MORGANTOWN — MORGANTOWN — Too often we wonder what it would be like to be Noel Devine, to have the strength he has, to have the moves, the instincts, the speed.

Let us, however, put the cleat on the other foot.

What is it like to try and tackle Noel Devine?

“It’s like trying to catch a rabbit,” said West Virginia teammate safety Robert Sands, who, starting next week, will spend much of his days hunting “that pesky wabbit,” as Elmer Fudd would put it, during preseason camp. “It’s exactly like that.”

And just what does Sands, perhaps the best tackler on the WVU team and at 6 feet, 5 inches, almost a foot taller than Devine, mean by that?

“He can stop on a dime at any given moment, then turn it back on so quickly,” said Sands, calling up images of some of Devine’s niftiest runs, the ones that wind up on YouTube.com. “He’s so low to the ground that it’s hard to get down there and get hold of him.”

And even if you do get hold of him, that doesn’t mean you will bring him down.

His strength is legendary.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Sands said. “I lift with him. He’s built like a rock and he’s so strong with his lower body and upper body that he’s well balanced. It’s hard to find a flaw in him.”

If it’s hard to tackle Noel Devine, does that also mean it’s hard to block for him?

Not really, says WVU offensive lineman Eric Jobe.

“I don’t think it’s any different. All the running backs are taught where to hit the hole. With him, it’s just a little faster,” Jobe said.

This is what Jobe means.

“I remember a couple of games I’d get up to the linebacker and Noel would almost beat me to him,” he said. “I’d only have to block him for half a second, just get a piece of him. For another running back, you might have to hold your block a little longer.”

And considering Devine’s escapability, you have to keep going, even when the play seems over.

“Some of those plays where we run outside zone and he cuts back, you have to find another block because the defense is pursuing. That one extra block can be the difference between a 15-yard gain and a touchdown,” Jobe said.

And it’s the touchdowns that make it all worthwhile.

“I’m trying to get downfield but he’s usually beaten the whole defense. He had those game-winning runs. I was on the line of scrimmage and he was gone,” Jobe said. “It’s fun to run down the field with your finger up and signaling touchdown while he’s out there.”

So, you know what it’s like to attempt to tackle Devine and what it’s like to block for him.

How about coaching him? Believe it or not, as great and gifted an athlete as he is, he needs coaching and that is delivered by running backs coach Chris Beatty.

“He’s freakishly athletic, but there’s a big difference between being a great football player and being a great athlete,” Beatty said. “I think he’s developing and taking it now to being a great football player.”

Beatty can’t teach the cuts and speed, but there are things that he is offering Devine to make his job easier and more effective, things that he now has as a senior and a Heisman Trophy candidate coming off a season in which he gained 1,477 yards.

“I think he would tell you he’s learning how things work a little better. He’s learning how defenses work. He’s learning about the things he’s looking at pre-snap that develop his reads,” Beatty said. “The little things you learn about how defenses work and how people are trying to defend you helps you be more instinctive on the field.”

Much of running, as it is with a real rabbit, is instinctive.

“A lot of it is instinctive, but a lot of it can be developed as well. That’s something people take for granted. People think, ‘Well, he’s just an athlete. He just does what he does.’ Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. Like when he was a sophomore and running clear across the field. That’s instinctual, but sometimes it’s not what you want as a coach.”

What you want is him setting up blocks, then making a decisive move up field toward the goal line. This takes time, which Beatty has been willing to spend on Devine because he is a wiling student.

“As long as they’re trying — and in his case he’s always trying. You can see the development in his game over the last couple of years where he’s gone from being a runner to being a running back. Early in his career, he was just running on God-given ability. Now he kind of understands, ‘Eh, I can try to hit the home run but on some downs I have to try to get four yards,’” Beatty said.

The idea now is for Jeff Mullen, the offensive coordinator, to find the best way to use Devine, be it from the spread or the I, be it running inside or out, be it running 20 or 30 times a game.

“Obviously, I don’t think he’s a guy you give the ball to 40 times a game, not like Michigan State was doing the last few years. But there’s going to be some games where he carries it 30 times,” Beatty said.

A lot depends on the defense, which will try to stop Devine and force young quarterback Geno Smith to beat them.

Beatty says that should not make much difference.

“When I was a coordinator, I would say if I got Michael Jordan, I want to use him. You don’t want to say they’re double-teaming him so you can’t give him the ball. Are you going to let John Paxson shoot all the time? I don’t think that’s the way to do it. You want Jordan with the ball.

“That’s not to say that Noel is Jordan, but they have the same principle. You want him to get his touches and shoot the gun as much as he can. You move him around a little bit. You do some different things to window dress what you’re doing. You give the ball to Jock, the Tavon, to Starks, so that it opens up for Noel.”

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