2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl
West Virginia (8-4) vs. North Carolina (8-4)
Dec. 27, 1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Payout: $ 1 million Location: Bank of America
Stadium, Charlotte NC
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2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
West
Virginia |
North
Carolina |
|
Total Offense |
|
65th 352.50 ypg |
95th 317.33 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
35th 325.5 ypg |
62nd 357.92 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
75th 24 ppg |
49th 27.5 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
9th 15.92 ppg |
30th 20.33 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
12th 217.17 ypg |
86th 125.08 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
46th 134.83 ypg |
58th 140.75 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
109th 135.33ypg |
83rd 192.25 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
38th 190.67ypg |
79th 217.17 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
12th 1.00 |
27th 0.50 |
|
West Virginia
Villanova W 48-21
at E Carolina
L 24-3
at Col. L
17-14 OT
Marshall W 27-3
Rutgers W 24-17
Syracuse W 17-6
Auburn W 34-17
at Conn. W
35-13
Cinc. L 26-23
OT
at Louisville W
35-21
at Pitt L 19-15
South Florida W 13-7 |
North Carolina
McNeese St W 35-27
at Rutgers W 44-12
Va Tech L
20-17
at Miami W 28-24
Conn. W
38-12
No Dame W 29-24
at UVa L 16-13 OT
Boston Coll W 45-24
Ga Tech W
28-7
at Maryland L 17-13
NC State L 41-10
at Duke
W 28-20 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
WV |
5
highest
1 lowest |
NC |
|
5 |
Quarterbacks |
3 |
|
4 |
RBs |
2.5 |
|
2 |
Receivers |
4 |
|
4 |
O
Line |
2 |
|
3.5 |
D
Line |
3 |
|
3.5 |
Linebackers |
4 |
|
4.5 |
Secondary |
3.5 |
|
5 |
Spec
Teams |
3.5 |
|
3.5 |
Coaching |
4 |
|
By
Richard Cirminiello
This year’s Meineke Car Care
Bowl will give the college
football world a chance to say
farewell to West Virginia QB Pat
White, while welcoming back
North Carolina to the
postseason.
The holder of 15 NCAA, Big East,
or school records, White is one
of the most decorated and
accomplished athletes playing in
one of the 34 bowl games. Chief
among his accomplishments has
been rushing for more yards than
any other quarterback at this
level as he established himself
as the greatest running
quarterback in college football
history. While it wasn’t his
fault, White’s final season
hasn’t been what it was supposed
to be.
Heavy Big East favorites
entering the season, West
Virginia was a shell of its old
self, losing to East Carolina
and Colorado in September and
dropping a pair of pivotal
league games in November. Was it
just a coincidence that former
head coach Rich Rodriguez was no
longer around? Mountaineer fans
don’t think so. They’ve turned
their angst toward Bill Stewart,
who’ll need to win a second bowl
game in under a year to
temporarily quiet the critics.
The Tar Heels are back,
competing in a bowl game for the
first time since 2004. It’s
taken Butch Davis less than two
years to turn things around in
Chapel Hill, improving the
overall talent level and play on
the field. This game will give
the program a chance to show the
country just how far along
they’ve come this year.
Carolina was actually in the ACC
Coastal driver’s seat as late as
mid-November before showing its
youth with back-to-back losses
to Maryland and North Carolina
State. Learning to close out
games and seasons is an art
that’ll come with time for the
youthful Heels. Playing a
quality opponent in a bowl game
is exactly what Davis and his
staff need to flip the
fast-forward switch on
Carolina’s rebuilding plans.
Five of the six Meineke Car Care
Bowls were won by the ACC, and
the other was won by Boston
College just before it jumped to
the ACC. This might be the best,
and more important matchup yet
for the bowl game as it'll go
along way to cementing the final
2008 reputations of the two
schools, where they're headed,
and the two respective
conferences.
Players to watch:
White is not the only
game-breaker toiling on the West
Virginia offense. RB Noel
Devine and SB Jock
Sanders are a pair of
jackrabbits that can go a long
way with just a little help from
their blockers. Devine has held
up surprisingly well in his
first year as the feature back,
carrying 193 times for 1,228
yards and three touchdowns.
Sanders does a little bit of
everything for the Mountaineers,
leading the team in receiving
and touchdowns, while getting
four or five carries each game.
The responsibility of corralling
Devine and Sanders belongs to
Carolina’s Bruce Carter
and Quan Sturdivant, two
of the most athletic linebackers
in the ACC. Sturdivant is a
tremendous tackler in the open
field, which is typically where
he’ll find Devine and Sanders
roaming. Carter can match West
Virginia’s athleticism on
defense and special teams. He’s
blocked five kicks this year and
has his sights set on
Mountaineer all-star Pat
McAfee.
The Tar Heels have a playmaker
of their own on offense,
prolific WR Hakeem Nicks.
The school’s all-time leading
pass-catcher, he’s a big,
physical target with 60 catches
for 1,005 yards and nine
touchdowns. West Virginia has
been solid in pass defense, but
if Carolina can get Nicks
isolated on inexperienced CB
Brandon Hogan, it’ll connect
on a couple of long plays
downfield.
Getting Nicks the ball will be
QB T.J. Yates, who
started the opener, missed half
the year with a broken ankle,
and closed the regular season
with a sharp effort against
Duke. The Heels need him to be
on the money once again to have
success against a Mountaineer
defense that has no stars, yet
is ninth in the nation in
scoring D.
North Carolina will win if...
it dominates the turnover
margin, much the way it has all
season. Peeling back the onion
on the Tar Heels’ regular season
reveals that they were plus-18
in their eight wins and minus-12
in their four losses. While they
don’t yet have an air-tight
defense, it can seem that way
when S Trimane Goddard
and CB Kendric Burney are
picking off passes to end
drives. It’s going to be a
challenge for Carolina against
West Virginia, which has done a
fantastic job of protecting the
ball throughout the year.
West Virginia will win if...
it controls the line of
scrimmage on offense. For the
Mountaineers, the game will be
won or lost at the point of
attack. If it can move a deep
and talented Carolina defensive
line off the ball, White,
Devine, and the rest of the West
Virginia playmakers will spend
most of the afternoon in the Tar
Heel secondary. If, however,
they can’t get a push, the ‘eers
will be forced to lean more
heavily on a passing game that
ranks 109th in the
country. For those who love
blue-collar football, the battle
between Ryan Stanchek and
the Mountaineer O-line and
Marvin Austin and the Heel
D-line qualifies as can’t-miss
viewing.
What will happen: North
Carolina has lived off the
turnover all season long. The
problem for the Heels in this
match up is that West Virginia
has only coughed the ball up 14
times in 12 games, and generally
plays a low-risk style of
offense. The difference in an
otherwise even game will be
White, the most dangerous player
on the field when the game is on
the line. He’ll snap off one of
his patented 50-yard scampers
through the Carolina defense in
the second half, capping a
brilliant career with a fitting
finish.
Line: North Carolina -1
... CFN Prediction:
West Virginia 27 ... North
Carolina 23
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2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl
Player Profiles, Histories, & More