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West Virginia offense struggles, gains only 177 total yards in loss to Tigers

Published: Sunday, September 26, 2010

Updated: Sunday, September 26, 2010 22:09

Game

Chelsi Baker/The Daily Athenaeum

West Virginia running back Noel Devine is hit out of bounds by LSU linebacker Lamin Barrow in the first quarter of the Mountaineers’ 20-14 loss to LSU. Devine was injured on the play.

West Virginia survived the noise of Death Valley, but it was no match for Stevan Ridley.

Needing six points to the tie the game in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineer offense failed to pick up a first down on their final two possessions and allowed the LSU running back to gain 32 yards on his final two drives and run out the game clock, allowing the No. 15 Tigers to escape with a 20-14 victory in front of 92,575 fans at LSU's Tiger Stadium Saturday night.

It was the second-largest crowd West Virginia has played in front of in its history.

"At the end of the day, (LSU's) talent had more to do with it than the crowd," said WVU offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen. "The guys across from us made it tougher than the atmosphere."

After being held to 80 yards of total offense and just two first downs in the opening half, the Tigers gained 150 yards in the second half thanks to Ridley. The junior gained 88 second-half rush yards against a WVU defense that entered eighth in the country in rush defense.

The junior rushed for runs of 16 and 12 yards to pick up first downs late in the third quarter leading to a 23-yard field goal four seconds into the fourth quarter by LSU kicker Josh Jasper, extending his team's lead to six points and ending the game's scoring.

"Ridley is a great player and a strong kid," said WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "Our hats are off to him."

Ridley scored the game's first touchdown with 27 seconds left in the first quarter. One possession after West Virginia's Tyler Bitancurt's 28-yard attempt was blocked by LSU corner Patrick Peterson, WVU fullback Ryan Clarke fumbled at the Mountaineers' 10-yard line, giving LSU the ball at WVU's 7-yard line.

Four plays later, on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, Ridley scored for a 7-0 Tiger advantage.

"If you don't hit him low and hard, he's going to get yards after the hit, and that's what he did today," said WVU defensive lineman Chris Neild of Ridley. "He ran really hard today and it showed."

The LSU defense, meanwhile, held the Mountaineers to 60 yards of total offense in the second half, 30 of which came on two plays in WVU's opening drive of the third quarter, which ended in a 13-yard pass from West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith to receiver Jock Sanders.

West Virginia's only drive of more than five plays in the second half was a 10-play, 44-yard possession with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter which resulted in Bitancurt's second missed field goal of the game – a 48-yard attempt that would have cut the LSU lead to three.

The Mountaineers didn't pick up another first down in the game.

"I felt confident in the defense on the field," said LSU head coach Les Miles. "I felt like the game was really in control."

West Virginia was without running back Noel Devine for much of the first half and sparingly in the second half after the senior bruised a toe on a late hit out-of-bounds in the first half. Devine finished with 37 yards rushing on 14 carries, the senior's second-lowest total as a starter.

West Virginia finished with 177 yards in the game, the least amount by a Mountaineer team since 2003 against Maryland.

Following a Jasper 49-yard field goal three minutes into the second quarter, West Virginia was forced to punt from its own 12-yard line. The kick was returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Peterson – his second punt return for a touchdown this season.

The Mountaineers finally got on the board with 48 seconds before the half when Smith found Stedman Bailey for a five-yard touchdown, cutting the LSU deficit to 17-7.

"LSU is a team whose big thing is getting pressure on the quarterback," Smith said. "They sent a lot of blitzes.

WVU dropped to 3-1 on the season while LSU improved to 4-0, despite committing 12 penalties for 120 yards. It was the Tigers' 31st consecutive win over a non-conference opponent while LSU improved to 26-1 during Saturday night games in Tiger Stadium under head coach Les Miles.

 

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6 comments

A season ticket sucker
Fri Oct 1 2010 12:04
GCWilkins82--I couldn't have said it any better. What a waste of talent! If Oliver Luck can't clean house, we are doomed to watch mediocre high school football.
THE SASKATCHEWAN
Mon Sep 27 2010 18:19
Yeah! Yeah! I am fired up baby! I can coach this team. I am taking over. And if you think I threw a mean forearm in that beer commercial wait until UNLV comes in here. If Stew gets huffy I may just forearm him across the field too! What I'm talking about. Oh yeah, and if I find out Timid Joey is pulling my chain I'll forearm that little four eyed sob across the trees too.
Timid bookkeeper Joey
Mon Sep 27 2010 17:43
Here Here - I say we make the saskatchewan the head coach.
THE SASKATCHEWAN
Mon Sep 27 2010 16:58
One thing remains consistent and appears to be Coach Stewart's curse. All our offensive problems stem from the lack of demand our offensive coaches require of the offensive line and themselves. If teams constantly are blitzing - coaches has to have an effective plan - a safety valve, a free receiver opening up quickly somewhere. There is just no excuse for this anymore. I can look past all the other mistakes. The talent is everywhere else and doing a good job. Johnson, Mullen, must adapt. We are to use to and should be a legitimate top ten team. Other than this problem were there and have been there all along. Why have big tight ends and big fullbacks for a power game if you can't get above average consistent performance from the front line. If they don't have the talent -adapt - you should be smart people like your defensive coaches. They know how to make adjustments on the fly. Let them tell you what you are doing wrong. I know they have enough sense to adjust that offensive line and set-up safety valve passes. If I were the coach I would have that offense set -up to where I would dare the defense to blitz and if they did there would be a hell of a price to pay!
Anonymous
Mon Sep 27 2010 13:08
The enitre coaching staff must go!
G.C.Wilkins82
Mon Sep 27 2010 09:43
Sorry Bill, I'm a big fan of your character but your ability to lead and light fires as a coach have finally gone out the window with this loss. Furthermore, your attitude in your post game interview was deplorable and certainly exposes the raw nerve that knows it's days are numbered as head coach of the Mountaineers. I did not like the way you treated the media dodging questions that were justified concerning another road loss against a ranked team. Also, your lie about Geno's "signal" to the guard that he lined up under was laughable at best. We all saw Geno line up, he was ready to receive a phantom snap and Noel was there to make the correction. All caught on camera. We understand that Geno is young and he's going to make mistakes but this dishonesty opens a whole new can of worms. We can't trust your word anymore. How do we know when you're telling the truth about our preparations, readiness, areas that need improvement, and most of all who screwed up (specifically YOU, or them). At the beginning you said that if you don't accomplish what is expected of you that the school wouldn't need to fire you, you would simply quit because you knew what was expected coming in. I beg you to revisit these words and give them careful consideration. We expect to be the top of the Big East. We expect to be lightening fast and hard hitting, we expect to compete each year at the highest level for a BCS birth. All of these things have yet to accumulate and there's no question we have never before had as much talent as we do now to accomplish our goals. We have to question why we're falling short with superior talent. 9-4 is unacceptable.

As an alum, a booster and long time fan of our great school I ask for your removal as head coach. I further as for the removal of Jeff Mullen from his OC duties as we seem to be stuck on page two of the playbook. To say that losing Noel creates an uphill battle for us is totally unacceptable. It shows that you rely too much on one player, too many plays have been written for one person. You've set yourself up for the fall. We have an enormous blessing of high quality, high impact, and high excitement players other than Devine and we're not using them fully. I lay this blame on Jeff's shoulders. He has yet to impress with his ability to write/call plays and win when it matters.

Our school has a proud history and so much to gain going forward. We have seen at what level this program is able to play. The bar was raised when we just missed reaching the national title game. We cannot continue to regress. We cannot continue to give the critics ammunition as to how weak the Big East is and how we should be stripped of our automatic bid. We cannot continue to land star athletes and not allow them to show their ability. We are expected to field the team that will silence the doubters soundly! We are expected to have blazing speed, knock out hits, and a speed of play that confuses our opponents. We have tolerated mediocre back to back seasons but this loss speaks volumes to how we're progressing. Not being able to win the big game is a reflection of our leaderships inability to lead. It's time to start our search for the coach and the system that will get our program back on track. Thank you.





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