The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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October 14, 2009

Friends of Coal Bowl

Stopping Brown, Devine key for MU in Coal Bowl

By Gary Fauber

Part of Mark Snyder was amused when watching Auburn trying to stop Noel Devine, Jarrett Brown and pretty much everyone else who carried the ball for West Virginia that wet September night in Alabama.

“I have watched five games on WVU and no one has been consistently able to tackle them,” Snyder said. “As good as Auburn is, at times it was almost comical watching people try to tackle those guys. We will work on that today at practice.”

What Snyder wasn’t amused by was his team trying to tackle Tulane ball carriers in a 31-10 win last Saturday.

“It is not a good week to come off a bad tackling Saturday,” Snyder said.

Trying to stop Devine and Brown will be entirely different from trying to tackle the likes of Andre Anderson and Jeremy Williams. That’s the task the Marshall defense will face Saturday at West Virginia in the annual Friends of Coal Bowl.

Devine is the Big East’s leading rusher and third in the nation at 126.2 yards per game.

He starred in last year’s meeting, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown.

Devine, a junior, illustrates the point Snyder has made, that the Herd’s tackling must be improved Saturday.

“He’s just a good player. He is electrifying,” Snyder said. “He runs so low to the ground. It looks like he has a rubber-band in him with some of the moves he makes. He is difficult to tackle. He can freeze you, spin on you and reverse the field on you. Those are dangerous combinations, and that’s what makes him a good back.

“I can say the same thing about Jock Sanders. He can spin on you, freeze you, outrun you and reverse the field. As a defensive coach, those are the guys that keep you up having nightmares at night. The risk-reward of having those guys is, if you get a clean shot on them, the ball might come out. But the number of yards they have gained outweighs the number of turnovers they have had.”

Which is saying something, considering the Mountaineers had 14 turnovers through their first four games. They only had one in last week’s 34-13 win at Syracuse.

Brown, meanwhile, is excelling in his first and only year as the starting quarterback. He has completed 95 of 138 passes for 1,190 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions. Four of the picks came against Auburn.

“He has a strong arm and is very elusive,” Snyder said. “He has waited his turn and is playing some great football. He’s a big man.”

— E-mail:

gfauber@register-herald.com

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