Orangeyes
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The Mountaineer Killers
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
"I bring this up because every sports fan has scar tissue, and that certainly includes West Virginia Mountaineer football fans. There have been many great players through the years who have made life miserable around here, starting with a guy named Jim Brown in 1955.
All week heading into the Mountaineers’ game against Syracuse that season, Coach Art Lewis emphasized to his team that he didn’t want any long kickoffs to Brown. Kick it anywhere but to Brown, including the stands, Lewis demanded. But Sam Huff, who doubled as the team’s kickoff man, had a different idea. He argued that kicking the ball to Brown would give them a chance to gang up on him and “clobber him good.” Lewis went against his better judgment and agreed to let Huff kick to Brown and when he got the ball, Brown proceeded to run through West Virginia’s coverage unit like a hot knife through butter. Syracuse went on to defeat the Mountaineers 20-13 behind Brown’s impressive running. Who knew Jim Brown would go on to become the greatest running back in professional football history … likely everyone in the stadium that afternoon!"
1. Larry Csonka (Syracuse) – West Virginia kicker Ken Juskowich knew his team was in big trouble when he overheard Larry Csonka say “nice tackle little fella” to West Virginia defensive tackle Charlie Fisher. “(Fisher) was one of our biggest defensive guys!” Juskowich recalled. Csonka ran for 117 yards and a touchdown in helping Syracuse to a 23-6 beating that was far worse than it looked on the scoreboard. Several West Virginia players were knocked out of that game, prompting offensive coordinator Bobby Bowden to remark afterward that West Virginia didn’t leave Syracuse but instead “was evacuated.” Csonka ran for 145 yards and scored a touchdown in Syracuse’s 34-7 victory over West Virginia in 1966, a year after battering West Virginia to the tune of 216 yards and two touchdowns in a 22-point Orangemen win in 1965. In three career games against West Virginia, Csonka rushed 70 times for 478 yards and four touchdowns and the Orangemen won all three games by an average margin of 22 points per game. Ouch.
Syracuse running back Floyd Little ran for 196 yards and scored four touchdowns in this 1965 game against West Virginia at Old Mountaineer Field.
5. Floyd Little (Syracuse) – Perhaps it was West Virginia’s 28-27 come-from-behind victory in Morgantown that spoiled the ending to a Sugar Bowl-bound season for Syracuse in 1964 that stuck in Floyd Little’s craw. Whatever it was, Little came back with a vengeance, rushing 30 times for 196 yards and scoring four touchdowns in Syracuse’s 41-19 victory over the Mountaineers in Morgantown in 1965 and adding 127 yards and two scores in a 34-7 Orangemen victory in Syracuse in 1966. Little wasn’t bad in the ’64 loss either, gaining 96 yards on 21 carries and scoring a touchdown before Bob Dunlevy made his unforgettable game-winning catch. In three career games against West Virginia, the New Haven, Conn., native accumulated 419 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
6. Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) – Donovan McNabb’s dominance of West Virginia began as a freshman in 1995 with a 96-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison, and continued with beatings in 1996 and 1997. McNabb passed for 308 yards and two touchdowns in Syracuse’s 22-0 victory 1995, he threw two more TD passes in a 30-7 rout in 1996, and then contributed 281 yards and three touchdowns through the air in a 40-10 pasting in 1997. Despite a 35-28 loss to the Mountaineers in Morgantown in 1998, McNabb was still outstanding, completing 16-of-29 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. In four career games against West Virginia, McNabb completed 52-of-95 passes for 880 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also rushed for two more scores. Not too shabby.
9. Joe Morris (Syracuse) – Little Joe Morris had two scholarship offers following his senior season in Ayer, Mass. – one being from Syracuse and the other from New Hampshire – and he picked the Orange because he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering what he could have done if he didn’t play Division I football. Well, Morris became Syracuse’s all-time rushing leader, surpassing the likes of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Floyd Little and Larry Csonka. He was particularly torturous to West Virginia, running for 99 yards in a 1978 win in Morgantown, gaining 166 yards in another Syracuse triumph over the Mountaineers in Giants Stadium in ‘79, and then after missing the 1980 game in Morgantown, putting a bow on things by running for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Syracuse’s season-ending victory over the Peach Bowl-bound Mountaineers. “He was a stud,” recalled West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, who faced Morris all three times he played against the Mountaineers. “He just ran all over us in the Carrier Dome my senior year.”
http://www.msnsportsnet.com/blogs.cfm?blog=ccBlog&useDate=06/21/12
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
"I bring this up because every sports fan has scar tissue, and that certainly includes West Virginia Mountaineer football fans. There have been many great players through the years who have made life miserable around here, starting with a guy named Jim Brown in 1955.
All week heading into the Mountaineers’ game against Syracuse that season, Coach Art Lewis emphasized to his team that he didn’t want any long kickoffs to Brown. Kick it anywhere but to Brown, including the stands, Lewis demanded. But Sam Huff, who doubled as the team’s kickoff man, had a different idea. He argued that kicking the ball to Brown would give them a chance to gang up on him and “clobber him good.” Lewis went against his better judgment and agreed to let Huff kick to Brown and when he got the ball, Brown proceeded to run through West Virginia’s coverage unit like a hot knife through butter. Syracuse went on to defeat the Mountaineers 20-13 behind Brown’s impressive running. Who knew Jim Brown would go on to become the greatest running back in professional football history … likely everyone in the stadium that afternoon!"
1. Larry Csonka (Syracuse) – West Virginia kicker Ken Juskowich knew his team was in big trouble when he overheard Larry Csonka say “nice tackle little fella” to West Virginia defensive tackle Charlie Fisher. “(Fisher) was one of our biggest defensive guys!” Juskowich recalled. Csonka ran for 117 yards and a touchdown in helping Syracuse to a 23-6 beating that was far worse than it looked on the scoreboard. Several West Virginia players were knocked out of that game, prompting offensive coordinator Bobby Bowden to remark afterward that West Virginia didn’t leave Syracuse but instead “was evacuated.” Csonka ran for 145 yards and scored a touchdown in Syracuse’s 34-7 victory over West Virginia in 1966, a year after battering West Virginia to the tune of 216 yards and two touchdowns in a 22-point Orangemen win in 1965. In three career games against West Virginia, Csonka rushed 70 times for 478 yards and four touchdowns and the Orangemen won all three games by an average margin of 22 points per game. Ouch.
Syracuse running back Floyd Little ran for 196 yards and scored four touchdowns in this 1965 game against West Virginia at Old Mountaineer Field.
5. Floyd Little (Syracuse) – Perhaps it was West Virginia’s 28-27 come-from-behind victory in Morgantown that spoiled the ending to a Sugar Bowl-bound season for Syracuse in 1964 that stuck in Floyd Little’s craw. Whatever it was, Little came back with a vengeance, rushing 30 times for 196 yards and scoring four touchdowns in Syracuse’s 41-19 victory over the Mountaineers in Morgantown in 1965 and adding 127 yards and two scores in a 34-7 Orangemen victory in Syracuse in 1966. Little wasn’t bad in the ’64 loss either, gaining 96 yards on 21 carries and scoring a touchdown before Bob Dunlevy made his unforgettable game-winning catch. In three career games against West Virginia, the New Haven, Conn., native accumulated 419 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
6. Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) – Donovan McNabb’s dominance of West Virginia began as a freshman in 1995 with a 96-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison, and continued with beatings in 1996 and 1997. McNabb passed for 308 yards and two touchdowns in Syracuse’s 22-0 victory 1995, he threw two more TD passes in a 30-7 rout in 1996, and then contributed 281 yards and three touchdowns through the air in a 40-10 pasting in 1997. Despite a 35-28 loss to the Mountaineers in Morgantown in 1998, McNabb was still outstanding, completing 16-of-29 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. In four career games against West Virginia, McNabb completed 52-of-95 passes for 880 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also rushed for two more scores. Not too shabby.
9. Joe Morris (Syracuse) – Little Joe Morris had two scholarship offers following his senior season in Ayer, Mass. – one being from Syracuse and the other from New Hampshire – and he picked the Orange because he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering what he could have done if he didn’t play Division I football. Well, Morris became Syracuse’s all-time rushing leader, surpassing the likes of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Floyd Little and Larry Csonka. He was particularly torturous to West Virginia, running for 99 yards in a 1978 win in Morgantown, gaining 166 yards in another Syracuse triumph over the Mountaineers in Giants Stadium in ‘79, and then after missing the 1980 game in Morgantown, putting a bow on things by running for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Syracuse’s season-ending victory over the Peach Bowl-bound Mountaineers. “He was a stud,” recalled West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, who faced Morris all three times he played against the Mountaineers. “He just ran all over us in the Carrier Dome my senior year.”
http://www.msnsportsnet.com/blogs.cfm?blog=ccBlog&useDate=06/21/12
