West Virginia Breezes Past Syracuse, 31-9 : Mountaineers (11-0) to Face Notre Dame in Fiesta Bowl

At the beginning of September, West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen had just one goal for his team: Win the close ones.

But the Mountaineers this season seldom had a chance to obey his request. They averaged 42.9 points per game in 1988 and closed out a perfect regular season with a 31-9 victory over Syracuse Saturday.

“We lost some close games last year. We wanted to make sure we won those games,” Nehlen said. “We weren’t thinking 11-0 and a bowl.”

But that’s how the Mountaineers finished--11-0 and going to play No. 1 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, or possibly Jan. 3 if the Irish beat USC next Saturday. Bowl officials have suggested a date change if the participants are unbeaten. Two seasons ago, the Fiesta Bowl was played the day after New Year’s when No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Penn State met.

The Mountaineers’ closest game this season was a 35-25 victory last week at Rutgers. They averaged 27-point victories.

“I don’t know if it’s hit me yet,” Nehlen said after paying tribute to his 25 seniors.

One of the seniors, fullback Craig Taylor, scored twice from the 1 to give West Virginia a 14-3 lead, and the Mountaineer defense forced 6 Syracuse turnovers.

“It was a pretty sad moment,” said Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson. “We didn’t play the way we were capable of.

“They took advantage of every opportunity, and from our standpoint, it was a sloppy game. We tried, but we just didn’t do things right.”

More than 65,000 people packed Mountaineer Field on rainy day to watch West Virginia complete its best season in 96 years of football. Syracuse is 8-2 and accepted a bid to play Auburn or LSU in the Hall of Fame Bowl on Dec. 30.

West Virginia took a 7-0 lead on its first drive, moving 60 yards in 11 plays after a Syracuse punt. Anthony Brown had runs of 12, 11 and 9 yards during the drive before Taylor ran off left tackle for the score.

Syracuse came back with a 17-play drive that covered 69 yards and 8:23, but quarterback Todd Philcox fumbled at the West Virginia 2. It was the first of 4 Syracuse turnovers in the first half.

“I was worried about the outcome of the game, but not about how our team was going to play,” Nehlen said.

West Virgina fumbled to kill a late second-quarter drive, but Mountaineer linebacker Theron Ellis intercepted Philcox two plays later. The Mountaineers moved 22 yards in 2 plays--Brown carried 21 yards on the first play of the drive, and Taylor finished it off with a dive over the middle.

On Syracuse’s first second-half drive, West Virginia’s Willie Edwards intercepted a pass by Philcox at the 49 and returned it for a touchdown, making the score 21-3 halfway through the third quarter.

Quarterback Major Harris led an 80-yard fourth-quarter drive for another score. Passes of 28 yards to Calvin Phillips and 30 yards to Keith Winn set up a 1-yard run by Undra Johnson.

Syracuse’s Kevin Greene kicked a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Philcox hit Rob Moore with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:41 remaining. The Orangemen, who have not missed a point-after-touchdown kick since Nov. 18, 1978, went for two points and failed.

Brown had 103 yards rushing in 19 carries for the Mountaineers, whose best record before this season was 10-0-1 in 1922, when it beat Gonzaga in the East-West Bowl. The only other time West Virginia had 10 victories was 1969, when it was 10-1 after a Peach Bowl victory.

Harris, who would be leading the nation in passing efficiency if he had enough attempts, was 8 of 14 passing for 113 yards. He also had 20 carries for 96 yards.

Philcox threw 4 interceptions--his last at the West Virginia 23 with 1:10 left. He completed 11 of his 22 passes for 121 yards.

Fiesta Bowl officials extended its bid to the Mountaineers in the locker room shortly before the game. The appearance will be West Virginia’s 14th overall. The Mountaineers have an 8-5 record in bowls.

Syracuse’s Hall of Fame appearance will be its 11th. Syracuse is 3-6-1 in bowl games.

The 65,127 attendance mark was the second largest at Mountaineer Field. Three weeks ago, 66,811 showed up for West Virginia’s 51-30 victory over Penn State.

That game was stopped with 49 seconds left when about 1,000 fans stormed the field. State police using German shepherds kept fans off the field Saturday night.