For years, conventional wisdom said college speed resided only at the Florida schools, in the SEC and in certain Big 12 schools: Chiefly, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska (backfield only, for the Huskers). The Big 10, the Big East, the ACC—those were the conferences of thick-necked plodders, players with the build and 40-yard-dash time of Peter Boyle in "Young Frankenstein."
In college football, the CW on speed still applies at the Florida schools, and Florida may still be the breeding ground for the fastest players. But they are no longer staying there, thanks to NCAA limits on scholarships and Wednesday night ESPN football, both of which now lure fast kids to schools around the country.
At other schools, the CW has been overturned, even though it's hard to get people to change their conceptions, even after being presented with unrelenting evidence to the contrary. For instance: Some people still think M. Night Shyamalan can make a good movie, that yellow beer tastes good, and that the IOC has a moral backbone.
Look at WVU. Name me a faster starting backfield than quarterback Patrick White and running back Noel Devine, who replaced just-as-fast Steve Slaton. But the WVU speed doesn't end there.
Ask Oklahoma's Bob Stoops about the speed along WVU's defensive line and among its blitzing linebackers, which he saw up-close in last year's Fiesta Bowl.
The massive and massively touted Oklahoma offensive line couldn't stop WVU's speed rushers without holding them, and the 10-yard holding penalties amounted to sacks, as well. An Oklahoma wide receiver got loose for one long touchdown, but that came from a blown assignment, not a lost foot race.
And let's not forget that it wasn't only Devine who outran the entire Oklahoma defense for a touchdown—fullback Owen Schmitt did the same.
The shocking truth for most of the viewing audience: Those plodding hillbillies from WVU were faster at every position than the speedy Big 12 Sooners. At one point during the broadcast, one announcer said, "We always talk about Oklahoma speed. Maybe we should start talking about West Virginia speed."
Indeed. "Speed" is the word most heard out of Coach Bill Stewart's mouth so far during August football practice underway in Morgantown.
Sure, Stewart is an attaboy kind of coach, not the sort of grim naysayer as the former WVU coach, who, during the first few days of fall practice, would say things like, "Our offense couldn't score against air."
And of course Stewart has an interest in hyping his team. But if you sift through all that and listen closely, not only to Stewart but to his assistants and to the other players, one word keeps bubbling up: speed.
Stewart can't make his players (much) faster, but he can change their positions to make them relatively faster compared to their competition, which he's done. He's moved linebacker Zac Cooper to rush end, so he can outflank big offensive linemen. He's moved fast wideout Brandon Hogan to cornerback. He's moved wide receiver Will Johnson to tight end/fullback/H-back.
34 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
SEC Idiots .com 11 months ago
Would have loved to see WVU and Ohio St last year too. WVU would have handled them.
Everyone has speed at the skill positions now. D-2 teams have fast WRs and DBs. Seems to me the best teams separate themselves with speed at LB and DE. Good article.
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Barry Huffman 11 months ago
WVU is for real this year. This 2008 team is faster than the team that whipped Oklahoma. Things are jumping in Morgantown 6 days into fall camp and jaws are dropping.
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Shirley Brown 11 months ago
Perhaps we can now say that the past is the past. Football powers are changing. Those that were once the only schools that were glorified are now in a different position. It's been a wonderful ride for WVU, and the entire state embraces this glory. WVU is now a football power. Our hope is that it continues. With the great coaches that are now on board, and the influx of talented, committed players----the sky is the limit. Great, great article.
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Nick The Only 11 months ago
WVU is a fast team, but not the fastest team in the country. Florida is definitely faster. WVU has the speed edge at QB (no doubt that White is faster than Tebow), but Florida has the faster defense, wide receivers, and running back.
In fact, Florida RB Chris Rainey (4.2) has beaten Noel Devine in a head-to-head 40 yard dash. Rainey also beat the fastest American teenager ever (Jeff Demps, who is also a Gator - 10.01 second 100 meter) in a 40 yard dash. Also Emmanuel Moody is capable of taking it the distance on any run.
Percy Harvin (4.2), Louis Murphy (4.2), Riley Cooper (4.3), and Deonte Thompson (4.2) are 4 of the fastest wide receivers in the country.
On defense, Joe Haden is like Percy Harvin but plays cornerback. Wondy Pierre-Louis is very fast, too and incoming freshman Will "the Thrill" Hill has 4.3 speed. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap is a freak of nature with great speed for an end despite his enourmous size (he is 6'7" and 290 lbs). The Gator linebacking core is fast all around.
I would love to see WVU versus Florida. It would be an exciting game.
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Nick The Only 11 months ago
http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20080723/NEWS/506909650/0/COLUMNISTS
The above link references Rainey's 40 yard dash exploits against Devine and Demps.
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James Fatari 11 months ago
"When Rainey was at Lakeland High School, he was challenged to a race by legendary high school star Noel Devine (now at West Virginia). The two raced in a shopping mall parking lot, with the victory going to Rainey."
this quote is from the link you provided and no where does it say Chris Rainey beat Noel Devine in a 40 yard dash, if anything it talks about a shopping mall parking lot and last time i checked no school's home turf is made out of gravel so your parking lot race dont count for squat.
Noel Devine is the fastest player in college football period, just give him the ball when he's running the 40 yard dash and i guarantee he'll beat anyone
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James Harvey 11 months ago
Who cares about 40's. Well except 40oz.'s! W's is all that matters. Love to see the gators leave the south and head to TouchDown City for a epic battle of talent.
Don't sing it Bring it! Remember your fallen Gators (Georgia Bulldogs 06) and the Big 12 champs OU Sooners 08! Oh how the mighty have fallen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Brian Harper 11 months ago
actually kerns is closer to 240, and has been timed sub 4.30...... a man among boys...
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Jeff Contizano 11 months ago
40 yarders don't necessarily translate to playing well on the field.. as we saw with Florida's secondary last year. Still, I love to watch both Florida and West Virginia play. Watching WVU burn the field up against the sooners made me laugh, and both teams will be a treat to watch this year again. Florida/WVU BCS matchup anyone?
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James Fatari 11 months ago
Florida/WVU BCS matchup sounds good but i'd rather see my Mizzou vs WVU
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
i dont know about all of those "4.2's" at florida...i have studied and researched 40 times for quite a while (being bored in a bunker via the internet) and i will tell you with great deal of confidence that there are probably only a handful of people in WORLD who are capable of running a LEGITIMATE 4.2. i have a hard time believing that they all reside in gainsville.
i guess that i am, in essence, calling bull s@#$ on your florida 40 time data.
however, i am not sure that most people understand how fast a 4.5 is. i'll try and put it into persepective...if you have never been around a world class athelete, or around a division 1 football team, or an nfl game, or the pan-am games, then youve probably never seen one. to the normal person, 4.5 is BLAZING speed.
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Nick The Only 11 months ago
Well put it this way. Florida freshman Jeff Demps ran a 10.01 second 100 meter. He is a football player who happens to run track (had a football in his hand before he ever set foot on a track).
Florida running back Chris Rainey BEAT Demps in a head-to-head race.
Rainey also BEAT Noel Devine in a head-to-head race.
Rainey = fastes player in college football.
By the way, the Gators have this guy - maybe you have heard of him - Percy Harvin. Harvin is like Noel Devine but he is bigger and better. Devine was spectacular, averaging over 8 yards per carry and rushing for over 600 yards. Harvin was just better, averaging over 9 yards per carry and rushing for over 700 yards while injured and playing against better defenses. Harvin also had over 800 yards receiving.
Florida is a faster team than WVU. But don't let facts get in the way of your beliefs.
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
Nick,
i think that youre readin into my comments. i dont think that any reasonable person would argue that UF defines speed...hell, i think they invented speed and i know that they have the monoply on it in the prep ranks.
all i was saying was that 40 times are INFLATED across the board and while rainey and demps and harvin are "stupid fast", do they run a legitimate 4.2? i dont know. but i would think that if they all three do indeed run a LEGIT 4.2, along with the three or four others you noted, then florida may be the fastest team in the history of organized sports...this side of the olympics that is. which begs the question...why aren't all of those guys running for their country in china? hmm....
i agree with you on one point though, uf/wvu would be an interesting game.
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Nick The Only 11 months ago
Demps tried out for the olympics. He ran a 10.01, which I guess was not good enough. He is very fast though and I would be surprised if he could not run a 4.2 sec 40 yards based on his 100 meter time.
Rainey has run several 4.2 sec 40s. Most recently Rainey ran a 4.24 sec 40 before the Spring game. Meyer held a "fastest Gator competition," inviting all students to challenge the gator football team's fastest players. In that competition, Rainey ran a 4.24 and the fastest challenger (a student who was a former high school track runner) ran in the 4.5 range.
In the same competition, Gator WR Louis Murphy ran a 4.28. Murphy has lost to Harvin head-to-head in practice. Harvin did not race before the spring game because of his heel surgery.
Thats 4 players that I am confident in saying run a 4.2 second 40. The Gators also have diminutive running back Brandon James who was second in the nation in punt return yardage. He is around the 4.2-4.3 range. WR Riley Cooper is also very fast (in practice, he was "noticeably faster" than #1 JUCO WR Carl Moore, who runs in the 4.4 range). DBs Will Hill, Joe Haden, and Wondy Pierre Louis are all very fast too. And WR Deonte Thompson, according to Meyer, is one of the fastest guys on the team.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
When steroid-enhanced Ben Johnson set the world record for the 100 meters, some people analyzed the tape and came up with the figure 4.38 seconds for the first 40 yards.
Maybe Johnson was just extremely fast at the end, but I find it unlikely that collegiate football players of any kind can beat his time. These times are all recorded with a stopwatch, not electronic timing, so they're subject to human error. All 40 times are inflated to a degree, but since everyone's times are too fast you can still compare them on a relative basis.
And besides, being the "fastest team" doesn't mean a whole lot if you're getting manhandled physically. See: Florida defensive line versus Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
thank you david, my sentiments exactly. maybe nick will listen to you as youre a gator fan.
again, let me make myself clear, florida is probably the fastest team in college football (top to bottom) and they are most certainly the fastest program through out the years. i get that. i think the gators are the ones that introduced pure speed to college football (except the big 11 who still doesnt get it), i just dont think that they are chuck full of 4.2 guys. quite frankly, i doubt there is a legitmate 4.2 guy playing football anywhere.
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
WVU plays in the weakest conference (Big East). The Big East consist of teams that play no defense and schedule cream puffs. Rutgers is the biggest fraud with a easy schedule and 7 home games.
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
umm, chris...with out calling you a jack a$$, i will just point out that wvu hasnt lost out of conference since 04 when vtech beat us. this includes games against the sec, big twelve, acc etc.
the big east also went undefeated in bowl games a year ago and have won 3 consecutive bcs bowls.
so you keep making fun of our cute little conference and you keep thinking that because we play in the big east that we can not possibly be good. we will keep beating who ever we play regardless of what conference they play in.
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
2003: Wisconsin Loss, East Carolina Won, Cincinnati Loss, Maryland Loss - Some OOC Schedule!
2004: East Carolina Win, UCF Win, Maryland Win, James Madison Win - Cream Puff Delight :)
2005: Wofford Win (WTF?), Maryland Win, East Carolina Win - Again, the same thing!
2006: Marshall Win, E Washington Win, Maryland Win, East Carolina Win, Miss. St Win - Do I have to say anything?
2007: W Michigan Win, Marshall Win, Marylalnd Win, East Carolin Win - Hmmm...
And your going to always beat teams like Georgia or Oklahoma because when you play that schedule you are basically rested all season, unlike an SEC, Big 10, Big 12, or Pac 10 team.
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
incomplete info...typical.
trying to justify us beating the shiot out of our bowl opponents by saying something as stupid as what you did...typical as well.
just put your team on the field against us and see what happens.
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
Well when you play no defense you are not going to be as banged up as someone from the SEC or Big 12 not counting the fact that Stoops chokes in Bowl games lately.
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matthew halstead 11 months ago
so youre trying to say that usf and cinci and rutgers and louisville dont play d? are you being serious?
and i guess that uga and gtech and ou dont play d as well.
i am not trying to say that the big east is the best conference because im sure that the sec holds that distinction, but im just saying that it is a competitive conference that is capable of beating ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.
but whatever...this article is about wvu having speed which is a fact....a scary fact...so your argument is moot.
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
All you have to know is that the Big East is a lesser conference by all standards to the big boys. The conference almost lost it's BCS bid, but they were able to overcome it with weak OOC schedules.
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David Kuykendall 11 months ago
chris are you watching the same ncaa. we had 6 teams that reached 18 or higher 2 teams in the top two we have won our bcs game the last 3 years running we went undefeated in bowls in 07 and we have the second best winng percentage ooc. we also have a winng record against sec teams the last 5 years which is the maximum time period in which you measure players and teams achievements now i know the media. and last year how is OU,AU,Virgnia,Miss ST, and a few good lesser conf teams such as ecu and western mich i think what you meant to say was the big east is a legitimate conf. oh and ps we never were close to loseing it the bcs decided when vt and company left that they said any conf that could not meet these standards on a regular basis will lose their bcs bid the big east had beat the sec champions that year so we never were even close the media said we were but we werent
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Tim McGhee 11 months ago
Great read, Frank.
I agree. The SEC and Big XII homers refuse to believe it, even though the Mountaineers were but a blur going around and through their champions in the big stage of BCS bowls.
Speed cannot be coached, but it can be recruited and lined up for optimum benefit.
Speed cannot be stopped, but it unfortunately can be negated, as Pitt did last season. As well, speed can be countered with speed, just like South Florida in 2007.
You are correct. WVU d-backs are fast and athletically gifted. Let's hope that can override their inexperience.
Tim
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Nathan Blunck 11 months ago
i've never understood why coaches, players and fans are obsessed with the 40 yard dash. unless you are in full gear and carrying a football or chasing someone with a football it shouldn't matter. shorts and t-shirts are easier to run in than football pads. track speed (traditional 40 yard dash) does not equal football speed. track speed helps, but football speed incorporates vision, carrying a ball, a helmet (restricts breathing ever so slightly), agility, and a willingness to take a whooping if you mess up on any of these other factors. if people start running 40's in pads, i'll be interested again, until then i'll just watch the games and see who's fast on the field.
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Shawn Withrow 11 months ago
Nathan - Very well said. What the Mountaineers have demonstrated over the past several years is that they are good at playing fast. It has nothing to do with 40 times. When a player runs into the teeth of a defense and then around their fastest defensive backs and finally right past the safety and they can't catch him, it is obvious that he is fast. Pat White and Noel Devine have this ability. Not just against other Big East teams, but also on the national stage.
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Jeff Contizano 11 months ago
I think you also have to take in cutting and slashing. Any player can cut, but if you watch players like Pat White, he can make sharp, precise cuts and accelerate so fast that players get caught watching and can't match him. In speed terms they may not be the fastest, but the ability for them to cut and accelerate out of that makes them seem even faster.
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David Kuykendall 11 months ago
i agree man but i think slaton his freshmen year may have been the grteates cutback back in the ncaa and possibly ever he killed uga and ul with his moves
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
Yeah you have teams move up the rankings because they are playing no one all season except teams in the conference. So by fate they are knocking each other off due to no cream puff being a threat to them. You are in complete denial that the Big East is a lesser conference. I think Lee Corso said it best, here is a paraphrase: West Virginia better watch out because the big boys ain't no West Michigan or Maryland. Obviously he knows that the Big Least is a fraud!
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Shawn Withrow 10 months ago
Corso also said that Oklahoma would smash WVU by "at least three touchdowns" in the Fiesta Bowl. How did that work out for him? I wouldn't trust his judgment on anything.
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Chris Kelly 10 months ago
Stoops in general chokes, and he choked against some non BCS school which is what WVU is in the eyes of the big boys.
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Shawn Withrow 10 months ago
Chris that is an misinformed comment. West Virginia is in a BCS conference and have won a BCS Bowl 2 of the last 3 year. The 2 BCS wins were against the SEC and Big 12 Champions. WVU's 33-5 record over the last three seasons is second only to the USC Trojans. That is pretty impressive company by anybody's standards. They are "one of the big boys" as you put it.
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Chris Kelly 10 months ago
All in all it's the big least and WVU plays in it...
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