October 29, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Football

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Devine's 56-yard touchdown run with 2:10 left in a 28-24 victory over Connecticut last week continued his season-long trend of delivering in the clutch. Devine is averaging 6.9 yards per carry in the second half of games and is gaining a whopping 11 yards per rush when the Mountaineers are trailing by a touchdown or less.

"It's no secret," Devine said. "I just play to my best ability the whole game and try to last the whole game. The fourth quarter is the most important."

Devine's knack for producing highlight-worthy moments down the stretch could help West Virginia (6-1 overall, 2-0 in the Big East) survive its second-half gauntlet to win the Big East title. In the process, it just might help make Devine make a late run for the Heisman Trophy.

West Virginia's game at USF on Friday night kicks off a season-ending stretch that also features trips to Cincinnati and Rutgers as well as home games with Louisville and Pittsburgh. If Devine continues his current pace and prevents West Virginia from losing again, he at least would have to enter the Heisman conversation.

"I'm just playing ball the best I can," Devine said. "If I get Heisman attention, that would be great because nobody's won it from my school. But I'm not really focusing on that. I'm focusing on winning, keep winning and getting in a good BCS game."

Devine has rushed for 912 yards and 10 touchdowns on 137 carries while ranking third in the nation - and first among players from the Big Six conferences - in rushing yards per game. He has rushed for at least 91 yards and has scored at least once in each of West Virginia's first seven games.

That represents a stunning turnaround for a player who struggled down the stretch last season. Although Devine rushed for 1,289 yards and four touchdowns a year ago, he reached the 100-yard mark just once and had only one touchdown run in his final six games.

Now he is playing much more consistently against defenses that are focused on stopping him now that star quarterback Pat White has moved on to the NFL's Miami Dolphins. West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said Devine's improved productivity has arisen from improved patience.

West Virginia's spread option requires a running back to wait for the holes to develop. Stewart noted that Devine used to run as fast as he could in a million different directions as soon as he touched the ball.

Not anymore.

"You have to have patience to the hole and speed through the hole," Stewart said. "That's what he's doing different. He's being patient to the hole and [showing] speed through the hole, if that makes sense. He's not doing all that back-and-forth, back-and-forth like a PlayStation game.''

Devine now gets a chance to show the folks in his home state just how much he has learned.

Tampa's Raymond James Stadium is about two hours north of Devine's hometown of North Fort Myers, so Devine says this game is like a homecoming for him.

"It's really special," Devine said. "I've got guys I played with and people I played against on that team. It's two hours from home. There are a lot of people coming from home to [watch] the game and watch players from both sides."

Devine's friends and relatives shouldn't leave that game early. Recent history suggests Devine might do something to make them regret that decision.

BEST MATCHUP: Connecticut RB Andre Dixon vs. Rutgers run defense. Rutgers' season has followed a similar theme all season. When the Scarlet Knights stop the run, they usually win. When they don't stop the run, they lose. In its five wins, Rutgers has allowed 71 rushing yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry. In their two losses, the Scarlet Knights have given up 195.5 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry. The exception to the rule is Army, which rushed for 197 yards on 40 carries in a 27-10 loss to Rutgers last week. And that doesn't bode well for the Knights' chances of slowing Dixon, who ranks third in the Big East with 93.4 rushing yards per game. Dixon will want to make amends after gaining just 38 yards on 14 carries last week in a 28-24 loss to West Virginia. If he delivers his fourth 100-yard game of the season Saturday, Connecticut ought to beat Rutgers.

PLAYER ON THE SPOT: USF DE George Selvie. USF's recent games with West Virginia played a major role in establishing Selvie's reputation as one of the nation's top pass rushers. He had 3.5 tackles for loss and returned a fumble 9 yards for a touchdown in USF's 24-19 upset of West Virginia in 2006. He had two tackles for loss and a sack when USF beat West Virginia 21-13 in 2007. He had 1.5 tackles for loss and forced and recovered a fumble in a 13-7 loss to the Mountaineers last season. Selvie has been relatively quiet so far in his senior season. He has only three sacks all year and made just one tackle last week in a 41-14 loss to Pittsburgh. Perhaps the renewal of the USF-West Virginia rivalry will help Selvie recapture his peak form.

NUMBERS GAME: Cincinnati heads into Saturday's game with Syracuse averaging 10.4 tackles for loss per game. No other team in the nation is averaging more than nine. The Bearcats also are averaging 4.14 sacks per game to tie USC for the NCAA lead. Big East rival Pittsburgh actually leads the nation with 32 total sacks, but the Panthers have played one more game than Cincinnati or USC. Cincinnati's big-play defense thrives on balance. The Bearcats lead the nation in tackles for loss and sacks without having a single player who has collected more than 5.5 sacks or 8.0 tackles for loss. Cincinnati's leading sacker is Alex Daniels, who is tied for 28th in the nation in that category. Ricardo Mathews leads the Bearcats in tackles for loss, yet he is tied for 59th in the nation.

THEY SAID IT:

"He was the ultimate son, the ultimate brother, the ultimate teammate and the ultimate friend. And he was going to be the ultimate husband." - UConn coach Randy Edsall, at Monday's memorial service for former Huskies CB Jasper Howard, who was stabbed to death in the early morning hours of Oct. 18 outside a school-sponsored party. John W. Lomax of Bloomfield, Conn., was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault

"We're going to play two top-20 teams [West Virginia and Pittsburgh] down the stretch. We love our situation. Let's just keep playing. It's early in the race. It's anybody's game." - Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly discussing his team's position in the BCS standings. Cincinnati fell three spots - from No. 5 to No. 8 - in the latest standings despite beating Louisville 41-10 without starting quarterback Tony Pike last week

"I was hoping Tony would play because I knew they would be one-dimensional and throw it. That was one of the things I knew with Zach. He can not only throw the ball, he can run it with the designed quarterback runs. That was something they really didn't do a lot of with Tony in the game." - Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe, explaining to the Louisville Courier-Journal why he would have rather faced injured Cincinnati QB Tony Pike instead of backup Zach Collaros, who went 15-of-17 for 253 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-10 rout of the Cardinals. Pike has thrown for 1,633 yards with 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions this season

"I joked with the [other coaches] at halftime that we should crumple up the game plan, but we couldn't. It was laminated." - West Virginia offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, to The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette, about how the Mountaineers responded to Connecticut's surprising decision to blitz frequently last week

"I wouldn't make too much of that. I'm sure we've all been late to something before." - Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, to The (Newark) Star-Ledger, about starting OT Anthony Davis' focus. Davis didn't start last week's game with Army after arriving late to a team lunch

Etc.: Cincinnati remains unsure about its quarterback situation heading into Saturday's game with Syracuse. Pike had the cast on his left arm shortened this week, but backup Zach Collaros continues to work with the first-team offense in practice. ... Syracuse LB Derrell Smith leads the nation with five forced fumbles and also has a team-high 64 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. Smith suffered a leg injury in the fourth quarter of a victory over Akron last week, but Orange coaches are optimistic about his chances of playing against Cincinnati. ... Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard and Syracuse's Mike Williams are among the 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation's top receiver. ... Cincinnati's Pike and Pittsburgh's Bill Stull are two of the 15 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award that goes to the nation's best quarterback. ... Either the defense or the special teams for Rutgers has scored a touchdown in three consecutive games. ... West Virginia LB Reed Williams has an injured left shoulder that leaves his status uncertain for the USF game. ... The honeymoon may be over for redshirt freshman USF QB B.J. Daniels. After leading USF to a victory at Florida State in his first start and throwing two touchdown passes in a victory over Syracuse the following week, Daniels has gone a combined 19-of-40 for 262 yards with four interceptions and one touchdown pass during the Bulls' current two-game losing streak ... Connecticut will honor the memory of CB Jasper Howard by handing out a "6" card to each of the fans attending Saturday's game with Rutgers. The first 15,000 fans also will receive "Jazz Live 365" wristbands. Connecticut students who attend the game will receive a "6" button as well as eye-black with a "6" on one side and the initials "JH" on the other side. Connecticut's players also will be wearing that eye-black design. Howard wore the No. 6 jersey and was nicknamed "Jazz." Connecticut band members will be wearing No. 6 jerseys during their pregame performance.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.