The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

October 6, 2011

Big East drops the ball, again

By Dave Morrison Sports Editor

Not to get up on a soapbox — or continue with the rumor and innuendo that is conference expansion, all of which now has about as much intrigue as a bowl of spoiled milk, and smells about as good  — but the Big East has got to be kidding.

Certainly they jest.

West Virginia freshman Dustin Garrison was not the offensive player of the week?

And Pitt’s Ray Graham was?

Surely, the Big East has a real sense of humor. Or the conference that keeps on losing has once again dropped the ball.

The latter sounds about right, because there isn’t a whole lot of jocularity in the Big East Conference offices these days.

Not after the ACC plucked away Pitt and Syracuse, two more Big East teams, right under the nose of Commissioner John Marinatto.

This conference on life support could watch 20 episodes of “Seinfeld” back-to-back and not crack a smile.

You’d think that the conference would have a little bit of attitude when it comes to the ship jumpers.

If the Big East really wanted to stick it to the man, it very easily could have named Garrison the offensive player of the week.

Then again, who could argue? I think Garrison earned the honor.

Given a chance to do the right thing and make it known that those leaving aren’t going to be given anything, the Big East struck out. Twice.

Garrison got WVU’s once moribund running game off and, well, running, last week when he ran for 291 yards and two touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 55-10 win over Bowling Green.

That mark tied Kerry Marbury for second most in a game, behind only Kay-Jay Harris.

It was also the freshman record, breaking Pat White’s 220 (Garrison did that in the first half).

It is also the most by a FBS running back this season.

All of which means nothing to the Big East.

Look, Graham put up 226 yards and a couple of scores in the Panthers’ win over South Florida Thursday. I’m not denying that. It was a conference win, and it wasn’t against Bowling Green, as was Garrison’s record-breaking performance Saturday.

But the fact of the matter remains: Pitt is out, ACC-bound after paying a chump-change $5 million buyout and, supposedly, waiting the two or so years it is contractually obligated to do before departing the conference (as if that will happen).

Like I said, I don’t even think that it would have been sticking it to Pitt necessarily, though Panther fans could have cried foul after Graham did his work against South Florida.

 Garrison earned the honor on the field for all the record-setting reasons I mentioned, all for which he made the Big East Honor Roll. Whoop-tee-do.

I doubt if Garrison even cares.

And you know WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen cares even less. He’s too busy game-planning for UConn and chewing out half of the fan base for not showing up at last week’s Bowling Green game.

In the long run, who earned a Big East honor last week will matter very little.

But once again, given the chance to make a statement, the Big East dropped the ball.

Why am I not surprised?

— E-mail: demorrison@register-herald.com

Text Only
College Sports
  • 052513 luck ‘I always thought the university was missing an opportunity’

    West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck has been on plenty of tours around the state. Now approaching his fourth year as AD, the former Mountaineer quarterback is used to fielding questions during the spring and summer months about the approaching football season and even a few about basketball.

    May 24, 2013 1 Photo

  • WVU baseball tops TCU, stays alive in Big 12 tournament

    In its second game of pool play at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, the West Virginia University baseball team trumped TCU, 10-3.

    May 24, 2013

  • Miners' roster has proven producers

    While the entire West Virginia Miners roster will be new — except for pitcher Kolin Stanley, whose arrival will be later than expected because of a bout with tendinitis — the players are definitely no strangers to high-caliber baseball.

    May 24, 2013

  • Howley considered best all-around WVU athlete

    Chuck Howley’s greatest fame came in football at West Virginia University and then with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

    May 24, 2013

  • Mountaineers drop Big 12 Tournament opener

    In its first game of pool play against Kansas at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, the West Virginia University baseball team was defeated, 7-2.

    May 24, 2013

  • Months of waiting ends: Weeks signs with Marshall

    Adam Weeks probably could have helped usher in a historic first season for the Mountain East Conference at any member school he wanted. Instead, he waited — and waited — for the offer he really wanted.

    May 24, 2013

  • 052413 huggs WVU coaches looking for talent inside state’s borders

    At the West Virginia University Coaches Caravan Thursday at The Resort at Glade Springs, both head football coach Dana Holgorsen and men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins spoke about the Mountain State’s love for the state’s flagship university and its athletic teams.

    May 23, 2013 2 Photos

  • Six Concord baseball players selected for honors

    Six Concord University baseballplayers were recently honored with All-Atlantic Region accolades by either the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) or the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

    May 23, 2013

  • WVU baseball changes up pitching lineup for Big 12 Championship

    Randy Mazey’s attention has been on everything but baseball in recent days, as the West Virginia University coach has been out in front of his team’s effort to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma, where his team has been this week preparing for the Big 12 Baseball Championships, which begin today at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.

    May 22, 2013

  • 1MUSGRAVE1.jpg Musgrave, WVU teammates see tornado devastation up close

    West Virginia University pitcher Harrison Musgrave has spent his entire life in the hills of West Virginia. He didn’t know what a tornado siren was — let alone the damage that can be done by swirling winds.
    “I didn’t even know that they were going off,” Musgrave said. “I didn’t even know that they had sirens. I know I feel like a total idiot, but I heard them go off and I just thought it was an alarm going off.”

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo 6 Stories