What will WVU do in the red zone this season?

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, August 07, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

West Virginia Mountaineers
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When it comes to carrying the football at West Virginia these days, size obviously doesn't matter. Starting tailback Noel Devine is 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, and backup Jock Sanders is even shorter (5-7).

Certainly, it didn't matter for Devine in 2007. The sophomore speedster from North Fort Myers, Fla., (he attended the same high school as Deion Sanders) averaged an eye-popping 8.6 yards a carry as a freshman Mountaineer, bursting onto the scene with 136 yards on five carries against Maryland.

"Zip, zip, zip, and he's gone," says coach Bill Stewart of Devine.

Sanders, like Devine, has reeled off a sub-4.4 40-yard dash. His primary position is slot receiver, but he could spell Devine if needed.

The problem for the Mountaineers will come inside the red zone. In those situations last season, fullback Owen Schmitt would either barge into the end zone or deliver a crushing block to free someone else. He's gone now, leaving inexperienced Maxwell Anderson (or Thor Merrow) in his place.

Quarterback Pat White (6-1,190) scored 14 rushing touchdowns last season, but muscling in on quarterback sneaks is a challenge for him when defensive lines are stacked. Even though WVU has perhaps the best offensive line in the Big East, close quarters near the goal line mean backs often have to make yardage after contact.

That's why the WVU staff has been paying particular attention to Terence Kerns and Zach Hulce this preseason.

Kerns is 6-1, 235 and has produced 40 splits nearly as fast as Devine and Sanders. Somehow, though, he has yet to translate those attributes into success, playing sparingly even at Hargrave Military Academy.

"He's shown flashes of what he can do getting downhill and making people miss," WVU running backs coach Chris Beatty told the Charleston Daily Mail earlier this week.

Incoming junior Hulce, meanwhile, was a banger between the tackles in junior college (Glendale, Ariz.) and measures in at 5-10, 200 -- the perfect size for a red-zone specialist.

Of course, there's one easy solution to the problem -- Noel Devine has to make sure he doesn't get tackled short of six points. And if he does, maybe the Mountaineers could take a couple penalties and move the ball back to give him room.
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