MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – All day Saturday, Noel Devine threatened. Devine, the pint-sized dynamo and sophomore West Virginia running back, broke off a pair of 20-yard runs in the first half, his speed a visual and visceral reminder of the danger he posed to the Syracuse football team.

While the Mountaineer offense – playing without concussed, multi-threat quarterback Pat White all game – sputtered around him, Devine remained a weapon, volatile and looming during West Virginia’s 17-6 win in front of 58,133 fans at Mountaineer Field. He was lightning in a bottle, and he would strike late.

He exploded when the Mountaineers needed it most and the Orange could afford it least. With West Virginia leading by four late in the fourth quarter and looking to run out the clock after Syracuse had turned the ball over on downs, Devine took a handoff on a 3rd-and-7 from the WVU 8, and stretched toward the left sideline.

Then Devine found a seam. Then he was gone. Then the game was over. Over just like that for the Orange (1-5, 0-2 Big East). Over that fast, even for a 92-yard sprint, even for a game that still had 4:16 left when he hit the end zone.

‘He saw a little gap, and we just couldn’t recover from it,’ said senior defensive tackle Nick Santiago. ‘As soon as he hit it, he was out the gate. There really is no catching that guy.’

Devine’s final jaunt was a shocking, abrupt end to a day that, at times, seemed as if it might belong to the Orange. The defense played its best game of the season and the offense had its chances, glimpses that flashed and then disappeared. SU didn’t score a point in the second half.

The Orange drove into Mountaineer territory on its last four drives, but imploded each time: Cameron Dantley threw an interception on the first, then led his team to three turnovers on downs.

West Virginia had gained just 177 yards before Devine’s outburst. He finished with 194 total yards, 188 on the ground on 18 carries, the lion’s share of his team’s production.

Other than that, the Mountaineers had little rhythm on offense, only an overload of short passes from backup quarterback Jarrett Brown that did little damage (just 52 passing yards). They converted 4-of-12 third downs and committed eight penalties for 69 yards.

Meanwhile, Orange tailback Curtis Brinkley chugged for 144 yards, most of them in the second half. Syracuse dominated time of possession, holding a more than 10-minute advantage over West Virginia. The Orange had control for a good part of the game, even if it didn’t hold a lead after midway through the second quarter.

Because for something completely different, Greg Robinson’s team gambled plenty on Saturday. The Orange came out throwing the ball, went for it on fourth down in two crucial spots (three times total) and experimented with a new defense.

For something completely normal, the gameplan didn’t result in a win. The passing game dried up. West Virginia (4-2, 2-0 Big East) stopped both fourth down attempts, including a crucial 4th-and-4 from the WVU five-yard line. And Syracuse’s new 4-2-5 defense, which had slowed the WVU offense and burst its continuous stream of bubble screens, couldn’t prevent Devine’s field-length end zone scamper.

‘It really is unfortunate because it should have been stopped,’ Robinson said. ‘It’s just that simple. It’s that simple. We should have stopped that play. We would have had an opportunity.’

The Orange managed only two field goals in the first half and trailed 7-6 at the break, despite a strong start from quarterback Cameron Dantley. He completed 15 passes for 137 yards in the first half.

‘We started out good, we just need to know how to continue that the whole game,’ said Dantley, who finished with 204 yards on 24-of-40 passing.

The Syracuse offense came out flat for the second half, with two straight three-and-outs. Then the mistakes and missed chances cascaded down: an interception from Dantley, followed by two failed fourth down conversions on late possessions.

It culminated on Syracuse’s penultimate drive of the game, after the first two miscues. Brinkley carried the team into the red zone on the next possession, rushing eight times as the clock wound down. Then the Mountaineers dug in and the Orange staggered. Facing a 4th-and-4 at the five, Dantley was flushed out of the pocket and hit. The pass was broken up. West Virginia took over with 4:42 remaining.

Then Devine exploded, and Syracuse was out of chances. The Orange players could only watch the game sprint past them in the form of a 5-foot-8, 173-pound blur.

‘Their hearts are broken right now,’ Robinson said. ‘They have 24 hours to deal with that. But that’s how it works. They have to get back up.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on October 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm