Wednesday, October 01, 2003

By John Raby, The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- When West Virginia's offense is working, Rasheed Marshall is about as elusive as quarterbacks get.

His dashing, dancing and scrambling, though, have been limited to six rushing attempts per game and 2.2 yards per carry this season, in part because of young offensive line.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez plans to give his quarterback more chances to roam tomorrow night when West Virginia (1-3) plays at No. 2 Miami (4-0).

"We're seeing people box him in more than in the past," Rodriguez said yesterday. "But we've got to try to get Rasheed loose a little bit on the perimeter, whether it's a run-action pass play or where he reads it and keeps it himself.

"Sometimes that's the best way to get him going into the game. We've talked about that the last two ball games. We didn't get that established."

Marshall broke Michael Vick's Big East record for rushing by a quarterback with 666 yards last year, but he will be hard pressed to match that feat or get the 13 rushing touchdowns he had a year ago.

So far, Marshall has only 58 yards on the ground with no touchdowns.

The Mountaineers graduated Big East career rushing leader Avon Cobourne along with three offensive linemen. A fourth lineman, Tim Brown, was lost for the year with a torn Achilles' tendon in preseason practice. West Virginia's rushing game has gone from No. 2 in Division I-A last year to 25th this season.

That ranking would be worse if the Mountaineers had a decent passing game, but West Virginia ranks a dismal 113th in that department, so they have no choice at times but to run.

West Virginia's offense has been held to an average of 200 yards of offense in losses to Cincinnati and Maryland, but Marshall remains upbeat. "It's going to take a lot for me to get down. I mean, a lot," he said. "Every time I'm going to keep coming back until I'm under the ground.

"So as far as my confidence being crushed, you can put that to rest. I don't think there's ever been a time where I felt like I'm just down and out. I'm always thinking I will come back and do my thing."

Marshall, who played at Brashear High School, the same as former Mountaineers quarterback Major Harris, still has the respect of his teammates.

"Rasheed's been through a lot. He's been starting for so long," said running back Quincy Wilson. "So he knows a lot of people question certain aspects of his game."

Marshall played the Hurricanes tough last year, keeping the game close until Miami pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 40-23 win in Morgantown. Miami is a four-touchdown favorite this time.

"What happens Thursday? Who knows," Marshall said. "All I know is we work hard when we come out here for practice and that's all we can do."

NOTE -- The Big East football rivalry between West Virginia and Virginia Tech will continue in 2004 and 2005 as a non-conference game, the schools announced Tuesday. The teams will play Oct. 2, 2004, in Blacksburg, Va., while Virginia Tech will play Oct. 1, 2005, at Morgantown. The schools meet Oct. 22 this season in Morgantown for the final time as Big East rivals.

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