Mozes and the Promised Land

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, May 24, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

West Virginia Mountaineers
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Running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White may produce most of the touchdowns for the West Virginia Mountaineers football team, but Dan Mozes is the center of attention.

In more ways than one.

Moving from guard to center last season, Mozes wound up as a finalist for the Rimington Trophy given to the nation's best at that position. This season, his last at WVU, he's considered the frontrunner for that award.

A 6-4, 290-pounder from the Pittsburgh suburb of Washington, PA, Mozes started every game for the Mountaineers last season, grading out at an average 89 percent and delivering 32 knockdown blocks -- a striking number at a position where the stance is usually more protective than aggressive.

But if the Mountaineers live up to the hype that is building over their 2006 prospects (at least one national forecaster envisions Rich Rodriguez's team as national champs), Mozes' off-field contribution may well be as important as his rugged play between the lines.

A three-time All-Big East academic selection, the communications major has evolved into the team spokesman. Prior to WVU's matchup with Georgia in the last Sugar Bowl, Mozes said all the right things about how much he respected the higher-profile Bulldogs -- then helped to upset them, 38-35.

Following spring practice, Mozes did a live chat with ESPN in which he reminded his interviewer that the West Virginia Mountaineers were also projected as a Top 10 team in 2004, only to finish 8-4.

"We've been through that, where we had high expectations and failed," Mozes said. "Too many guys were thinking about the next level."

The next level is undoubtedly thinking about Mozes. A second-team AP All-American in 2005 and a pre-season Playboy All-America choice this time around, he has impressed pro scouts with how quickly and thoroughly he has picked up a new position.

But change is nothing new for him. As a high school senior, Mozes was a defensive lineman who registered nine sacks and excelled as a run-stuffer, and he has kept that defensive attitude while adapting it to the other side of the ball.

"He can get better, though," said Rodriguez of Mozes. "They can all get better. That's my job."

And, to a lesser degree, it's Dan Mozes' job, as well.
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