By John Raby
The Fiesta Bowl could be West Virginia running back Steve Slaton’s new beginning — or his final stop.
It’s a chance to put a positive spin on a season that went downhill fast in December, starting with a loss to Pittsburgh in which he gained only 11 yards and continuing with coach Rich Rodriguez bolting for Michigan.
It’s a chance to forget a lackluster junior year by Slaton’s standards. And a chance to set aside last year’s Gator Bowl that he missed because of injury.
Then again, it might be his last hurrah.
Slaton is considering skipping his senior season and entering April’s NFL draft. He likely won’t make a decision until after No. 11 West Virginia (10-2) plays No. 3 Oklahoma (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.
“It’s going to take until the last second to think about,” Slaton said.
If he enters the draft, he’ll need to give NFL scouts something to boost his stock of late.
No matter what happens, he’ll still finish as the school’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, entering the game with 50.
Slaton possesses 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash and has three straight 1,000-yard seasons but hasn’t approached the 1,744-yard effort as a sophomore. His career has soured since he suffered a thigh injury that forced him to miss most of last January’s bowl win over Georgia Tech.
That injury cost Slaton the chance to combine with quarterback Pat White to become the most prolific rushing duo in Bowl Subdivision history. Instead, the pair finished 90 yards shy of the record of 3,042 yards set by Southern Cal’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White in 2005.
Slaton began 2007 with four straight 100-yard games and scored 17 rushing TDs overall but fell flat over the second half of the season.
Against Connecticut, the Mountaineers unloaded for 517 rushing yards, but Slaton was fifth on the team with 54 yards. He had only nine carries against Pittsburgh and tied for his lowest rushing total since early in his freshman season.
Here’s a player who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting a year ago and was relegated to the all-Big East second team this season despite rushing for 1,053 yards.
“It’s not what I wanted for myself,” Slaton said. “You always want to be better than you were the year before.”
West Virginia still has the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation at 293 yards per game.
Figuring out why Slaton’s numbers fell isn’t difficult. He has 38 fewer carries than last year and has been running behind a revamped offensive line this season minus all-American center Dan Mozes.
“People started loading up the box to stop him,” said teammate and friend Ryan Mundy. “One-thousand yards is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s obviously the season he wasn’t looking for. We all know Steve’s ability and what he’s capable of doing. I think defenses really keyed on him this year.”
He said Rodriguez’s departure makes it more difficult for him to decide whether to leave.
Slaton wasn’t a household name two years ago in a bowl game when he exploded for a Sugar Bowl-record 204 yards against Georgia.
Oklahoma presents a huge challenge for the Mountaineers. The Sooners have the nation’s eighth-best defense against the run, giving up only 92 yards per game.
It doesn’t faze Slaton a bit.
“I love this game of football,” he said. “Anytime I get a chance to play, I’m going to do my best.”
