Published: December 26, 2008 11:50 pm      

Have fans, will travel

WVU faithful stop at Tamarack on the road to the Meineke Bowl

Mountaineer fans old and young alike made a pit stop Friday at Tamarack.

In transit to Charlotte, N.C., to support their ’eers in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against North Carolina, fans pulled in to Tamarack decked out in blue and gold Mountaineer attire — and most even dressed their vehicles up with West Virginia flags and decals for their trip south.

In addition to connecting with friends and others traveling south, fans enjoyed free coffee, soda and discounts on WVU licensed merchandise, as well as a Register-Herald special bowl edition newspaper and window clings and lapel stickers complimentary of WVU.

One of several youngsters en route to Charlotte, Hailey Prouty of Fairmont was excited to attend her first WVU bowl game.

Parents Kelly and Tyler Prouty, both WVU alumni, say Hailey’s a regular attendee at all the home games in Morgantown, and they’re excited to bring their daughter to her first bowl game in Charlotte.

“I think it will be fun,” Tyler said.

“She has a (WVU) cheerleading outfit, but she also likes to wear her Mo. 7 Noel Divine jersey,” Kelly said.

Roy Hammond of Ritchie County also stopped at Tamarack on his way to the bowl.

Does Hammond think the Mountaineers will walk away with a “W” today?

“Oh, yeah, I do — four in a row for Pat White.”

Ready to watch his Mountaineers pull out a win in Charlotte, Hammond is hoping the ’eers will play “smarter” in today’s matchup.

“I believe we’ve had two or three weeks to get things organized for offense, and I think our defense has always been there,” he said.

“Defense is not going to let us down and offense is going to come up with a couple plays — hopefully option plays.”

Hammond thinks “throwing the ball” will be the toughest challenge the Mountaineers will face.

“I think (coach Bill) Stewart’s surely had enough time now with this big break to come up with two or three plays they haven’t seen. We haven’t run the option much this year, and when we have run it, every time we ran it, we’ve got like 10 to 20 yards. Maybe we’ll get smarter and give it a try.”

Woodrow Lucas of St. Albans stopped by Tamarack with several family members and friends Friday afternoon, on their way to Charlotte. “I don’t know,” he said when asked if he thought WVU would win.

Regardless, “we’re very excited” about the big game.

Another WVU fan traveling from Fairmont to Charlotte says West Virginia won’t have good chance of winning if it continues running the same plays it has used all year.

“We need to spread the plays out, especially on passing,” he said.

According to Cindy Whitlock of Tamarack, 225 WVU fans made a “Mountaineer Connection” at Tamarack within the first hour of opening Friday.

“It’s 10 o’clock and we’ve been out of stuff for 30 minutes as a far as our giveaways. It’s been an amazing day for us. Everybody’s very happy to be on the road headed south. Hopefully they’ll be as happy coming back as they are going down,” she said.

This is the sixth time the Register-Herald, Tamarack and WVU have served as the “Mountaineer Connection” point for fans traveling to WVU bowl cities. Previous stopovers have been held for the Sugar Bowl, Continental Tire Bowl and Gator Bowl.

Coming into the Meineke Bowl, WVU has won its last three bowl games.

In 2006, the Mountaineers beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, in 2007 they defeated Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl and last January WVU upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Meineke Bowl kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at sold-out Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. ESPN will broadcast the contest nationally.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com