Published: November 17, 2008 11:28 pm            

No pushovers

WVU has much respect for Louisville

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia (6-3, 3-1) has very much respect for Louisville, despite its 5-5 overall record and 1-4 in the Big East.

That’s what Coach Bill Stewart said Monday on the league’s weekly media teleconference. He had a chance to see the Cardinals’ heartbreaking 28-20 loss to Cincinnati on TV last Friday night and thought they performed very well.

“They have a great quarterback in Hunter Cantwell and a big and tough running back in Victor Anderson. I was very impressed with their wide receivers, and the fullback reminds me of Owen Schmitt.

“Defensively, they have a lot of veterans and they play well. And their special teams are outstanding. So we’ve got a real chore ahead of us, we really do. It should be a heck of a match-up.”

The Mountaineers and the Cardinals will clash at noon on Saturday in Louisville. ESPN will televise the action. It is that team’s final home game of the season.

Both teams are coming off losses to Cincinnati. WVU bowed in overtime by 26-23 in Morgantown a week ago Saturday.

Stewart said his special teams worked hard on kick coverage and kick returns last week. Some changes were made since Cincinnati returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.special teams.

Jimmy Lewis has recovered from an injury and should be a big help on special teams.”We’re very excited to have him back,” the head coach added.

“(Wide receiver) Wes Lyons is fine now, too. But center Mike Dent is still week-to-week and Courtney Stuart is still out.

“Having a bye last week was good for us. We practiced in the cold Sunday, then went inside and went over both the offense and defense.”

The Mountaineers will resume preparations Tuesday after enjoying a day off on Monday.

Asked how the squad managed come out of its 1-2 season’s start and win five straight games, Stewart said, “We just stayed the course. Our guys responded tremendously. We jelled after that overtime loss at Colorado.

“The players did what we asked. The defense continued to get better. We told the guys to keep battling and things will work out and they believed in the program,” Stewart said.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.