WVU football fighting for respect
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Customers made John Menas take down pictures of Rich Rodriguez from his wall at Colasessano’s, where for years West Virginians had loaded up on its trademark pepperoni rolls before Mountaineer games. The hamlet of Grant Town, W.Va., has long since removed the sign reading, “Home of WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez.” Grant Town doesn’t have a lot of vandalism. It didn’t want any now.
The second-most popular T-shirt seen around these parts last week was Notre Dame. For West Virginia fans, Saturday provided the best headline it had seen in months: Notre Dame 35, Michigan 17.
When the Mountaineers (1-1) face Colorado (2-0) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Folsom Field, the entire state of West Virginia will hope it can return to the rarified air to which it was accustomed. It was way higher than a mile high.
It was the air of national title contention. Rodriguez had taken a poor football program in an even poorer state and had them both dancing with the stars. Then one cold West Virginia night last December, the second-ranked Mountaineers choked. They lost to Pittsburgh, a 4-7 team going nowhere, blowing a national title shot everyone expected them to win.
denverpost.com
9/16/08
