GAME NOTES | SYRACUSE GAME INFORMATION

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bill Stewart prefers to discuss the Syracuse team he saw on tape that put Pitt on the ropes in the third quarter two weeks ago, not the Orange team under embattled coach Greg Robinson that is 1-4 this year and 8-32 in four seasons at Syracuse.

	West Virginia's Zac Cooper takes this fake punt 18 yards for a first down against Rutgers in last Saturday's 24-17 win. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

“Our opponent is like what we faced last week and what we were like a couple of weeks ago – needing a win,” said Stewart. “We want to be able to continue our streak and stop them from starting a streak. That is our goal.”

Syracuse jumped out to a 14-3 lead on the Panthers and had a 24-13 advantage in the third quarter before allowing Pitt to score 18 fourth-quarter points in a 34-24 loss. Pitt’s final four scoring drives of the second half comprised 35 plays and consumed nearly 18 minutes of the clock.

Statistically, Syracuse has struggled in most areas. The Orange rank near the bottom of the country in total offense (287.6 yards per game) and total defense (462.4 yards per game) while also giving up an average of 36.4 points per game.

Offensively, Robinson has benched quarterback Andrew Robinson in favor of senior Cameron Dantley. Dantley completed 9 of 17 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns against Pitt and shows 549 yards passing and seven touchdowns in four appearances this year. Dantley’s best career passing performance came last year against USF when he stepped for Robinson and completed 21 of 38 passes for 276 yards.

“I think they have one heck of a quarterback in Cameron Dantley,” said Stewart. “He can throw the ball.”

Robinson, a junior from Baltimore, was supposed to be the team’s quarterback but he was benched after a 14-of-28, 103-yard performance in a season-opening loss to Northwestern. In parts of three seasons Robinson has passed for 2,315 yards and 14 touchdowns.

One of the deficient areas Syracuse has tried to improve upon is its running game and Robinson may have found a solution in senior Curtis Brinkley, who produced his third 100-yard performance of the year against Pitt on Sept. 27. Brinkley rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 24 carries against Northeastern, and he also had a 143-yard performance in a loss to Akron.

In five games Brinkley is averaging 95.4 yards per game to rank 34th nationally and fourth in the Big East Conference. Brinkley has an outstanding 5.7-yards-per-carry average.

“Curtis Brinkley was a tailback that we recruited here,” Stewart said. “He is a good running back.”

Donte Davis and Mike Owen are the team’s top two receivers with 14 and 11 catches respectively. Davis scored a 27-yard touchdown in the Pitt loss and is averaging 12 yards per reception. Owen has caught a pair of TD passes against Akron. Lavar Lobdell, a highly recruited prep performer, has caught six passes for 85 yards in five games.

Stewart says Syracuse has one of the conference’s top centers in sophomore Jim McKenzie.

“He played really well in last year’s game and beat Chris Neild pretty good and beat up old Keilen Dykes,” Stewart said.

Defensively, Syracuse is giving up a lot of yards but has forced eight turnovers in five games. Mike Mele leads the Orange with 37 tackles. Jake Flaherty shows 33 stops while Arthur Jones leads the team with four tackles for losses. Four players have combined for four sacks this year.

“This team has some skill and talent and I just hope they don’t put it all together on Saturday,” Stewart said. “Syracuse has a great football tradition and a storied program. Every friend I’ve had in the business that has coached at Syracuse loved it there and I have nothing but respect for their program.”

“Every team is hungry for a win,” added senior linebacker Mortty Ivy. “It doesn’t matter what your record is. They are a good football team. They just aren’t getting any breaks. They have two terrific backs, one of whom I know from home, so it’s going to be a good game for us.”

Kicker Patrick Shadle returns to Morgantown where he played at Morgantown High for Coach John Bowers. Shadle is now in 14th place on SU’s all-time scoring list with 155 points. Shadle’s 33 career field goals made currently ranks him seventh in school history.

West Virginia’s kicker Pat McAfee is breaking records, too. Last week in the Rutgers win, McAfee became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 329 points. McAfee needs 72 points to pass Rutgers’ Jeremy Ito to become the Big East’s all-time scoring leader.

West Virginia is coming off a 24-17 victory over Rutgers last Saturday to push its record past the .500 mark at 3-2. The Mountaineers 2 ½ quarters of productive play from quarterback Pat White before he was sidelined midway through the third quarter after sustaining a blow to the head.

“I’ve never had my bell rung like that but playing football you are going to get hit,” White said Tuesday. “I got hit but I feel pretty much normal now.”

Back up Jarrett Brown, who was also inserted into the game as a short yardage runner, finished the game for the Mountaineers. Brown completed both of his pass tries for 21 yards and also scored a key third-quarter touchdown.

White is completing 72.8 percent of his pass attempts for 590 yards and nine touchdowns. He has also rushed 70 times for 428 yards and a pair of scores.

Noel Devine is the team’s leading rusher with 454 yards and a touchdown on 80 carriers. Devine is averaging 5.7 yards per carry and 90.8 yards per game. Five times Devine has topped 100 yards in a game including twice this year.

Sophomore Jock Sanders has scored at least one touchdown in all three of West Virginia’s home games this year and had a team-best four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown last weekend against Rutgers. Sanders has a team-best 24 catches for 189 yards and four touchdowns.

Devine has 14 catches for 66 yards and junior Alric Arnett shows 13 catches for 147 yards and two scores. Junior Wes Lyons is also coming on, showing six catches for 60 yards now after limited action the first three weeks of the season.

Senior Mortty Ivy leads a WVU defense that has allowed just one touchdown in its last 12 quarters and an average of just 16.4 points per game. Ivy has a team-best 38 tackles to go with four tackles for losses, a sack, a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Anthony Leonard has taken the place of Reed Williams, who after two games has decided to sit the rest of the season out to let his surgically repaired shoulders to heal.

“You are going to miss (Reed) physically but he is going to help out the young guys just as much as I am,” said Ivy. “Now some of the younger guys have to play a bigger role. They didn’t get a lot of experience last year and now they will get experience and they will get better each week.”

Leonard played well against Rutgers and shows at tackles and a sack through five games. West Virginia shows 11 sacks and 28 tackles for losses through five games.

West Virginia’s series with Syracuse is the second-longest running on the schedule with the two teams meeting for the 56th time on Saturday. Syracuse holds a 30-25 overall advantage although West Virginia has won the last six. The Mountaineers have a 9-8 advantage over the Orange since joining the Big East Conference.

Syracuse, idle last weekend, has had two weeks to prepare for the Mountaineers.

Saturday’s game will kickoff at noon and will be televised on ESPNU (Dave Armstrong and Larry Coker). Cables systems in West Virginia carrying ESPNU include Suddenlink (Southern West Virginia) and TimeWarner (Clarksburg-Fairmont area).

MSN’s pre-game coverage begins with the Mountaineers Today at 11:30 am. Satellite radio users can access the Mountaineer broadcast on channel 122.



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