News Nuggets, 09.04.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Mountaineers to screen 'Running Rampant II'?

West Virginia set a Big East record last season when it rushed for 536 yards against East Carolina, a highlight of a season in which the Mountaineers finished second in the nation with a nearly 284-yard rushing average.

Quincy Wilson accounted for 198 yards in that 37-17 victory, and he was playing in relief of starter Avon Cobourne, who frolicked for 210 of his 260 by halftime.

"You're just running and having a good time," Wilson said. "It's like, 'Who's next? Who wants some more? Who wants to get out there and get some yards?' It was just one of those games where everything was going our way and you hope the game never ends."

Wilson doesn't expect a repeat when the Pirates host the Mountaineers on Saturday, not with the Mountaineers' top runners having been banged up in a 24-17 loss to Wisconsin.

Wilson took a helmet to the knee in the fourth quarter, and quarterback Rasheed Marshall missed two quarters while being tested for an abdominal injury after getting hit. The Mountaineers, as a result, rushed for just 162 yards against the Badgers.

Still, the signs are there that the Pirates can be exploited again this year. In their season-opening 40-3 loss to Cincinnati, the Bearcats rumbled for 361 yards.

Older Bowden counsels younger Bowden

Bobby Bowden can relate to son Tommy Bowden's 30-0 season-opening loss over the weekend to No. 8 Georgia, only on a bigger scale. Florida State was preseason No. 1 in 1988 but lost its opener to Miami 31-0.

"It's the most miserable feeling in the world," Bobby Bowden said. "Tommy just has to know that this is part of football and it's a shame. He needed to play good and nothing happened."

Tommy Bowden is 29-21 at Clemson and has come under some fire after a pair of lackluster seasons. The Tigers also lost last year's bowl game 55-15 to Texas Tech.

"It's our job as coaches to show enthusiasm this week in practice," Bowden said.

Tommy Bowden was asked what he would tell recruits who saw the Georgia game on TV, which was just 13-0 late in the third quarter.

"You tell them we're not as far away as the final score indicates," he said Wednesday. "We just need a couple pieces of the puzzle to put this thing together."

Wake methods become focus of skull sessions

Wake Forest has seen quite an increase in the number of high school and college coaches making their way to Winston-Salem, N.C., to soak in some of coach Jim Grobe's schemes.

Grobe runs a flexbone offense, an unusual offense that has helped produce the top rushing stats in the Atlantic Coast Conference his first two seasons there. He also uses a unique 3-3-5 defense.

"In our first spring here you couldn't find a visiting coach with a search warrant," Grobe said. "We've had a lot of people through over the last couple of years because we do things a little differently than most people do."

Grobe is gunning for a third straight winning season at the school, which would be a first since the 1950s.

"People realize that Wake Forest is an academic school and that winning football games on our level is not the easiest thing in the world," he said. "People like to come and see teams that aren't expected to win but find a way to win and see what's going on. It's flattering for us."

C-USA players of week and TV schedule

Texas Christian's Ricky Madison (offense), Houston's Lance Everson (defense) and Tulane's Fred Smith (special teams) earned C-USA Player of the Week honors for their performances in the league's opening week of action.

Madison, a senior, accounted for 206 total yards in the Frogs' 38-35 win over Tulane on Monday. He carried 23 times for 115 yards and caught three passes for 91 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown reception. Madison averaged 5.0 yards per carry in rushing for his fifth career 100-yard game. The three pass receptions and 91 receiving yards were both career bests.

Making his first start at linebacker and later having to move from outside to middle, Everson was a vital part of the Cougar defense that limited the potent Rice rushing attack to just 206 yards on 46 carries. Everson, a junior, posted a career-high 16 tackles on the evening, with one for a loss.

Smith wasted little time adjusting from high school to college football. On his first touch of his career, the true freshman took a kickoff the length of the field for Tulane’s first touchdown against nationally-ranked TCU. The 100-yard return was just the second in Conference USA history and the seventh in Tulane history (first since 1985). It was also only the second 100-yard collegiate kickoff return in Louisiana Superdome history. For the game, Smith finished with three returns for 138 yards.

TELEVISION: This week's C-USA TV lineup features a Thursday night primetime battle pitting Southern Miss against UAB at Birmingham's Legion Field (ESPN2, 7 p.m.) In non-conference action, Houston will travel to Ann Arbor on Saturday to face 4th-ranked Michigan (noon, ESPN,) while Memphis hosts Mississippi (noon, ESPN2.)

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007

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