Rasheed Marshall update

[Wilson]

I talked to a buddy of mine that talked to Rasheed yesterday...Rasheed said he was playing this Saturday....this article is not so optimistic....still no line from Vegas

MORGANTOWN
By Mickey Furfari

Rasheed Marshall just stood and watched Monday evening as West Virginia began preparing for Saturday?s game at Boston College.
The starting quarterback was held out of the practice session because he still had headaches from last Saturday's concussion in the 36-18 victory over Central Florida.
Marshall did do some weight-lifting earlier in the day, however. And, mentally, he knew what was going on.
Asked when he might know whether Marshall can play Saturday, Coach Rich Rodriguez replied:
?I have no idea. That?s not my expertise. I will wait until they tell me who can play, and we go accordingly.
?But they?ve got to make sure in these situations that everything is OK. We?ll see how he feels tomorrow.?
Charles Hales replaced Marshall and played the final 20 minutes or so against UCF. He will start against BC if Marshall can?t.
Assistant coach Bill Stewart, who works with the quarterbacks, said the entire team has the utmost confidence in Hales, a former junior college standout.
?If your peers respect you, that usually is a good sign,? Stewart stated. ?I feel very comfortable and very good about Charles. He brings a lot of things to the table.
?The biggest thing is that Charles thinks he?s pretty good, and that?s good for everybody.
?So when you, as a leader, think you?re pretty good, and you have a little bit of pizzazz about you, then by golly you wouldn?t be a distraction for us.
?He?s a good player. He?s come in tough game situations (against Wisconsin and UCF). People better watch out.?
Meanwhile, Adam Bednarik, highly regarded true freshman, said he stands ready to play if needed. WVU has been hoping to redshirt him this year.
?Hopefully, Charles stays healthy and Rasheed will come back soon,? he commented. ?But if I have to go in, I?ll be as ready as possible.
?I?m just going to let things fall into place and whatever happens, happens.?
Rodriguez said Marshall must be able to practice at least twice in order to start Saturday.

 

[Wilson]

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez announced this afternoon that it was unlikely that star quarterback Rasheed Marshall will play Saturday in a critical showdown with Big East rival Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

"More than likely Rasheed will not play this weekend," Rodriguez said at his regularly called press conference. "The doctors just think that his symptoms have gone on too long."

Marshall took what Rodriguez thought was a shot to the head from a thigh or an elbow from an opposing player Saturday in the Mountaineers' third straight victory against Central Florida, and was lost to the team from the third period on. He was replaced by backup Charles Hales, who completed a 79-yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry.

Marshall's headache symptoms following the hit have persisted, Rodriguez said, making doctors believe that holding him from Saturday's play would be prudent. Rodriguez said Monday that if his starter failed to practice, he certainly would not start. Now it appears he will not play, though Rodriguez said the junior two-year starter would accompany the team to Boston.

Hales now will likely earn his first start in NCAA Division I-A college football. He has spotted Marshall twice this season, when the 6-foot-1, 180 pounder was knocked out of the Wisconsin opener with a sternum bruise and then Saturday against overcast skies at Mountaineer Field.

Rodriguez compares the two favorably and says that "even though Charles hasn't had a lot of practice out there, when he comes in the games he acts like he has," adding that the "players seem to like Charles like they do Rasheed. We have a lot of fine young men on the team, and these are two of the best," the coach said of his two junior quarterbacks.

Hales was a third teamer last year in his first season in Morgantown after attending junior college in Mississippi. He hails from Ellisville just outside Jackson.

With the advent of Hales to the starting spot, it will move up true freshman Adam Bednarik to the No. 2 role, and Rodriguez said that walk-on Josh Broeker will join the traveling team Saturday for the first time in his life.

"Adam is an extremely smart kid," Rodriguez said. "He's picked it up. We'd like to redshirt him, but we've explained to him the situation, and he'll be ready if called upon."

Marshall, Hales, Bednarik and propped Dwayne Thompson, suffering now with a broken hand, all will return to the Mountaineers' roster in 2004. Rodriguez said Tuesday he would recruit a fifth scholarshipped quarterback for next year.

In other news, Rodriguez responded to the seeming bickering that comes apparently from the Boston College camp about officiating in its last home loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday. Afterward, even a priest questioned a holding call on the Eagles that cost them a touchdown in a narrow defeat.

"For anybody in any shape, form, and fashion to question Big East officials' calls because of the ACC thing is questioning their professionality," Rodriguez said. "I think any coach in the league would take four (penalties) or two."

Rodriguez was referring to the four penalties assessed the Eagles in their Big East loss to the Panthers. Pitt was awarded two.

"Give me four or two. I'll take either end of that," the WVU coach said with a smile.

Previously, BC coach Tom O'Brien claimed his team had a bulls-eye on it, because of its defection to the ACC in the future, along with Miami and Virginia Tech.

With the loss of the Eagles in a year-to-be-determined by the ACC, the Hurricanes and the Gobblers, three new football members were announced to the Big East this morning, joining Connecticut, which will enter in 2004, as '05 members of the league.

Rodriguez said point-blank it would take a couple of years to rebuild the league, but that in time he thought it could compete with this year's grouping, which may be at its zenith.

"We lost to Miami by a point, and beat Tech, so maybe in the future the balance of power is going on even if they stayed in the league," Rodriguez said.

In other discussions, Rodriguez praised punter Todd James for the job he was doing, along with the punt team for its coverage and protection. "Since that first punt (which resulted in a Wisconsin touchdown), it's done a pretty good job," the coach said.

"We've asked Todd to do a lot of things--sprint out on the rugby punt, speed it up, punt directionally away from certain guys. He's not been perfect, but he's tried to do everything we've asked," Rodriquez said.

Boston College's field is composed of the old Astro-Turf, meaning that the rugby punt may be used more by West Virginia, since the balls bouncer higher on the harder surface than they do on regular grass or the softer synthetic turf in Mountaineer Field.

Publicly, the Mountaineers' Big East conference-leading rush game against the No. 2 rush defense in the Big East, Boston College, is getting media time, but Rodriguez pointed to the tried and true reminders as game-makers at Alumni Stadium:

+WVU's ability to run the ball.
+Force BC to throw the ball.
+Chew up possession time to keep the Eagle offense off the field.

Humorously, Rodriguez said Hales, nicknamed Cha-chi because of his onfield exuberance, often pulls a single blunder in practice "to get to me.

"I really think he does. Sometimes in practice he'll be doing everything correctly, then he'll throw a pass right into some guys? hands. I look at him, and know that he saw the man, and I'll wonder 'Did he just do that to rile me? I think he does."

The coach also quipped after his diatribe in defense of Big East officials: "Do you think that'll earn me a call or two? I doubt it."