The Press Box: National Championship
I know I have shared with readers before my dislike for all things Ohio State, but I am trying to balance my Buckeye aversion somewhat because of my grandson, Leo. He is growing up in the Worthington School system just outside of Columbus and naturally is a big Ohio State fan. His grandmother even has resorted to secretly purchasing him Ohio State gear, although Leo hasn’t worn any of it when visiting us in West by God Virginia. He is a smart boy.
While watching the National Championship and seeing Ohio State score on its first five possessions and fend off a second half rally from Notre Dame 34-23, I couldn’t help being impressed by their commanding run through the inaugural 12-team tournament. The Ohio State star was quarterback Will Howard, a senior transfer from Kansas State, who had one of the most electric performances by a passer in title game history. Howard set a playoff record opening the game with 13 completions in a row and not throwing an incomplete pass until just over a minute to go in the first half. At this point there were no Irish eyes smiling, and the memory of coach Ryan Day’s rivalry loss to Michigan seemed to be in the rear-view mirror. Howard was playing against the country’s second-best pass defense in yards allowed per game but managed to go 17 for 21 for 231 yards and two touchdowns, not to mention 57 yards on 16 carries. Quite impressive.
Before I get too gushy about Ohio State’s performance, I’ll share an experience from September 12, 1987, when Mary Ann and I, along with our friends the Howletts, went to the WVU vs Ohio State game in Columbus. It was the second game of the young season with veteran head coach Don Nehlen at the helm. We were all very young and had never been in a stadium of that size. I can remember our “tailgate” consisted of a chunk of cheese from Kroger, a box of Ritz crackers and some marginally cooled Budweisers. Our disappointment was compounded not only by the loss for our Mountaineers (3-24), but the poor treatment of WVU’s fans and players. It ended up raining, which is never fun, but the thing I remember the most were the accusations and the name calling hurled our way. “Hillbillies” and “Backwoods Rednecks,” were the two that standout. No wonder we left with a sour taste in our mouth for all things Ohio State.
Hopefully the new Rich Rod Realm will give us the opportunity to run into the Buckeyes somewhere down the road again. WVU has only played Ohio State in football six times, winning only one game way back in 1897. The Mountaineers then suffered three straight losses from 1900 through 1903. The teams didn’t meet again until 1987, which produced the same results that we witnessed in 1998, but you know what they say about paybacks. Only time will tell.
Switching gears, so far this season the coaching job performed by West Virginia’s first year men’s basketball coach Darren Devries is nothing short of astonishing. Coming off a historically bad season for the program last winter after the heartbreaking separation from legendary coach Bob Huggins, Coach Devries was brought in to rebuild the program and put together an entirely new roster via the transfer portal. And Despite that roster being undersized and dogged by injuries, the Mountaineers sit at 13 and 5 overall and 4 and 3 in the Big 12. This record includes three wins over teams that were ranked in the top ten at the time of the game. Who would have guessed it?! There were a whole lot of questions in Morgantown at the beginning of the basketball season but now there seems to be some really good answers. I keep watching hoping Tucker Devries will be back in the lineup. The Mountaineers are fun to watch, and I look forward to the second half of the season.
Locally, if you did not get a chance to attend the Magnolia Rotary Challenge this past weekend you missed out on some excellent basketball. A total of 17 teams, seven ranked in the top 10 in WV played before large crowds over two days. A total of 10 games took place. In the girls match ups Tyler Consolidated Lady Knights defeated Magnolia and Trinity defeated Magnolia in overtime. In the boys matchupsTucker County defeated Magnolia, Class A Valley defeated Class AAA Berkeley Springs, Ravenswood defeated TCHS, Morgantown defeated Nitro, and Magnolia defeated Cameron. It was a great weekend for high school boys and girls basketball and the boosters from Magnolia did a great job organizing and running the tournament.