By Bob Hertzel
MORGANTOWN — Bill Stewart has been around long enough to remember how Woody Hayes treated Ohio State’s rivalry with Michigan.
No matter what, Hayes would not mention Michigan.
To Hayes, they were “that team up north”.
Well, this is Marshall week at West Virginia and Stewart, it appears, has vowed not to mention the school’s name, preferring instead when they were brought up to refer to them simply as “that team down south.”
Now he didn’t call Auburn “that team down south”, even though the good folks down in Huntington are Yankees compared to an Auburn team that hales from way down south in the land of cotton.
Auburn, you see, is “a team” down south, not “the team”, which is Marshall.
Oh, the Marshall people have made things tough on Stewart, for their best player is a Darius Marshall, who went into this weekend’s game against Tulane as the nation’s leading rusher. Stewart, rather than calling him “that running back down south”, which I guess he could have done, did refer to him as “Marshall.”
Stewart left no doubt that “that runner down south” who plays from “that team from down south” has captured his attention.
Asked about him, he offered the greatest praise he gives any opposing player.
“Wow,” he said.
That can be translated any of a number of ways, but in the “Stewartese” dialect it means “We’ve got to do something about him.”
Marshall, who failed to reach 100 yards Saturday, is now second in the nation, averaging 147.40 yards a game. West Virginia’s Noel Devine is third, averaging 126.60 yards a game.
But put them side by side per carry and each averages a healthy 6.4 yards per attempt.
Just because I know you are going to ask, Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews leads the nation with 148.20 yards a game while averaging 6.68 a carry, a scant inches more that Devine and “that runner from down south.”
“I watched him on the highlights,” Stewart said Sunday. “He runs behind his pads. He is tough. I did not sleep a lick last night.”
While Marshall — the runner — has Stewart’s attention, one suspects Devine is paying him no note.
Being the way he is, Devine will not view this game as a “him and against me” challenge, but a West Virginia against Marshall challenge.
As it has been from the moment Devine walked into the door of the Puskar Center, team will far outweigh any personal goals he may have.
Normally, this late in the season, a team doesn’t play a non-conference game, least of all a rivalry one.
Coming after the first Big East game and before the Mountaineers dive head first into the likes and licks of Connecticut, South Florida, Pitt, Rutgers and Co., this is something of a psychological trap.
“I can’t image young people not getting ready for ‘that team down south,’” Stewart said. But then, he added a telling addendum, “but these young minds today … “
Rest assured, he and his still will emphasize that losing to “that team down south” would have a devastating effect upon the national respect the program has, the Big East’s respect and recruiting. See, there is not a West Virginia University man on earth who knows what is like to have lost to Marshall in football.
Such is the rivalry that Marshall has never beaten WVU, losing all eight games of this on-again-but-mostly-off series that started in 1911. West Virginia has outscored Marshall, 369 to 88.
Knowing that Randy Moss and Chad Pennington could not produce a victory over WVU, this group certainly has to believe that this year’s Marshall team could be capable of pulling off such an upset at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Marshall, on the other hand, plays this game for national respect and recognition and to gain a foothold in recruiting, to say nothing of to try and create an atmosphere where WVU will not feel so secure in demanding that a future contract for the game include two WVU home games for every one at Marshall.
Being painted as a poor stepchild rankles the Thundering Herd no end, but until they can prove themselves on equal footing as a football team they will not have the leverage to demand equality in home games.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
