By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN —
I have given this a great deal of thought and all things considered, no matter how barren my bank account may be I would not go out and stand in front of a speeding Mack truck on I-79 to collect an insurance windfall.
I mention this today because Coastal Carolina and other similar schools out of football’s FBS do the college football equivalent of this on a rather regular basis, usually with the results you would expect to have when looking into the headlights of a speeding Mack truck.
Oh, every so often Rocky beats Apollo Creed, but mostly that stuff is for the movies. Sure, you had Appalachian State beating Michigan in the upset for the ages, but what is forgotten about that was that Appalachian State was then the best Division II team in the nation.
Usually, the results are as they have been for Coastal Carolina, which no amount of money can completely soothe.
Two years ago this team that comes in to get its nose bloodied by West Virginia’s No. 24/25 Mountaineers on Saturday played at Penn State, then the No. 22 team in the nation.
Those who don’t like the sight of blood perhaps should turn their head before reading the score, for it was 66-to-13.
The Chanticleers got up off the canvas and last year went across the state to face an unranked Clemson team. That final score was 49-3 and I need not tell you who had the 3 points.
In those two games Coastal Carolina was outscored 115-16.
Now they come to WVU and pick up a check for $350,000, but will those kids who get their bodies beaten and their egos shattered get any of that lettuce? Hardly.
Oh, the money is important to the school.
“In the past we used it toward summer school for the student athletes and the athletic department has taken it and used it. In today’s economy, it’s put into the budget. That money is imperative in today’s economy,” said David Bennett, Coastal Carolina’s veteran coach, the Song of the South being sung with every word that comes from his mouth.
Now Bennett seems like a genuinely fine fellow and is a good story teller. I’m sure he’ll have his team believing they have a chance when they run out onto Mountaineer Field or Milan Puskar Stadium, whichever, as 60,000 people hoot and holler and get in line for the leftover body parts.
“I never coached or played there,” Bennett said, “but from what I heard and what I saw when I watched them on TV, their students and fans get into the game the way you’re supposed to.”
While never being in Morgantown, he has seen the Mountaineer fans up close and personal, though.
“I remember five of six years ago we went to watch West Virginia play against Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl,” he said. “We took our little boy Jeb. His Christmas wish was to watch a bowl game live.
“Well, it was a crazy environment. West Virginia lost but the West Virginia fans were wilder than the Virginia fans. Those West Virginia fans will be into the moment up there, I’m sure.”
Bennett has heard a lot about WVU from a surgeon the team has. His name is Dick Ward and if it is familiar, you are a real Mountaineer fan. He was a
quarterback at WVU in 1969 and 1970, playing under Jim Carlin and Bobby Bowden and he still follows WVU.
"I told him, don't be wearing West Virginia gear on our sideline now," Bennett joked.
There is some realism in the way Bennett approaches the game. He understands he’s not supposed to win and that the deck is stacked against him.
“We’re really more concerned about our guys, getting us ready,” he said. “In coaching a lot of times we worry too much about what are the other guys going to do. You read about them on the Internet. West Virginia recruits down in Florida. They got a lot of speed. People don’t realize how much speed West Virginia has. You know about Noel Devine, but they got a slot receiver that’s pretty darn good named Jock Sanders. What a name for a football player.”
Of course, there is another side to this coin and some may wonder why West Virginia would want to open against such a school where there seems to be nothing to gain and everything to lose. Certainly if Pitt can upset Utah on its home field this week, they will benefit far more in terms of confidence and national prestige than WVU will with a 35-0 victory.
A year ago it was Liberty and that turned into anything but a walkover, WVU winning, 33-20.
“I learned that you need to finish the deal,” WVU Coach Bill Stewart said. “1-AA football is not that bad. I learned you take any game for granted.”
Certainly, with a sophomore quarterback being broken in and a pair of freshmen behind him, this is probably much needed.
“We get a chance to gage our self,” Stewart said.
Of course, if the NCAA would allow a preseason scrimmage against a team like this, the public wouldn’t have throw its money away on what figures to be an uninteresting afternoon of football.
But don’t tell that to Stewart.
“I think it’s great for the game. I think it’s great for those young men who get a chance to play against so-called 1-A teams,” he said.
Hopefully, for his sake, he’ll feel the same way about it around 7 p.m. on Saturday night.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
