By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN —
Let us begin with the frivolity.
It was game week for West Virginia University, Tuesday, the night the Mountaineer players meet with the media.
With the opener just a few days away, there was a taste of tension in the air. The younger players on their best behavior, in the process of getting on their game faces.
Then Noel Devine and Jock Sanders entered the room, side by side, together, just as they have been for the past three years, just as they were when they both decided to bypass a chance to enter the NFL draft to return for their senior seasons and try to lead West Virginia to a place it had never been before, a national championship.
“It’s brotherly love,” Devine said as he and his compadre entered the room.
Call them the Righteous Brothers. Call them, as they kind of like, Batman and Robin. They go together like cheese and crackers, peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, bread and bu … you get the idea.
“It’s like when you have a favorite brother out of the three that you have,’’ Devine said. “He’s like my favorite brother.”
“You can’t even say what it is,’’ Sanders said. “It’s undefinable. It’s just that vibe, instant. You don’t have to say anything. When you meet a female, it’s like that.
“We’re always on the page; that’s what it’s like between me and him. We’ve always been around each other so much, we’re always on the same page, no matter if it’s wrong or right,” Sanders continued. “We don’t argue like females, though.’’
On this night the page they were on was part serious, more into comedy. If their final opening game as Mountaineers was creating any pressure, they certainly weren’t showing it.
These were the team leaders, and they were going to keep things as loose as they could.
They chatted amiably, intelligently, interestingly, and when they left, Sanders made a detour. Seeing a scrum forming around newcomer Bruce Irvin, Sanders latched onto a microphone and began his audition for a post-football career with ESPN.
This is how it went:
Sanders, turning to the TV cameras: “Ya’ll ready? So Bruce, how do you explain your feeling of just being on the field Saturday? What’s running through your head, you know 65 (thousand fans) plus. Just knowing how loyal the fans are and everything. That experience, how you going to take that?”
Irvin: “The most I’ve ever played in front of is probably like 2,400. Sixty-five, I might be a little amazed.”
Sanders: “Knowing the crowd will be into it, saying you haven’t played in front of 65,000. Just think about it, 2,400 or 65,000. Wow! The noise of the crowd, how do you think that will affect your game?”
Irvin: “Man, I don’t know. You just have to watch the ball. You can’t listen for the cadence. When the ball moves, you have to move.”
Sanders: “OK, my last question now, then I’ll let these guys take over. I want to know, not being cocky or anything, what’s your goal in sacks? I know you’re a sackmonster. What’s your goals and your vision for the end of the year?”
Irvin: “Probably 15 plus. No less than 15.”
Sanders: “Wow.”
That isn’t exactly as cool as the other side of the pillow, but it wasn’t bad for a first try.
At this point, Sanders was asked his goal, whether he was shooting for 100 catches this year.
“I cannot say that now, but I hope so.”
That caused Irvin to shake his head and mumble, “This dude is crazy.”
Perhaps, but it was just what coach Bill Stewart was looking for from his two leaders.
“You just don’t understand how much I’m going to lean on those two,” Stewart said. “Those two young men are going to be as important to us as any two players are to any college football team in the country this year. I understand their importance and I will not understate that.”
In a way, they already have. Their returning to WVU gave the program validity, if there were any questions.
“What do you say about No. 7,” Stewart said. “When he and Jock decided to come back, it spoke volumes about this program. There is a trust in the Mountaineer family. I don’t say that for hype or sensationalism. I know what’s going on in this program. I know we are bonding.”
Devine earlier in the week put it this way in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“I speak from the heart. People don’t understand I have a good heart. They think I’m something else or something,” said Devine. “And here’s what it is from the heart: I want this team to win. It ain’t about individual awards at all; people need to believe that about me. I don’t care what they say about me winning this or me winning that. It is about bringing a championship to Morgantown. I mean that, man, I really do. That’s all it is about with me.”
And Sanders, in the same article, echoed the sentiment:
“There is always going to be negativity around you — always — unless you win every single game and shut every single team out doing it,” Sanders said. “That’s why all we can do as players is keep our hard hat on and keep moving forward. That’s all we can do. We just have to block out the negative people and embrace the people who have our backs. That’s why I am back. I want to show all the people who embraced me, who had my back; I want to show them that we can have a special season.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
