ShareThisBy BOB SMIZIK
Friday, November 10, 2006
A six-minute exhibition of simply awful and totally-out-of-character football, most of it astonishingly coming from the best player on the team, ended the sweet national championship dreams of the West Virginia Mountaineers and the state that so loyally follows its beloved team.
The third-ranked and unbeaten Mountaineers were outplayed by fifth-ranked and unbeaten Louisville here in a matchup of the two top teams in the Big East Conference. Louisville pulled away early in the third quarter on its way to a 44-34 win.
A berth in the national championship game, which the Mountaineers had been eying all season and which was within their grasp, slipped away just like fumbles slipped away from brilliant tailback Steve Slaton.
This heavily hyped matchup of Big East powers played out somewhat as expected with an abundance of offensive power and a near absence of defensive prowess. Neither team had yet to face an offense approaching what it saw last night and consequently the defenses were badly outclassed. A national television audience might have been entertained by the athletic excellence of offensive players on both teams, who combined for 1,008 yards. But it also had to be turned off by the lax defense and plethora of mistakes that included four lost fumbles and 11 penalties totaling 108 yards.
The suspect West Virginia defense was humbled by superb Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, who passed for more than 300 yards in the first three quarters and finished the game with 354 yards while completing 19 of 26 passes. Eight of Louisville's first 10 possessions ended in scores.
The Mountaineers, trailing, 16-14, at halftime, came apart early in the third quarter and it was Slaton who led the way.
After playing with typical excellence in the first half _ 108 yards on 11 carries including a 42-yard touchdown run _ Slaton handed the game to the Cardinals, and his teammates, perhaps shocked by Slaton's ineptitude, followed suit.
Slaton looked like his normal Heisman-candidate self by opening the third quarter with a 20-yard run. That, however, would end the productive aspect of his night. He gained 21 yards on the next play but then fumbled the ball to Louisville to begin a comedy of errors that had to have the TV audience wondering about Big East football. Louisville fumbled the ball back to West Virginia on its third play, but not to be outdone, Slaton fumbled on the Mountaineers' first play as UL's Malik Jackson grabbed the ball and ran 13 yards for a touchdown.
That score seemed to take something out of the Mountaineers and that might have been particularly true when Slaton stood on the sideline for the next offensive series, which netted minus-6 yards on three plays. The end then came when UL's Guy Trent then returned a punt 40 yards for a touchdown.
"That really got us going," said Brohm.
In less than six minutes, what had been a close game turned into a rout as the Cardinals took a 30-13 lead.
The teams exchanged touchdowns the remainder of the way as the defenses stood in awe of the offenses.
It was a cruel loss for the Mountaineers who all season had carried the hopes of the Big East, based not only on their unbeaten record but their prestigious win last season against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
No one expected the Mountaineers to contain Brohm, but they never gave an indication of being able to stop him. He continually torched a secondary that was ranked 43rd nationally. Brohm passed 22 yards to Harry Douglas on Louisville's first play and continued to do pretty much what he wanted all night.
So now Cardinals must continue the resurgence of the Big East. Going into this game, the Big East had three of the top 12 teams in the BCS standings, an unheard of accomplishment for a league that long has been regarded as the worst of the major conferences.
The Cardinals have another challenge next Thursday when they play at undefeated Rutgers. They also must play at Pitt Nov. 25. But on the basis of the offensive show they put on Thursday night, the Cardinals seem eminently capable of winning those games and advancing to the spot in the title game that West Virginia wanted.
The Mountaineers will be heard from again. Slaton, who gained 156 yards on 18 carries, and quarterback Pat White, who passed for 222 yards and ran for 125 more, are only sophomores. Eight starters return on offense and seven on defense next season.
The elite program that coach Rich Rodriquez has built in Morgantown isn't going away. But it won't soon forget the one that got away at Louisville.
