Coastal Carolina
N/A0-0
West Virginia
2nd Big East9-3
Coastal Carolina @ West Virginia preview
Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
The word out of Morgantown is that West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart has had a headache for the past month worrying about making sure that the Mountaineers are prepared for their season opener. Coastal Carolina head coach David Bennett must be having migraines this week trying to figure out how to contain WVU’s Noel Devine.
Coastal Carolina, an FCS school and a member of the Big South Conference, visit Morgantown to face the Mountaineers of the Big East Saturday.
Stewart told WVSports.com this week that he does not “take any game for granted” and made references to Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan a couple of years ago. He even reached back into the 1990s archives when The Citadel stunned Arkansas.
The Mountaineers, 9-4 last year and 5-2 in the Big East, are ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. WVU has 85 scholarship players, 22 more than Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina will not see a more shifty or elusive running back this season than Devine, the Mountaineers Heisman Trophy candidate who has rushed for 3,381 yards -- that ranks fifth all-time in WVU history -- and has averaged 6.5 yards a carry during his career in Morgantown.
The Chanticleers -- the moniker comes from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and is a proud and fierce rooster -- likely will load the box in an effort to stop Devine. That could open the door for WVU quarterback Geno Smith to have a field day passing the ball to Jock Sanders and the Mountaineers’ talented receiving corps.
Even if Coastal Carolina somehow is able to bottle up Devine on offense, the 5-foot-8 speedster can hurt them on kickoff returns. And WVU has a solid defense that includes Brandon Hogan, the best NFL cornerback prospect at West Virginia since Adam Jones wore a Mountaineers uniform.
Coastal Carolina’s quarterback is senior Zach MacDowall, a transfer from Wake Forest.
West Virginia’s roster is the most talented since 2007 when the Mountaineers won the Fiesta Bowl, and there’s 18 starters returning for a team that expects to be in the Big East title hunt.
Coastal Carolina, an FCS school and a member of the Big South Conference, visit Morgantown to face the Mountaineers of the Big East Saturday.
Stewart told WVSports.com this week that he does not “take any game for granted” and made references to Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan a couple of years ago. He even reached back into the 1990s archives when The Citadel stunned Arkansas.
The Mountaineers, 9-4 last year and 5-2 in the Big East, are ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. WVU has 85 scholarship players, 22 more than Coastal Carolina.
Coastal Carolina will not see a more shifty or elusive running back this season than Devine, the Mountaineers Heisman Trophy candidate who has rushed for 3,381 yards -- that ranks fifth all-time in WVU history -- and has averaged 6.5 yards a carry during his career in Morgantown.
The Chanticleers -- the moniker comes from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and is a proud and fierce rooster -- likely will load the box in an effort to stop Devine. That could open the door for WVU quarterback Geno Smith to have a field day passing the ball to Jock Sanders and the Mountaineers’ talented receiving corps.
Even if Coastal Carolina somehow is able to bottle up Devine on offense, the 5-foot-8 speedster can hurt them on kickoff returns. And WVU has a solid defense that includes Brandon Hogan, the best NFL cornerback prospect at West Virginia since Adam Jones wore a Mountaineers uniform.
Coastal Carolina’s quarterback is senior Zach MacDowall, a transfer from Wake Forest.
West Virginia’s roster is the most talented since 2007 when the Mountaineers won the Fiesta Bowl, and there’s 18 starters returning for a team that expects to be in the Big East title hunt.