Marrone Era: How does this WVU game rank as far as importance?

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

I think there have been a few games over the last few years that we have generally all agreed have been very significant milestone games in the Marrone era. Some that come off the top of my head are:

• The late November 2009 win over Rutgers...representing what seemed at the time somewhat of a passing back of the torch in the race out of the conference basement...the first Big East win of the season.
• Last year's win at WVU...massive win over a big time program that solidifed our lead in the series rivalry and futher marked reemergence as a capable football program (despite what that nut Oliver Luck thinks).
• The win the following week at Cinci making us bowl eligible
• And of course, the Pinstripe Bowl win

I'm sure there are others I am forgetting but these are top of mind.
That said...I view this week's home tilt vs. WVU as incredibly big for this program for a myriad of reasons.
1- It would essentially nullify (to everyone north of Piscataway) the loss vs. Rutgers in so far as where we stand in the conference.
2- It would represent back to back victories over WVU, a program whose AD claims we are an insignifcant and pathetic football program despite having a far more extensive history, leading the all time series, and beating the team down last year.
3- I think getting a conference win soon, given the ACC thing and the clear vitriol being directed against us from the rest of the conference, would be huge.
4- Beating a team ranked this highly would be an incredible confidence boost...again...wiping out some of the issues that may have sprung up against Rutgers.
5- From a logistical standpoint, it would get us to 5-2, leaving us with only 1 more win to go to bowl eligibility.
6- It would give the students an opportunity to storm the field. SU students believe they are entitled to storm the field once a season. This win, over a somewhat highly ranked traditional conference opponent clearly is not...that said, it would be less embarassing if they do it vs WVU than if they do it vs USF so let's get it out of the way now I suppose.
7- It would keep us in the conference title hunt.
Anyway...long story short, I think this week is massive.
But...
The question that remains is CAN we win it? Can we even HANG in it? My early feeling is a little leery...West Virginia has not just won this season, the team has looked really good doing so. There is no shame in having only a loss to LSU on the schedule. I really haven't been able to do a real nuts and bolts projection of how I think this game is going to go at this early date. I will say, however, that I do think we have a chance. It SU plays its best game, and WVU is off, we can win this game.

 

[44PRIDE]

There are two main reasons I want to win...

1) Its a conference opponent

2) I want to keep the Coach Ben trophy with us when we leave for the ACC.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

If you want to win this game, Marrone and dj jazzy Nate need to figure a way out to score 45-48 points anything less will not work, people can worry about stopping wvu on offense, most likely will not happen for 4 quarters, if you play well on d for one half they will still score 38-42 points.. If you don't play well they will score 70. So we need to play well on defense and will still probably give up 42 thus Marrone needs to score 42-45 points. If he can't come up with a plan to do that, then we have zero chance. Can he do that? I will let others devise that but that is the reality

 

[Rocco]

The win the following week at Cinci making us bowl eligible.

It was actually the win at Rutgers last year that made us bowl-eligible. Needed 7 wins because we played 2 FCS opponents (Maine, Colgate).

This game will be important, but I don't know where it ranks amongst the top games. The casual fan is starting to moan and groan again about Marrone, so he needs to stop the negativity with a W.

 

[OttoMets]

I think it's pretty similar to the Pittsburgh game last year. Hopefully this one turns out a bit better.