More of a reason to like Wva
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Once upon a time, Steve Slaton was a turtle. Delighted to be one. Displayed knick-knacks of the aquatic creature around his house in Levittown, Pa. Itched to play football down Interstate 95 for those University of Maryland Terrapins.
Look at him now. He's ready to cook some turtle soup.
"I'm going to be a little more amped," Slaton was saying last night of Thursday's ESPN-televised date between his onetime Maryland and his fifth-ranked West Virginia.
"I just want to show them what they missed out on.
"Hopefully, every carry is a touchdown against them."
Fear the Turtle? The slogan might require a rewrite this week: Fear this, Turtle.
This is soft-spoken sophomore who has rushed for 308 yards in five quarters this season and for 100-plus in seven of his past nine games as a starter, a streak that began after West Virginia played at College Park, Md., last Sept. 17. Slaton only touched the field that day on the Mountaineers' kick-return team.
The way he's talking, he may refuse to leave the surface of Mountaineer Field all Thursday night. May refuse to let go of the football.
It is surprising for Slaton to give such a peek through the usually drawn curtains to the window of his soul. That should show his emotions for Maryland (2-0) at West Virginia (2-0) Thursday, his excitement level -- which he labeled modestly: "High. Really high."
"He doesn't really say anything about it," said redshirt freshman guard Greg Isdaner, a fellow Philadelphia-area prep schooler. "But I'm sure this game will have a lot of significance for him. If they had told him he was playing running back, we wouldn't have him. Thank God he's here."
"I'm sure pretty soon he'll talk about it," added quarterback Patrick White, Slaton's best friend and confidante with whom he's so cartoonishly close, they could carry the nicknames SpongeBob and Patrick. "They turned him down. That definitely hurt him."
Slaton's Philadelphia story is a simple one. He was an indoor-track demon and a star tailback at Conwell-Egan High in the lightly considered Philadelphia Catholic League. He visited Maryland as a junior, mulled over other schools -- including West Virginia -- and jumped when the Terrapins' staff offered a scholarship.
"I committed; I was already there," Slaton recalled. "Upcoming program. They were pretty close to home. I liked my family coming to games, and that was a pretty big reason to go there."
In October 2004, a reporter called the Slaton household. He was the one who informed the Conwell-Egan kid that Maryland rescinded its scholarship offer. The turtle knick-knacks? "They're gone," Slaton said.
Tailback was the position this 5-foot-11, 195-pound speedster longed to play and, well, Maryland wondered if he might try defensive back instead, what with them recruiting a couple of homegrown tailbacks. Boston College and others wondered about defensive back, too. But not the Mountaineers.
"I liked him from the first two minutes I saw him on film; everybody else looked like they were going in slow motion," Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I certainly never wavered."
Jason Gwaltney was the nationally heralded recruit at West Virginia, the freshman whose No. 14 jersey was worn around the stands -- including last Sept. 17 at Maryland, when Gwaltney scored a 15-yard touchdown and keyed a 31-19 Mountaineers victory. Slaton, impressive in practice, finally got his tailback turn two weeks later against Virginia Tech and started the following week at Rutgers, where Gwaltney was last seen as a college football player.
Since then, Slaton has compiled 1,304 yards rushing and scored 23 touchdowns in nine starts. He had 105 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries last Saturday in a lopsided 52-3 win against Eastern Washington. What Maryland is missing: roughly 144 yards and 2 1/2 touchdowns per game.
"I thought I found a home," Slaton said. "It shows recruiting is just a business. But I feel everything happens for a reason."
Soup happens Thursday? "I'm sure," fullback Owen Schmitt said, "inside there's a little ... grudge."
After casting a look last night at his buddy wearing a protective boot over a tweaked left ankle but preparing to return to practice today at tailback, White offered a smile and an understatement: "I'm pretty sure he's ready."
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