MORGANTOWN — MORGANTOWN — West Virginia running back Noel Devine and middle linebacker Reed Williams are semifinals for college football major awards.

Devine, who figures to become a 1,000-yard rusher when WVU hosts Louisville this weekend, needing just 46 yards, and who ranks second in the Big East in rushing was named a semifinalist for the prestigious 73rd Maxwell Award.

Those nominated include Jahvid Best, Cal running back, Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame quarterback; Toby Gerhart, Stanford running back ; Mark Ingram, Alabama running back; Case Keenum, Houston quarterback; Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan quarterback; Dion Lewis, Pitt running back; Ryan Matthews, Fresno State running back; Colt McCoy, Texas quarterback; Kellen Moore, Boise State quarterback; Chistrian Ponder, Florida State quarterback; Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State, running back; Jordan Shipley, Texas wide receiver; Golden Tate, Notre Dame wide receiver; and Tim Tebow, Florida quarterback.

Williams is a semifinalist for the ARA National Sportsmanship Award. Last year Northwestern receiver Eric Peterman won the award.

Williams, a senior, is joined by Mike Anello of Notre Dame, Andrew Brewer of Northwestern, Russel Fisher of St. Francis, Tim Hiller of Western Michigan, Jammie Kirlew of Alabama, Jeron Mastrud of Kansas State, Matt Reagan of Memphis, Adam Rundh of Valpairiso, and Phillip Tanner of Middle Tennessee.

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Chris Neild, West Virginia’s pliable nose guard, will be back in the middle when the Mountaineers play Louisville this weekend.

He’ll be there with all he’s got, except the six points that he earned in the South Florida game.

At the end of the first half South Florida was punted back onto its goal line and as it tried to sneak out, Neild made the kind of play every nose guard dreams of making.

“I stacked things up, then as he reached out to try and get the ball out of the end zone I knocked it out of his hand and fell on it,” Neild said. “He was trying to pull it away from me but he couldn’t get it.”

When a 298-pound nose guard has his arms wrapped around the football with what he thinks is a touchdown, you are not going to get it away even if you are the “Incredible Hulk.”

“It was a touchdown,” Neild maintain.

Not so fast, my friend.

While film may show it to be so, the officials offered only a safety for his efforts, taking away what might be his only chance at a collegiate TD.

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Remember the wonderfully warm story about how West Virginia’s fans welcomed a grieving Connecticut football team to Mountaineer Field two weeks ago, helping them through the death of cornerback Jasper Howard.

Across America there were accolades on the behavior of what is normally a raucous group of fans who had built their reputation with such antics as burning couches and throwing a garbage can off the head of then-Miami assistant coach Randy Shannon.

Even as another home game awaits, there are those pleading that the fans behavior continue down the genteel path, perhaps even matching the Southeastern Conference, where the fans are friendly and helpful, the coeds attending the games in dresses rather than jeans and sweatshirt.

Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe doesn’t expect that to be the case, however.

He knows what it’s like to play in Morgantown and told his media about it during a tongue-in-cheek moment in his press conference.

"They all have good arms, whether they're right-handed or left-handed. They throw those batteries extremely well," he said. "They are extremely accurate with those, too. I'm going to have to have a hard hat when I come out of the locker room."

Everyone knows he was kidding about that.

A hard hat won’t do you any good when you are hit in the head with a battery – a car battery!

"It's a 12 o'clock nooner so they won't be quite as tanked as they were when we were there two years ago, but, they get after it, man," he said. "They love football. I mean, they love playing football there and they love coaching football there and they love watching football there. It's a great football place."

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Louisville has had injury problems with its quarterbacks, first- and second-string QBs Justin Burke and Ad Froman being injured, which led to the situation last week where they started their third stringer, a walk-on named Will Stein.

What made him unique is that he probably has to look up to Doug Flutie. They list him 5-10, and he says that’s how tall he is — with shoes on.

Probably elevator shoes.

If he’s 5-8, it wouldn’t be surprising, either.

He may or may not play this weekend in Morgantown, having thrown for 232 yards in a 21-13 victory over Arkansas State last week, and if he does it sets up this most interesting scenario, a quarterback completing passes to a wide receiver who is a foot taller than him.

Josh Chichester is a 6-9 wide receiver who doubles as a basketball player. There is only one taller wide receiver in college football, that being Army’s Ali Villanueva.

Talk about feeling like you are throwing uphill.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.