W2WF: West Virginia (2004)

Boston College was wrapping up its 21-10 win over Rutgers last week, but an air of determination already gripped head coach Tom O'Brien and the Eagles. Sure, bowl eligibility awaited, and yes, accomplishments are worth celebrating. It just felt like something bigger lurked around the corner for a team about to head to West Virginia to play the Mountaineers, a team perched one game atop the Big East standings.

"We were very happy to come out with a victory against Rutgers," O'Brien said. "But we're not satisfied. We're aware that since the inception of the Big East, BC has never won a football game in Morgantown. The home-field crowd can definitely give that edge, and their quarterback is probably the most exciting player in our conference."

It was a rarely-seen emotional moment for a head coach known for a steely, steady sideline gaze, but O'Brien is keenly aware that this game is going to be more turbulent than most. Miami and Virginia Tech's defections to the Atlantic Coast Conference denied remaining Big East teams a shot at them on the way out the door, but the timeline forced BC to play out 2004 before joining them in the new league.

The various proceedings left a sour taste in everyone's mouths, and the Pittsburgh loss gave the Big East a measure of revenge. None of that compared to the countdown to Morgantown, a place where the Eagles never win and now have to play a team that was once ranked as high as sixth in the national polls. It feels like the entire state of West Virginia is frothing for this game against the invaders from the north, and the lather is only going to turn an already hostile environment into a full-fledged football war.

"Sometimes you have a few fans - everywhere- who maybe get a little bit overboard," West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I have complete confidence that we'll have no problems whatsoever. I think we have a great environment to play in, and we want it to be hostile from a noise standpoint. I hope it will be, but I don't think we'll have any other problems."

This week's game is one of the purest forms of sport because there's such a clear-cut, delineated line of demarcation between good and evil. West Virginia fans - and Big East fans at large - view Boston College as the last remaining bitter symbol of the ACC's expansion. Boston College fans want, more than anything, to win the conference and send its Big East era out with its first championship trophy. It plays out in the house of horrors in Morgantown on national television.

It simply does not get better than this.

Here's what else to watch for in this week's game:

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Weekly Storylines

Roll with it baby.

Rich Rodriguez's high-octane offense is one of the scariest units in college football. It boasts one of the most explosive college football players in wide receiver Chris Henry, and quarterback Rasheed Marshall is tremendous in his ability to create plays with his feet, his vision, and his arm. Running back Kay-Jay Harris is a thunderous running back capable of wearing down defenses on the inside.

"The key for us is: can we run the football against them?" Rodriguez said. "BC could very easily be undefeated. They have good players at every position. They play hard, and they're well-coached. There's a lot at stake this weekend."

West Virginia averages over 400 yards per game and is scoring at a 35-point clip each week. It centers around the run, which is averaging over 250 yards against opponents, which itself highlights Marshall. He skews almost all of the numbers because his mobility makes defenders miss on sacks and short yardage situations.

"(Phil) Mettling and (Mathias) Kiwanuka have both had outstanding seasons," Tom O'Brien said. "(Tim) Bulman and (Al) Washington have played a lot of football for us in the past couple of years. They've done an excellent job of stepping up. Those four guys, along with the backups, have been the leaders of the defense."

It's a well-hyped meeting between one of the best offenses and one of the stingiest defenses. Defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani is going into a chess match with one of the best offensive minds in the Big East. It's going to be incredibly fun, and the team that likely competes the best in this matchup will likely walk out of Morgantown with a victory.

Catch Me If You Can.

Stopping Marshall in particular requires Frank Spaziani to dial into the minutiae of his alignment. The quarterback's shiftiness can shred a defensive alignment with its elusiveness, so trying to collapse one player around the pocket isn't necessarily something BC can do. That's antithetical to the unit that's played cohesive team defense to hold opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground per game.

Changing schemes and alignment isn't necessarily something Spaziani is going to want to do, but different players can transition into spy roles over each quarter. Brian Toal had 15 tackles, including 12 solo stops, in last week's win over Rutgers, and Ray Henderson is a certified mad man in the second level. Their aggressiveness can move laterally with Marshall, and Spaziani might need to trust one of them to make the initial hit to slow down the quarterback enough for a second effort to come over.

That second wave can come from up front because Kiwanuka possesses incredible speed for a defensive lineman. Not sending him into the backfield sounds insane, but he could drop back into a linebacker spot if necessary, similar to what the New England Patriots do with Willie McGinest. The Eagles can also send a defensive back into the center of the field if they need a little bit more speed.

I go back.

Miami's departure opened the door for West Virginia to jump into the Big East championship picture. The way it opened the season pushed it to No. 6 in the national polls, but that loss to Virginia Tech, of all teams, cost the Mountaineers a shot at the BCS championship. It forced them to settle for a potential conference championship and a shot at the Fiesta Bowl against a team to be determined later.

Losing this game would even kill that opportunity, so this is a must-win game for West Virginia on that level. It's also the aforementioned game against Boston College, which itself is an overlaid storyline. It's also playing out in a stadium where the Eagles never win against a team that always seems to ruin BC's chances at a national bowl.

In 1993, No. 17 Boston College went into South Bend and upset No. 1-ranked Notre Dame on David Gordon's infamous field goal kick. It lifted the Eagles to No. 11 and positioned them for a chance at the Big East championship in the conference's first full season. The final game of the season ended with West Virginia winning after David Green's fumble led directly to Darren Studstill's 63-yard, game-winning drive, and BC went to the Carquest Bowl instead.

The next year, BC again had a late-season shot at the Big East championship when it went to West Virginia in November. The No. 17 Eagles lost, 21-20 before derailing the next week against Miami.

This year, West Virginia is No. 13 in the BCS standings while BC sits at No. 23. The winner of this game earns a seat at the table in the BCS, while the other watches a team celebrate for the rest of eternity.

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Scoreboard Watching

BC's two games after West Virginia are against Temple and Syracuse, and both play each other this week in Philadelphia. Syracuse is an X-factor in the Big East race after beating Pittsburgh last week, 38-31, in overtime at the Carrier Dome. Safety Diamond Ferri, who many of us remember as a running back in Massachusetts at Everett High School, had 12 tackles and forced a fumble before coming up with the game-winning stop in overtime. It's good to see Ferri overcome some of the demons from his earlier tenure at Syracuse, even though I miss seeing him as a running back on the field.

The loss damaged Pitt's attempt to win the Big East, especially since it has to play West Virginia. It heads to Notre Dame this week with a chance to gain bowl eligibility against the No. 24 Fighting Irish before it plays West Virginia and South Florida to close out the season.

Temple, meanwhile, plays the aforementioned Orange, but its game next week against BC is also its last game in the Big East. The Owls venture into independence next year because the Big East is reconfiguring without them due to their lack of competitiveness.

UConn remains one of the pleasant surprises in the Big East. The Huskies, who are trying to gain bowl eligibility in their first year in the conference, head to Georgia Tech. They need to win one of their last three games, including a home game against Buffalo and a road game at Rutgers, in order to clinch a postseason game.

Nationally, the Bowl Championship Series continues to deal with an existential crisis surrounding the number of undefeated teams in its midst. USC leads the top of the list with Oklahoma sitting at No. 2, but Auburn's presence at No. 3 drives a wedge into the perception of the computer's algorithm. No. 7 Utah is also undefeated, as is No. 14 Boise State, but it's unlikely either of those teams are going to crack the top list because of their strength of schedule.

The biggest problem is that a loss by any of those teams opens the door for Wisconsin, Cal, Texas, Georgia or Michigan. Georgia, with its one-loss record, plays Auburn this week, and Michigan plays Northwestern. Texas has Kansas on its schedule.

On the local radar, Harvard essentially plays for the Ivy League championship this week when it travels to Penn. The No. 15 Crimson haven't won at Franklin Field since 1982, meaning the No. 17 Quakers have an opening to clinch yet another conference crown.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Jack Sparrow! -Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Pirates of the Caribbean

This has been the greatest period in Boston sports history. The Red Sox ended an 86-year curse last month and continue to reap the benefits of winning their first World Series. The Celtics and Bruins are competing at high levels. The Patriots have two Super Bowl championships and are steamrolling the rest of the NFL (except for that pesky game against the Steelers). Ray Bourque is officially a Hall of Famer as of this week. Even the New England Revolution are going to conference championships.

I don't see how it can get any better than it is right now unless Boston College wins this game and takes the front runner status for the Big East championship. The mere vision of the maroon and gold will elicit negative responses, but that's quite alright with me. I have waited my whole life to celebrate Boston sports like it is, and the thought of the Eagles playing in a BCS bowl game only adds to how great this feeling is.

We've been the toast of the sporting universe, and everyone is feeling the good vibrations. Boston College might be the bigger pro wrestling heel right now, but it's only going to create a fever pitch around this game. It's a compelling story, even though the game is going to be a fantastic contest. This is the kind of game where the Eagles almost always lose - I mean, look at the record at the Morgantown - but I have really good karma flowing into this.

I'm excited to be a part of it, and I can't wait for kickoff. I'm just hoping it comes out on the end for the city of Boston, again, because we've earned it this time. It would be fitting because no city's dominance can last forever. Most cities don't even last 10 years. Since the next decade probably won't be that exciting, I want to experience it all now. And just once, it would be nice to walk out of Mountaineer Field with a win and a shot at the Fiesta Bowl.

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