By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN —
It was Monday, the Labor Day holiday, and so fittingly enough the West Virginia University football team labored the day away trying to get ready for downstate rival Marshall on a short week.
So it was, at the end of this day, many of them were in a bit of a rush, at least those on the offensive line, for they had a treat in store for them.
“I’m getting out the George Foreman,” said slot receiver Josh Sanders. “Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, macaroni and cheese. I got to be taking care of my linemen.”
He asked the linemen to bring only their appetites for this holiday feast.
Of course, his next door neighbor would be in on it, too. His name is Noel Devine and he, maybe even more than Sanders, needs the cooperation of those men up front.
It’s all in the name of team building.
“Chemistry means a lot to the team,” Devine said. “You get a bond like that and they are willing to die for you and are willing to play their heart out for you. It starts up front.”
As Devine found out on Saturday, those linemen are going to be the key to his season, a senior season that begins with so much promise and with him a viable candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
The first game was a tough one, one that showed him that rather than the Superman insignia that he sometimes wears on his chest, this year there is a big ‘X’.
Devine is a marked man.
And he knows it.
“I knew when I came back that I would be a marked man,” he said, a smile coming across his face, not a look of fear. “That’s the risk I was taking when I came back. I can handle it. I’m a young man, a tough young man. I’m the youngest of eight brothers, so I think I can take the beating if it comes down to it.”
Certainly Coastal Carolina came in with one defensive goal in mind — stopping Devine.
They did a decent job of it, too, holding him to 111 yards on 23 carries, which is below his career average of 6.3 yards a carry. In fact, entering the fourth quarter Devine was averaging only 2.8 yards a try.
Bill Stewart understood what was going on.
“People expect him to go out and run for 300 yards against these guys,” Stewart said. “They spent the whole day trying to take Noel out of the game plan. That’s why we threw the ball.”
Stewart was dinking all day with his offense, allowing the offense to revolve around short, safe passes from his quarterback until that fourth quarter.
“I got bullheaded at the end and we just wanted to bang it and that’s what we did. I thought he did well, but you have to spread the ball out and pass it so you don’t overload him,” Stewart explained.
“It’s kind of a chess game there, and what happened is we figured out they were angling towards him all the time to take him out of the offense so we started spreading the ball and running reverses and when we had them running east and west and got them tired, we put Noel back in,” Stewart continued. “I felt very comfortable we could win the football game without running Noel 30 times, I didn’t want to do that. Maybe down the road we’ll have to do that.”
See, Devine is not the biggest of people, even though his body is rock hard and conditioning beyond belief. Still, as important as he is to the offense, Stewart doesn’t want to risk hurting him in situations where he doesn’t have to.
He does, however, understand that Devine is that tough kid who was the youngest of eight brothers.
“He’s always had mental toughness, but it’s all about the patience,” Stewart said. “Right now, he’s a very patient team player and that’s what I love about these guys. That’s how much these guys have grown and that’s what excites me about them. The leadership has just been outstanding and I’m sure it’s going to continue.”
It certainly continued that night, when he and Sanders took care of feeding the hungry.
Of course, feeding a bunch of 300-pound offensive linemen not long after finishing a practice is a large chore. How much meat did Sanders have to get?
“Doesn’t even matter,” he answered. “I got to take care of them. They take care of us up front, so it doesn’t matter.”
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
