MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – For No. 10 West Virginia, today’s game at noon is a chance to cement a share of the Big East title, and earn its first BCS berth that would go with it. For 21st-ranked Boston College, it’s a chance to head off to the ACC with the best parting gift ever – a good shot at a share of the Big East crown.
This date has been circled since the league schedule came out, anticipated since the Eagles said they were joining Miami and Virginia Tech in a mass defection that almost gutted the Big East. In some parts the game has been painted as good versus evil, traitors versus the league’s stalwart vanguard.
“There’s a lot at stake,” WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said, not just for the program that he played for and has built into a power, but also for the flagging league that got pillaged by the ACC and savaged in the press afterward.
West Virginia (8-1, 4-0) can clinch the outright title and a possible Fiesta Bowl bid with a win and a Syracuse loss. BC (6-2, 2-1) – which is just 1-5-1 in its last seven visits here – would have to win, then beat Temple and Syracuse to earn at least a share of the crown.
“Those have been our goals from day one, to win the Big East, to get a BCS bid. You take it one game at a time, but this is the first week that I can say to the kids that your goals are right in front of you, there for the taking,” Rodriguez said. “It’s the last home game for our seniors. They want to go down in the history of West Virginia football.”
Both teams have their warts. BC’s offense has sputtered, while the Mountaineers’ defensive intensity has been lacking lately, almost as if they were on cruise control waiting for today.
But WVU running back Kay-Jay Harris is healthy again, WR Chris Henry back from his suspension and once-errant QB Rasheed Marshall is seventh in the nation in pass efficiency (164.9) and first in the league in highlight plays. They’ll face a front four led by DE Mathias Kiwanuka, who has 41 tackles with six sacks.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese openly fretted about WVU’s notoriously rowdy fans getting hostile, especially considering BC’s high-profile defection.
