Published: November 18, 2008 10:43 pm      

Mountaineers aim to stop Louisville air attack

MORGANTOWN — Coach Bill Stewart hopes West Virginia University can curb Louisville’s passing in a Big East football game Saturday at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

“We’ve got to keep quarterback Hunter Cantwell from getting a rhythm,” he said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “When he gets into a rhythm, he reminds me of Mike Teel of Rutgers (the conference’s second-leading passer).

“When Cantwell and his receivers get into an absolute pattern passing and catching, they are really special. When he gets hot, he’s a real hot shot. I hope and pray that we can keep him out of rhythm.”

Stewart is hopeful that, in doing so, the WVU defense can start by limiting the Cardinals’ yardage on first downs. In the long run, that probably would cut down on their third-down conversions.

At the same time, of course, the Mountaineers hope that their offense can assume some semblance of consistency and control the ball for highly productive drives. Inconsistent ball-moving has been a season-long problem.

“We need to hold them on third downs and make more of our third downs,” Stewart said.

Cantwell, a 6-foot-5, 236-pound senior, has completed 170 of 296 passes for 1,947 yards and 14 touchdowns.

But he has been intercepted 12 times. Doug Beaumont is the team’s leading receiver with 46 catches for 569 yards. He also is an outstanding kick returner.

This will be a big game for both West Virginia (6-3, 3-1) and Louisville (5-5, 1-4). The Mountaineers are still in the run for the Big East championship, while the Cardinals need a victory to become bowl-eligible.

While WVU leads this series by a 7-2 margin, Stewart pointed out that the rivalry has taken on high-scoring shootout status in the last four meetings.

The Mountaineers prevailed by 36-34 here in 1993 before Louisville joined the Big East. Then they rallied for a three-overtime 46-44 win here in 2005, the Cardinals won by 44-34 in Louisville in 2006 and WVU was a 38-31 winner at home in 2007.

“Those were great games to watch,” Stewart recalled. “They showed well on TV for the Big East. Those were impressive for both schools.”

He revealed that Jarrett Brown, No. 2 quarterback and at times slot receiver, will be seen in the backfield (presuming at a position other than QB) on Saturday. But he declined to say where in the backfield.

Brown is fully recovered from injury.

“He is healthy now, but he was hurting (as the starting quarterback against Syracuse Oct. 11) and played his heart out,” Stewart remembers. “I sure hope he can finish the season.”

He said this late in the season virtually all college football teams have some players “dinged up,” but that WVU, thanks to the bye week, is in fairly good health.