a Look at a BORDER RIVALRY
3 years 2 months ago - 3 years 2 months ago #201
by wvu4u2
a Look at a BORDER RIVALRY was created by wvu4u2
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — You have to go back to 1919 to find the first game between West Virgina and Maryland, a border rivalry that may not carry the significance of Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn or even West Virginia and Pitt's Backyard Brawl.
But if you play at either school, you realize that it's a game that sits there in a red circle on the schedule.
The fact that it returns after a five-year hiatus as the opener to Neal Brown's third season as coach only adds to the impact the game will have on the football atmosphere in both Morgantown and College Park, which hosts this year's game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
How important has the Maryland game been to West Virginia over the years?
Well, go back to the time when Don Nehlen took over a struggling West Virginia program in 1980, moved them into the new Mountaineer Field that year and began a tougher construction job than the one faced by those who built the new football stadium.
Most people believe that Nehlen's biggest victory — and there's any number of the 149 games he won at the school in his Hall of Fame career — was the opening game of the 1982 season when he went down to Oklahoma and won against a team that had beaten the Mountaineers 52-10 four years earlier.
That game certainly put WVU back into the nation's consciousness, but Nehlen at the time felt that his team's thrilling 19-18 victory over Maryland the following week was more important to building his program.
"You know, when I first came here, Maryland was the top dog in the ACC," Nehlen recalled.The Terps in the 1950s under Jim Tatum had been a team of national championship ability, and when Nehlen came in, they were still a top team under Jerry Claiborne and Bobby Ross.“Maryland is in our backyard," he said Monday afternoon.
"We never recruited against Oklahoma. We recruited against Maryland all the time. Almost every kid we went after Maryland was recruiting. That always made it a big game for us.”It also made it the kind of game Nehlen would take advantage of in preparing his players.“It was an easy game to get ready for. We had a lot of kids from that area," Nehlen said. "it wasn't a game we had to pull teeth to get the kids ready.
It was like Virginia Tech, they were ready to play.”The game itself was a thriller. Certainly, West Virginia could have had a letdown after the high of winning at Oklahoma — the only time the Mountaineers have ever done that — but they put it all together in consecutive weeks, again proving they had become a "ready for primetime" team.
Neither team could run the ball all day, with Maryland rushing for 66 yards and Nehlen's strong ground game held to just 46, so it became a pitcher's battle between Boomer Esiason of Maryland and Jeff Hostetler of West Virginia.
Hostetler completed 19 of 37 for 285 yards and a touchdown, while Esiason completed 24 of 40 for 217 and a touchdown.In the end, the game came down to one pitch. Maryland scored with 1:39 left to play to narrow the Mountaineers' lead to 19-18.
Rather than settling for a tying extra point, the Terps decided to go for two.
This is how Nehlen remembers what transpired.“They put two tight ends into the game," Nehlen said. "They rolled Esiason, but Daryl Talley came off the edge and forced him to throw a pass he couldn't complete.”And so WVU had its second straight major victory and stamped itself as a team of the future.
By 1988, they were playing for a national championship.
Maybe more than even the Pitt game, the WVU-Maryland rivalry, which stands at 28-22-2 (and 9-1 in the last 10) in favor of the Mountaineers, is about recruiting.
Think about it.
Maryland has been so important to West Virginia recruiting over the years that a list of some of the most prominent names brings thousands of memories rushing back to West Virginia fans.
It begins, but certainly doesn't end, with Tavon Austin out of Baltimore, who had the school's top rushing day ever with 344 yards against Oklahoma — to say nothing of being one of the top receivers and kick returners ever.And right there with him was an even more towering figure in Brian Jozwiak, an All-American offensive tackle on the unbeaten 1988 team who was a first-round NFL pick.
More recently, David Sills was a product of Elkton, Maryland, while the likes of Tim Agee of Bethesda, Jeff Braun of Westwood, Brian King of Damascus, Wes Ours of Westmar High, David Upchurch of Hyattsville, Moe Fofana of Silver Spring, Antwan Lake of New Market and Scooter Davis of Temple Hills came out of Maryland to WVU.
It's mostly forgotten now, but Steve Slaton, the best running back WVU ever had, originally was going to attend Maryland before the Terps withdrew their offer.
This is the way Slaton, who had been recruited at WVU by Bill Kirelawich, described what transpired in an article a couple years ago.
"I was locked into Maryland until I got a call from a local Maryland reporter," he said. "My world was rocked after that phone call. He asked about my scholarship status. Asked if I knew my scholarship was revoked."So, I jumped on the phone to call my Maryland recruiter, James Franklin (today head coach at Penn State), and it seemed like weeks went by before I was able to get hold of him. When he finally did answer, he said, 'If they have an extra scholarship left over on signing day,' I would be able to sign."At that moment, I took back my verbal commitment and dove back into the world looking for the next best place for me to spend my college years. At this time most of the schools that had interest in me had already filled their specific needs. The scholarships I'd been offered were based on me being strictly a defensive player and not a running back.“There was one school and one recruiter who I was still in touch with who believed in me playing running back — West Virginia.”
And so he came to WVU and met up with Pat White. T
he story picks up one September night in College Park in 2007, when Slaton said, "Thanks for nothing," to the Terps as he rushed 26 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns as WVU beat Maryland, 31-13.That game turned out to be significant in another aspect, as it was Noel Devine's coming out party, his first big game with five carries for 136 yards, including a 76-yard gainer.
And that wasn't even Slaton's best game against Maryland.
As sophomore in 2006, he rushed 21 times for 195 yards with 2 TDs.
So in two games against the school that jilted him, he carried 47 times for 333 yards and 5 TDs, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.
And at the end of this story, all that can be said is: MARYLAND SUCKS, (this was not part of the story, but just a fact submitted by this poster on BCSNN FORUMS)
See more at WVGAZETTE.COM
But if you play at either school, you realize that it's a game that sits there in a red circle on the schedule.
The fact that it returns after a five-year hiatus as the opener to Neal Brown's third season as coach only adds to the impact the game will have on the football atmosphere in both Morgantown and College Park, which hosts this year's game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
How important has the Maryland game been to West Virginia over the years?
Well, go back to the time when Don Nehlen took over a struggling West Virginia program in 1980, moved them into the new Mountaineer Field that year and began a tougher construction job than the one faced by those who built the new football stadium.
Most people believe that Nehlen's biggest victory — and there's any number of the 149 games he won at the school in his Hall of Fame career — was the opening game of the 1982 season when he went down to Oklahoma and won against a team that had beaten the Mountaineers 52-10 four years earlier.
That game certainly put WVU back into the nation's consciousness, but Nehlen at the time felt that his team's thrilling 19-18 victory over Maryland the following week was more important to building his program.
"You know, when I first came here, Maryland was the top dog in the ACC," Nehlen recalled.The Terps in the 1950s under Jim Tatum had been a team of national championship ability, and when Nehlen came in, they were still a top team under Jerry Claiborne and Bobby Ross.“Maryland is in our backyard," he said Monday afternoon.
"We never recruited against Oklahoma. We recruited against Maryland all the time. Almost every kid we went after Maryland was recruiting. That always made it a big game for us.”It also made it the kind of game Nehlen would take advantage of in preparing his players.“It was an easy game to get ready for. We had a lot of kids from that area," Nehlen said. "it wasn't a game we had to pull teeth to get the kids ready.
It was like Virginia Tech, they were ready to play.”The game itself was a thriller. Certainly, West Virginia could have had a letdown after the high of winning at Oklahoma — the only time the Mountaineers have ever done that — but they put it all together in consecutive weeks, again proving they had become a "ready for primetime" team.
Neither team could run the ball all day, with Maryland rushing for 66 yards and Nehlen's strong ground game held to just 46, so it became a pitcher's battle between Boomer Esiason of Maryland and Jeff Hostetler of West Virginia.
Hostetler completed 19 of 37 for 285 yards and a touchdown, while Esiason completed 24 of 40 for 217 and a touchdown.In the end, the game came down to one pitch. Maryland scored with 1:39 left to play to narrow the Mountaineers' lead to 19-18.
Rather than settling for a tying extra point, the Terps decided to go for two.
This is how Nehlen remembers what transpired.“They put two tight ends into the game," Nehlen said. "They rolled Esiason, but Daryl Talley came off the edge and forced him to throw a pass he couldn't complete.”And so WVU had its second straight major victory and stamped itself as a team of the future.
By 1988, they were playing for a national championship.
Maybe more than even the Pitt game, the WVU-Maryland rivalry, which stands at 28-22-2 (and 9-1 in the last 10) in favor of the Mountaineers, is about recruiting.
Think about it.
Maryland has been so important to West Virginia recruiting over the years that a list of some of the most prominent names brings thousands of memories rushing back to West Virginia fans.
It begins, but certainly doesn't end, with Tavon Austin out of Baltimore, who had the school's top rushing day ever with 344 yards against Oklahoma — to say nothing of being one of the top receivers and kick returners ever.And right there with him was an even more towering figure in Brian Jozwiak, an All-American offensive tackle on the unbeaten 1988 team who was a first-round NFL pick.
More recently, David Sills was a product of Elkton, Maryland, while the likes of Tim Agee of Bethesda, Jeff Braun of Westwood, Brian King of Damascus, Wes Ours of Westmar High, David Upchurch of Hyattsville, Moe Fofana of Silver Spring, Antwan Lake of New Market and Scooter Davis of Temple Hills came out of Maryland to WVU.
It's mostly forgotten now, but Steve Slaton, the best running back WVU ever had, originally was going to attend Maryland before the Terps withdrew their offer.
This is the way Slaton, who had been recruited at WVU by Bill Kirelawich, described what transpired in an article a couple years ago.
"I was locked into Maryland until I got a call from a local Maryland reporter," he said. "My world was rocked after that phone call. He asked about my scholarship status. Asked if I knew my scholarship was revoked."So, I jumped on the phone to call my Maryland recruiter, James Franklin (today head coach at Penn State), and it seemed like weeks went by before I was able to get hold of him. When he finally did answer, he said, 'If they have an extra scholarship left over on signing day,' I would be able to sign."At that moment, I took back my verbal commitment and dove back into the world looking for the next best place for me to spend my college years. At this time most of the schools that had interest in me had already filled their specific needs. The scholarships I'd been offered were based on me being strictly a defensive player and not a running back.“There was one school and one recruiter who I was still in touch with who believed in me playing running back — West Virginia.”
And so he came to WVU and met up with Pat White. T
he story picks up one September night in College Park in 2007, when Slaton said, "Thanks for nothing," to the Terps as he rushed 26 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns as WVU beat Maryland, 31-13.That game turned out to be significant in another aspect, as it was Noel Devine's coming out party, his first big game with five carries for 136 yards, including a 76-yard gainer.
And that wasn't even Slaton's best game against Maryland.
As sophomore in 2006, he rushed 21 times for 195 yards with 2 TDs.
So in two games against the school that jilted him, he carried 47 times for 333 yards and 5 TDs, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.
And at the end of this story, all that can be said is: MARYLAND SUCKS, (this was not part of the story, but just a fact submitted by this poster on BCSNN FORUMS)
See more at WVGAZETTE.COM
Last edit: 3 years 2 months ago by wvu4u2.
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