Turnovers, WVU Aerial Assault Halt Pirates' Progress
September 06, 2003 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Rasheed Marshall threw a career-high four touchdown passes and Quincy Wilson rushed for 147 yards Saturday night as West Virginia beat East Carolina 48-7.
Sophomore Chris Henry had two touchdown catches for the Mountaineers (1-1), who beat the Pirates (0-2) for the 13th time in 15 meetings. Junior college transfer Kay-Jay Harris and redshirt freshman Jason Colson added rushing touchdowns for the Mountaineers.
Last year, the Mountaineers rushed for 536 yards -- the most ever allowed by the Pirates -- in a 37-17 win in Morgantown, W.Va. Wilson rushed for 198 yards in that game, but West Virginia finished with 33 passing yards.
On Saturday night, the Mountaineers attacked the Pirates through the air and on the ground. West Virginia rushed for 361 yards and finished with 555 total yards, scoring the game's first 48 points.
"I knew they'd be fired up. They were talking the whole game, even when we were up 48," Wilson said of the Pirates. "This is the kind of game you like to play in, when teams are fired up and ready to come at you."
East Carolina, meanwhile, lost three fumbles and committed five turnovers. West Virginia scored touchdowns on each of the ensuing possessions.
"We created a few turnovers. I thought that was the key," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We got some turnovers and when we got them it seemed we scored on them."
The Pirates didn't reach the end zone until Vonta Leach's 1-yard touchdown run with 10:35 left. It was the Pirates' first touchdown of the season. They lost 40-3 at Cincinnati on Monday.
For the second straight game, Terrance Copper was the lone bright spot for the Pirates. After an 11-catch, 106-yard effort against the Bearcats, Copper had 12 catches for 140 yards against the Mountaineers.
Things won't get any easier for East Carolina. The Pirates travel to Miami next week.
"This is something that none of us have been through," first-year Pirates coach John Thompson said. "This is something we will get through. We're going to get this right."
West Virginia took a 7-0 lead on Marshall's 37-yard TD toss to Henry late in the first quarter, and put the game out of reach with 20 second-quarter points for a 27-0 halftime lead.
Wilson rushed 16 times for 119 yards in the first half as the Mountaineers had 322 total yards. Marshall completed 10 of 16 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
Starting quarterback Desmond Robinson had trouble holding onto the football, fumbling three times in the first half -- including a fumbled snap on the Pirates' first offensive play. East Carolina recovered all three loose balls, but Robinson was replaced by Paul Troth with the Pirates trailing 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
Troth's first pass was tipped and intercepted by Adam Lehnortt deep in ECU territory. That set up Marshall's 17-yard scoring strike to Aaron Neal for a 21-0 lead with 5:28 left in the half.
After holding East Carolina to a three-and-out, West Virginia pushed the lead to 27 on Marshall's 30-yard TD pass to Miquelle Henderson with 2:12 left before halftime.
Robinson returned in the second half and was 21-for-26 for 194 yards and an interception for the Pirates. His completion percentage of 80.8 percent set a single-game school record.
ECU Postgame Notes
POSTGAME QUOTES: ECU Coach John Thompson
"This is something that none of us have been through. This is something we will get through. We're going to get this right. I'm proud of this football team and the way they kept competing through the fourth quarter."
"I'm proud of the guys and how hard they were trying. There are so many things we have to do to get better fundamentally. We have to tackle better and not turn the ball over."
On the play of the offensive line:
"We played a good front line but we must get better and stronger. We started to make progress in the running game."
On the quarterback situation:
"Desmond [Robinson] is our quarterback. We've got to establish a leader and Desmond is going to be the guy to do that. I think Des finally got into some rhythm there in the second half and showed some personality and some presence that we've seen off and on."
On the confidence factor after two tough losses and facing Miami next week:
"We've got to be realistic about where we are and what we're doing. That doesn't mean we accept anything at all. We're going down there to do our best to win the football game. We came in here tonight to win the football game and we competed to win the football game. Things didn't happen that way, but we're going to keep going and keep fighting. I'm disappointed for the people that care so much about this; it's not what they deserve right now, but we're going to get there."
On Terrance Copper:
"Terrance is a big time competitor, he keeps fighting and our guys keep going to him even while they were doubling him."
On Rasheed Marshall's play
"He played good tonight and made some great throws and his recievers made some fingertip catches. He got into a rhythm and it was difficult for our team to stop him."
POSTGAME QUOTES: WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez
"These are the kind of games that make you nervous because you are coming in and you think if you play well you win and with the atmosphere before the game, we really weren't into it. It makes you nervous. They played hard; you've got to give them credit. They turned the ball over at key times and we just capitalized on it. that was the difference in the game."
"They were loading everyone up on the run and we had to take a few shots ... I thought Rasheed was really sharp on the ball."
"All six guys that ran the ball ran I think ran the ball pretty hard. That is one thing we are trying to get at our program -- if we can get competition at all our positions like we got with our running backs we know we will be okay."
On allowing passes underneath but not allowing the deep pass:
"It got a little frustrating at times; they did a nice job. That Copper is a great competitor ... but I thought we tackled well and that created a few turnovers and we were able to capitalize on those turnovers. That was the key."
