Published: October 14, 2009 11:48 pm      

Taylor driven to succeed

MORGANTOWN — Josh Taylor knows the game of football is played with an oblong, leather sphere.

But it’s certainly understandable if he thought the ball was a fictional object.

After all, he’s not really seen too much of the ball in a game.

Until last Saturday at Syracuse.

Taylor’s first-quarter interception was the first time he had touched a ball in a game that he can remember.

Not that he held it long. Taylor quickly fumbled the pigskin away, only to see teammate Pat Lazear pick it up and return it 53 yards to the Syracuse 11. That led to a touchdown on WVU’s next play and started what was a 27-0 first-half run in a 34-13 win.

“I played a little bit at fullback in high school, but I was just a blocker,” Taylor , a Miramar, Fla., native, said. “I played tight end when I first got there, but that was short-lived. I don’t think I had any touches in high school. ”

Suffice it to say, Taylor was more than a little surprised when he saw Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus’ pass headed his way.

“I stepped back and saw the ball coming right at me,” he said. “I just stuck my hands up and grabbed it.”

Just like a good tight end. Problem is, after the interception, he reverted back to defensive lineman.

“As you could see, I didn’t know what to do with it after I caught it. I was just happy I got it and I was happy Pat got it after I let it go.”

Taylor, originally a walk-on at WVU, has made the most of an opportunity afforded when Scooter Berry was injured in week 2 against East Carolina

“I think I’ve played pretty well,” he said. “I started playing tackle about one week before camp was out. I’m just happy I can go out there and help my team out any way I can.”

And he is showing the scholarship he received and was awarded prior to the season opener against Liberty was well earned.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “My parents had to take out a lot of loans for me to go to school. They’re trying to pay off my school, and just to get that weight off my back, it means a lot.”

So now he is in the process of rewarding his coaches’ faith.

He has responded with nine tackles, a tackle for a loss and a sack.

“I need to prove that I deserve the scholarship now that they gave it to me,” Taylor said. “I need to stay with my drive, keep playing hard.”

Berry has been a big influence and it’s paying dividends.

“Scooter helps me a lot,” Taylor said. “Every time I come off the field I go straight to him and ask him what I did on that play, what I could have done better on that play.”

In three starts, he has graded out well.

He graded out at 80 percent against Syracuse, 77 percent against Colorado and 85 percent against Auburn in his first start.

“It could have been better,” Taylor said. “There’s always room to improve.

“They gave me the scholarship to make plays. They believe in me to make the plays that I can make.”

He had a scholarship offer from St. Paul, an NCAA Division II school in Lawrenceville, Va. Ironically, that was the team that canceled its game with West Virginia Wesleyan in August because its new helmets hadn’t arrived.

But Taylor wasn’t interested in D-II when he felt he was a D-I player.

“I was stubborn in high school,” he said. “I thought I could play D-I football. I didn’t want to settle.”

That he started out on the scout team meant little to Taylor. That he played in one game last year and had one career tackle entering the 2009 season meant even less. He was driven to succeed.

“I came up here to play,” he said. “I’m not the type of person to stay in the background. I’m not saying the scout team doesn’t help out, because they help us a lot. But I came to play.

“I couldn’t go back home and say it didn’t work out. That would be like saying ‘Oh, he just gave up. He didn’t’ want to push himself, he didn’t want to work hard.’” 

Not only has he worked hard and earned a scholarship, he is showing it is well deserved. And he’s making the most of his opportunity. And he found out the game of football does have a real ball.