Bill Stewart knows exactly how he would have attacked his own starting quarterback if he was Syracuse’s defensive coordinator last year. The West Virginia head coach would have sent the dogs, early and often.

‘If I coached defense, I know what I would have done,’ Stewart said. ‘I would have blitzed him every down.’

After that near upset, quarterback Jarrett Brown was booed by his own fans, Stewart said. Replacing an injured Pat White, Brown did little to quell fears of what life would be like without the all-world quarterback.

Saturday was the revelation of how far he’s come since then. Using a mixed bag of weapons, Brown burned Syracuse in West Virginia’s 34-13 win Saturday. Last season, running back Noel Devine’s late 92-yard touchdown on third down doomed Syracuse. On Saturday, nine different West Virginia receivers touched the ball.

It was the kind of distribution Stewart has been waiting for. For Brown to be successful, he needs to disperse the ball all over the field.

‘There is a method to my madness,’ Stewart said. ‘Those that don’t play football probably don’t understand that. I’m going to continue to spread the wealth and I’m going to continue to throw the ball deep.’

Saturday’s battle between the nation’s third-ranked rusher and 17th ranked run defense mostly ended in three yards and a cloud of dust. Syracuse held Devine in-check most of the game. Problem was, other Mountaineers stepped up to mount a 27-0 lead.

Working underneath the secondary, 5-foot-7 wideout Jock Sanders caught nine passes for 67 yards. Bradley Starks and Will Johnson each caught passes of 27 yards or longer. And fullback Ryan Clarke hammered in a pair of short touchdown runs. West Virginia kept Syracuse guessing all game, refusing to emphasize one player or expose one weakness throughout the game.

While SU’s offense sputtered with four three-and-outs in the first half, West Virginia cashed in. By the time Syracuse blinked, the game was out of hand.

‘Everything just happened so fast,’ defensive tackle Arthur Jones said. ‘That’s just the speed of the game. We were in a hole early and that’s something we have to work on.’

It also didn’t help that Syracuse shot itself in the foot on West Virginia’s second scoring drive. Down 7-0, SU’s defense had multiple chances to get off the field and flip momentum. And two penalties recharged West Virginia’s drive. On 3rd-and-6 at its own 35-yard line, West Virginia stayed afloat when SU was charged with a hands-to-the-face penalty. Five plays later, after SU stopped the offense to force a field goal attempt, Mikhail Marinovich jumped offsides. Soon after, Clarke punched in a touchdown to punctuate a 14-play, nine-minute drive.

At the heart of West Virginia’s balanced offense was Brown, who took a big step in escaping Pat White’s shadow. The senior quarterback went 22-of-30 for 244 yards with a touchdown. He kept West Virginia in safe situations all day, rarely making mistakes.

The key was scanning the field beyond his go-to receiver Sanders – something Stewart has preached all season.

‘He really managed the tempo and the clock, spreading the wealth,’ Stewart said. ‘We have a new offensive motto that is ‘spread the wealth.’ That is what we tried to do today.’

Syracuse dared Brown to beat them throughout the game, stacking extra defenders in the box. Crowding the line of scrimmage was a necessity. Even after a step back Saturday, Devine leads the Big East in rushing at 126 yards per game.

Brown knew this would happen, especially after his clunker against Syracuse last season. Replacing White, he threw for only 52 yards. The Mountaineers passing game was nonexistent then.

On Saturday, Brown made Syracuse’s top-heavy defense pay.

‘We threw the ball downfield a couple times, which we couldn’t do last year,’ Brown said. ‘Syracuse stacked the box but we were able to keep them honest this game.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on October 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm