Normally West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Normally West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez allows his team just a 24-hour period of reflection following a tough game. This week he is making an exception after his team’s stunning 13-9 loss to 5-7 Pitt last Saturday night that knocked the Mountaineers out of the BCS title game. Quarterback Patrick White and running back Steve Slaton reflect on their team's performance in the waning seconds of West Virginia's 13-9 loss to Pitt in the 2007 Backyard Brawl. AP photo “You think of every scenario 20 times over – that’s natural for all of the coaches and competitive players,” Rodriguez said. “The really competitive players are probably living the plays that they played numerous times over, but you have to eventually move on.” What is so perplexing about the Pitt performance is that Rodriguez’s West Virginia teams have historically performed well against bad football teams. This is only the second time since 2002 and just the fourth time since Rodriguez took the West Virginia job that his program has lost a football game to a team that finished the season with a losing record. His only other bad loss since the 2002 turn-around came in 2003 when the Mountaineers lost 15-13 to 5-7 Cincinnati. During Rodriguez’s first season in 2001, West Virginia dropped games to 5-6 Notre Dame and 4-7 Temple during a 3-8 transition season. “I am shocked at the way we played but I’ve said many times, these are kids and sometimes professionals don’t play at their highest level and these guys are amateurs,” Rodriguez said. “We are not good enough to play average and win so when we play poorly you know you are not going to win no matter who we play – and we didn’t deserve to win that game,” Rodriguez explained. “I don’t want people to think our kids weren’t focused. It was a normal week, practices were the same, the meetings were the same, the mood of the team was identical to many of the games that we have played well this year – it just happened.” Soon the disappointment and frustration is going to transition into anger. Practices leading up to the Fiesta Bowl game against No. 3 Oklahoma should be pretty chippy. “We can’t let that game beat us twice so we have to move on,” Rodriguez said. “There are things that we can get better at though. We have a good group of men as far as being conscientious and wanting to be good.” Briefly: A lot of fans have been wondering and the question was finally posed to Rodriguez on Monday: why is Steve Slaton not having the same type of year he had last season as a sophomore when he ran for more than 1,700 yards and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting? The junior is more than 700 yards off his 2006 rushing total and finished the season with just 69 yards on 19 carries in West Virginia’s final two regular season games against Connecticut and Pitt. “If I thought there was a problem internally or attitude wise I would never tell you – but I don’t, “Rodriguez said. “There is no problem with Steve’s attitude or work ethic. He’s probably been frustrated at times. Everybody keys on the tailback and he hasn’t gotten loose at times. “He didn’t have the production he had last year but he still had a good year. He just didn’t have the year he had by the standards of last year,” Rodriguez said. The closest example we could think of resembling the performance put forth by West Virginia in this year’s Backyard Brawl came last season when 11 ½-point favorite USC lost to UCLA by the identical score of 13-9 to end the regular season. The Trojans rebounded to defeat Michigan, 31-18, in the Rose Bowl. West Virginia and USC have one other thing in common: they are the only two teams playing in a BCS bowl to have lost a home game this season to a team with a losing record. The Trojans dropped a 24-23 decision to Stanford. Because the coaching staff is a week behind in recruiting, Rodriguez hasn’t spent a lot of time studying Oklahoma but he says the staff will get caught up in the coming days. “I know that they are probably the biggest team in college football – I know they have a lot of big guys up front,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said the coaching staff will spend the rest of this week on the road talking to prospects. “We have a handful of visits coming in this weekend,” Rodriguez said. “I think we are in good shape recruiting wise and we have a small senior class. We have several commitments and that is going very well.” West Virginia’s small group of fifth-year seniors own the unique distinction of participating in a January bowl game for all five years of their career. The only other program today that can boast that is USC. “Obviously people say it’s easier to go to a bowl game because there are a lot of bowls but it still isn’t easy to go to a January bowl,” Rodriguez said. “This team has not wavered in its work ethic – it has been outstanding.” There are times when going to a bowl game can have a direct impact on recruiting in that region. Having played in the Gator Bowl three of the last four years has helped the Mountaineers’ Florida recruiting. Rodriguez also expects a bump from playing in the Fiesta Bowl. “Usually coaches tell you going to a different bowl site will help you a little in recruiting,” Rodriguez noted. “But the fact that the BCS games are such big national TV games helps us. In the Sugar Bowl when we were recruiting guys they’d say, ‘Oh yeah we saw you in the Sugar Bowl.’ We’ve got some now from the southwest area like Arizona or Texas who have some interest in us so we will follow up with them.” In the coming days Rodriguez said he will have discussions with a handful of underclassmen gauging their interest in the NFL draft. “They fill a form out and they will get it back before they declare,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s a good service the NFL puts together and it is very eye opening to the players. Every program does it every year with several guys. They fill out a form and they get an honest assessment. I generally feel in most cases you are better served finishing your college eligibility and getting your degree and continuing to progress. “When you get into the NFL it helps to have that degree and experience,” Rodriguez said. “There are some guys who are freaks of nature and are ready to go after a couple of years, but most guys will need that 4-5 years of experience in college.” Rodriguez said the team will have short workouts on Friday and Sunday and then will be off for finals week. “They will come in and lift and run between their finals but we will not practice during finals week,” he said. “We will pick back up on Friday after finals.”