Without Rodriguez, West Virginia deals with shock, pain

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The hurt is still there for No. 11 West Virginia.

So close were the Mountaineers to locking up a spot in the national championship game. Fans had already bought travel packages for New Orleans.

All West Virginia had to do was beat fierce rival Pittsburgh on Dec. 1 and the trip would have become a reality.

The 13-9 loss to the Panthers, who were 28-point underdogs, shocked the program. But there was more to come.

A bigger surprise came Dec. 16 when coach Rich Rodriguez told his players that he was taking the job at Michigan.

The pain still lingers as the Mountaineers (10-2) head to Arizona today without Rodriguez to continue preparations for the Fiesta Bowl against No. 3 Oklahoma (11-2).

The Big East Web site says it's "Party Time" at the Fiesta, but the Mountaineers' second trip to a BCS game in three years won't seem anything like that.

"We're still playing a BCS bowl and I think that's pretty much our team's mood," said offensive lineman Ryan Stanchek. "You set out at the beginning of the year to win the Big East and play in a BCS bowl. And that's where we're at. So I think we just need to move on."

If the Mountaineers are looking for motivation, they can become one of just three teams to win 11 games in each of the past three seasons. The others are LSU and Southern Cal.

WVU also can earn an unprecedented third straight top-10 finish.

"We don't expect anybody to feel sorry for us. That's just the nature of this game," said West Virginia safety Ryan Mundy. "Nothing is forever. We would have liked coach Rod to stay here, but we realize there is a different side to this and there are other assets that we just don't know about.

"So we just focus on what we can control, and that's preparations for Oklahoma right now."

The Pitt loss won't be forgotten even 50 years from now, but former coach Don Nehlen is one who believes the players won't let it ruin their Fiesta Bowl experience.

"That game was a disappointment, but first of all, this was a young team. If these were all seniors, it might be different. But this is a young team. I think they'll bounce back easily," said Nehlen, who coached the Mountaineers in their last Fiesta appearance after the 1988 season. "They don't have anything to hang their heads about. They're going to the Fiesta Bowl. That's a pretty daggone nice bowl."

Rodriguez's decision seemed to stick in the craw of fans more than it did his players. He has been lambasted on online message boards and by hecklers at the Morgantown airport.

His former players are treating it as a business decision.

"We've still got one game to play. We're going to put all our effort into that game," running back Steve Slaton said.