Power surge: WVU offensive line, with chip on shoulder, devastated Bearcats
Chris Jackson/ freelancer Associated Press
MORGANTOWN — In any football game there is always a battle that is fought unnoticed, a sumo wrestling match in the trenches between men weighing 280 to 340 pounds, large and strong and agile … and mean.
They are clad in huge shoulder pads, their knees wrapped in contraptions known as braces. Their arms are bruised and cut, healing up some from week to week, but they get no sympathy for that is what they have signed on for.
They are offensive and defensive linemen. Unless they are Mean Joe Greene the Coca-Cola company doesn’t come looking for them to sell their products, saving that for the glory guys who run with the ball or catch the ball and especially those who throw the ball.
Sometimes, ever so seldom, but sometimes, the spotlight shifts those men up front and as West Virginia was getting ready to play its final home game of the season at Mountaineer Field the light shined into the middle of the grunts and groans of the big guys up front.
Zach Frazier is West Virginia’s All-American center and he was playing his final home game, just 20 miles up the road from where he grew up in Fairmont. Dontay Corleone — yes, he’s known as “The Godfather” — is 300 pounds of nose guard lined up across from him, a preseason All-American who was the highest ranking defensive line in the country last year.
Forget Ali-Frazier.
This was being billed as a true heavyweight championship fight, only no one would be shouting “Down Goes Frazier,” as it turned out.
The battle up front belonged to West Virginia, an angry group who a week ago against Oklahoma got run over in a 59-20 defeat and who during the week had suffered an award nomination snub.
They were ready for action and when the blood dried, WVU had a 42-21 victory and had built it with 424 rushing yards and two 100-yard rushers who enjoyed a lot of clear sailing thanks to Frazier and Co.
“The game was won in the trenches,” WVU quarterback Garrett Greene said. “They have a really good interior and I thought our O-line played phenomenal. We really controlled the ball.”
Greene used the blocking up front to help him to 364 total yards, 210 through the air and 154 on the ground. He was joined by freshman running back Jaheim White in triple digits, his three digits reading out 204 rushing yards.
All season they had been among the nation’s best, but this was other worldish.
“Our O-line is the best in the country,” Greene maintained. “Every week other than last week I watch those blocks on tape. I look and Frazier is blocking two people. Wyatt Milum is blocking someone 50 yards down field. There’s all kinds of stuff I see.”
Between the hit their pride took at Oklahoma and then the Joe Moore Award announcing its 10 semifinalists for the best offensive line in the country this week and leaving them out, well, let’s just say there were some bruised egos and angry offensive linemen.
“You know the Joe Moore Award came out with its semifinalists and I thought it was an absolute, complete farce that our guys weren’t involved in that,” Neal Brown said. “I don’t know the criteria for that, but coming into the game we were seventh in the country (in rushing) and we should be in the Top 5 after this game. We ran for 424 yards. We were seventh in the country in fewest sacks allowed.”
“You look at those stats and I would make a hard argument we are the best offensive line in the country. We definitely should be in the semifinals. I hope the finalists come out, they reconsider and actually watch some film,” added Brown, verbally pointing a finger at whatever committee makes such decisions for not doing their job.
“That was something that our guys took offense to today and they took it out on Cincinnati. I thought it was a slap in the face to our program. I hope they look at our body of work.”
Frazier is in the middle of the line with Wyatt Milum and normally Doug Nester (who missed this game with an injury) at the tackles and Tomas Rimac and Ja’Quay Hubbard at the guards.
Frazier and Nester surely will be in the NFL draft next year and Milum looks like he’s a future first-round pick.
“At the point of attack, Wyatt Milum is special,” Brown said. “I thought Zach Frazier really took the matchup with Corleone personally. I don’t know how it went but stats-wise it went pretty well for us. We’ll see the video. I thought Tomas and Ja’Quay Hubbard and Nick Malone played really well. Any time you run for that many yards the tight ends are doing well at the point of attack.”
All of that comes out in the tape studies, but it’s hard to argue with what the eyes saw.
There was, for example, one of White’s numerous double-digit yardage runs where Frazier simply led him down the field, the short but strong running back acting as his caboose as Frazier cleared the tracks in front of him.
The line, with a really strong blocking performance for the wide receiver group, made it possible for this statistic to become reality.
WVU had 10 plays of 20 or more yards. Greene accounted for six of them and White two … but White had nine runs of 10 or more yards and that 75-yard touchdown pass from Greene.