noel Devine struggling through an ankle injury. The Mountaineers had better step up their game in a big hurry or they’re going to struggle to get a win in the final three games at Cincinnati, Pitt, and at Rutgers. However, the Big East title is still there for the taking. 

Oct. 30
at USF 30 … West Virginia 19
B.J. Daniels controlled the game with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Carlton Mitchell and an 11-yard scoring play to A.J. Love for a 17-9 USF lead, and then his legs took over finishing with 104 rushing yards. West Virginia kept it close with two Jarrett Brown touchdown runs, but after pulling within one on an 11-yard Brown dash, it was all USF the rest of the way with a six-yard Sterling Daniels touchdown catch and a 44-yard Eric Schwartz field goal. Kion Wilson made 12 tackles, an interception, and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Player of the Game: South Florida QB B.J. Daniels completed 13-of-26 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and ran 14 times for 104 yards.
West Virginia : Passing: Jarrett Brown, 19-32, 205 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Noel Devine, 17-42, Receiving: Alric Arnett, 6-84
USF: Passing: B.J. Daniels, 13-26, 232 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: B.J. Daniels, 14-104, Receiving: Carlton Mitchell, 5-132, 1 TD
What It All Means: You’d think that West Virginia, of all teams, would be used to defending a mobile quarterback; it does it every day in practice. It couldn’t handle B.J. Daniels as both a runner and a passer, and the offense couldn’t take control of the game. There were chances late, but Noel Devine was bottled up for most of the game and Jarrett Brown couldn’t make up for it with the passing game. All is not lost; the Big East title is still in range with Cincinnati, Pitt, and Rutgers still to play. 

Oct. 24
at West Virginia 28 … Connecticut 24
In a game played in the memory of the late Jasper Howard, the UConn corner who died in a stabbing incident last week, West Virginia took the lead right away on a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Tavon Austin to start a wild game. Jarrett Brown ran for a five-yard score and hit Tyler Urban for a one-yard score to give the Mountaineers a 21-17 lead, but UConn came up with the big play late on a 88-yard Marcus Easley touchdown catch with just under four minutes to play. And then Noel Devine broke the Huskies’ hearts with a brilliant 56-yard touchdown run, tightroping the right sideline most of the way, to give the Mountaineers the win.
Player of the Game: West Virginia RB Noel Devine ran 23 times for 178 yards and a score, and he caught a pass for 13 yards.
Connecticut: Passing: Cody Endres, 25-41, 378 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Jordan Todman, 20-94, 1 TD, Receiving: Marcus Easley, 5-157, 1 TD
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 16-27, 153 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Noel Devine, 23-178, 1 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 8-81 
What It All Means: Noel Devine has to be given more national attention as one of the game’s elite weapons. Just when the team needed a spark late, he came up with it running for a brilliant game-winning touchdown. The Mountaineers did a nice job of coming up with the kickoff return for a score right away, but the defense struggled throughout outside of the four takeaways. With a short week and a trip to South Florida up next, the defense will have to come up with more takeaways, like it did this week, and will have to limit the mistakes. That’s been a problem so far.

Oct. 17
at West Virginia 24 … Marshall 7
Marshall scored first on a 12-yard Brian Anderson run, but that was it for the Herd’s fun. West Virginia scored 24 unanswered points helped by Noel Devine touchdown runs from 14 and nine yards, and Alric Arnett caught a 33-yard touchdown pass. The defense held the Herd to 207 yards, keeping rusher Darius Marshall to 82 yards, and forced four turnovers. West Virginia starting quarterback Jarrett Brown was knocked out of the game on a helmet-to-helmet hit. Backup Geno Smith threw for 147 yards and a score.
Player of the Game: West Virginia RB Noel Devine ran 19 times for 103 yards and two scores, and he caught a pass for 20 yards
Marshall: Passing: Brian Anderson, 17-35, 149 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 25-82, Receiving: Cody Slate, 10-102
West Virginia: Passing: Geno Smith, 15-21, 147 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Noel Devine, 19-103, 2 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 4-39 
What It All Means: The loss of Jarrett Brown, who suffered a blow to the head, hurt the offense, but Geno Smith stepped up and produced when needed, and Noel Devine showed once again why he’s one of the nation’s top backs. The problem, going forward, will be the third down conversions. The offense didn’t keep the chains moving on a regular basis with Smith under center, but the defense picked up the slack against a middling MU offense. Lost in the Big East shuffle with Cincinnati getting so much attention, WVU is 1-0 and now gets to show what it can do. This will be a fun second half of the season, but Brown has to be healthy.

Oct. 10
West Virginia 34 … at Syracuse 13
Noel Devine caught an 11-yard touchdown pass and ran for a four-yard score, and Ryan Clarke ran for two short touchdowns as West Virginia rolled to an easy win. The Mountaineers scored the first 27 points of the game before SU got on the board in the third quarter on a 50-yard pass from Ryan Nassib to Mike Williams. Nassib, who replaced an ineffective Greg Paulus, also connected with Marcus Sales for a 24-yard score. West Virginia won the time of possession battle 39:02 to 20:58.
Player of the Game: West Virginia RB Noel Devine ran 22 times for 91 yards and a touchdown, and he caught two passes for 12 yards and a score.
Syracuse: Passing: Ryan Nassib, 7-16, 120 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Delone Carter, 12-33, Receiving: Mike Williams, 4-89, 1 TD
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 22-30, 244, 1 TD
Rushing: Noel Devine, 22-91, 1 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 9-67
What It All Means: West Virginia came up with its most complete game of the season with Jarrett Brown playing his most efficient game yet, while the defense stuffed the Syracuse offense and made QB Greg Paulus look awful. The running game might not have been perfect, but the Orange can stuff the run well and Brown made up for it with an effective day. Now comes the Marshall game that’s always emotional, but the big battles are coming with Connecticut, at South Florida, and at Cincinnati in the next month. 

Oct. 1
at West Virginia 35 … Colorado 24
Noel Devine ripped off a 77-yard touchdown run and Jarrett Brown connected with Jock Sanders for a six-yard score and Brad Starks for a 48-yard touchdown as West Virginia won a sloppy game. Colorado stayed alive on a 36-yard Rodney Stewart touchdown run and got a 29-yard touchdown catch from Scotty McKnight, but three interceptions, three missed field goals from Aric Goodman, and two short touchdown runs from West Virginia’s Ryan Clarke were too much to overcome. The Mountaineers turned it over four times, all on fumbles.
Player of the Game: West Virginia RB Noel Devine ran 22 times for 220 yards and a touchdown
Colorado: Passing: Cody Hawkins, 27-52, 292 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Rodney Stewart, 21-105, 1 TD, Receiving: Scotty McKnight, 9-98, 1 TD
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 12-19, 148 yds, 2 TD
What It All Means: The turnovers have to stop. They were a killer in the loss to Auburn, and they were a problem against Colorado with four fumbles setting back an offense that worked extremely well. With a winnable game against Syracuse coming up next, the only way WVU loses is by screwing up, and after the last two weeks, fumbles have to be a major concern. Defensively, Reed Williams had a whale of a game against the Buffs with a team-leading nine tackles with three broken up passes.

Sept. 19
at Auburn 41 … West Virginia 30
After a rain delay, Auburn overcame an early 14-0 deficit, made by Noel Devine touchdown runs from one and 71 yards, with six turnovers and five interceptions. Darvin Adams caught three touchdown passes and Mario Fannin took a pass 82 yards for score on the way to a 34-30 Auburn lead in the fourth quarter, and then the defense took over. Three interceptions in three possessions ended up turning the tide of the game the Tigers’ favor. Devine also added a 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Player of the Game: Auburn LB Josh Bynes made 12 tackles with an interception
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 18-32, 221 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT
Rushing: Noel Devine, 15-128, 3 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 12-115, 1 TD
Auburn: Passing: Chris Todd, 16-31, 284 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Ben Tate, 19-75, Receiving: Darvin Adams, 6-80, 3 TD
What It All Means: Jarrett Brown was so good and so accurate to start the season, but he appeared to get lazy with his mechanics against Auburn and he paid dearly with interceptions. The Mountaineers ran well and cranked out 509 yards of total offense, but six turnovers proved to be too much to overcome. If that wasn’t bad enough, Brown hurt himself late in the game and had to be replaced by Geno Smith … who threw a pick.

Sept. 12
at West Virginia 35 ... East Carolina 20
West Virginia spotted ECU ten points in the first quarter, and then Jarrett Brown took over with four touchdown passes, with two to Alric Arnett and a 58-yarder to Tavon Austin in the third quarter to put the game away. ECU pulled within one on a four-yard Jamar Bryant touchdown catch with 11 seconds to play in the first half, the offense sputtered the rest of the way.
Player of the Game: West Virginia QB Jarrett Brown completed 24-of-31 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns with an interception, and he ran ten times for 73 yards.
East Carolina: Passing: Patrick Pinkney, 16-39, 175 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Brandon Jackson, 10-37, Receiving: Jamar Bryant, 5-41, 1 TD
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 24-31, 334 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Noel Devine, 19-80, 1 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 9-99
What It All Means: Even with the team not playing all that well, with 11 penalties and four turnovers, the Mountaineers proved they could keep things moving with Jarrett Brown coming up with a smart, even performance throwing the ball. He didn't rely only on his legs and he did a nice job of spreading the ball around. Going forward, he has to be nearly perfect again with Auburn coming up next, while the run defense has to be just as stout after holding the Pirates to 62 yards on 27 carries.

Sept. 5
at West Virginia 33 … Liberty 20
West Virginia was able to break a 10-10 first half tie with a 13 point run, highlighted by a 22-yard Jarrett Brown touchdown run, but Liberty wouldn’t go away. Noel Devine ran for a 24-yard score to give the Mountaineers a comfortable lead midway through the fourth, but Liberty came right back with a nine-yard Mike Brown scoring dash. It was too little, too late. Tyler Bitancurt hit four field goals for the Mountaineers.
Player of the Game: West Virginia QB Jarrett Brown completed 19-of-26 passes for 243 yards and ran nine times for 69 yards and a score.
Liberty: Passing: Tommy Beecher, 22-33, 210 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Aldreakis Allen, 10-36, Receiving: Mike Brown, 11-157, 1 TD
West Virginia: Passing: Jarrett Brown, 19-26, 243 yds
Rushing: Noel Devine, 17-112, 1 TD, Receiving: Jock Sanders, 8-95
What It All Means: The drives have to start going for touchdowns instead of field goals. West Virginia moved the ball without a problem against Liberty, rolling for 438 yards, but there were four Tyler Bitancurt field goals that allowed the game to stay close. The defense didn’t stuff the Liberty passing game, allowing 210 yards of production, and there weren’t enough big plays in the backfield, but there was a good job done o third downs and the offense was efficient, at least until it got into the red zone. Liberty held on to the ball for 12:08 of the fourth. That has to be where WVU dominates the time of possession.