WVU could establish itself as region's best

There is a deep history between these five schools that all fall within a circle of a couple of hundred miles of Morgantown.

Their football pasts are entwined in deep series. WVU plays its 52nd game with Maryland next Saturday in a series that dates back to 1919. WVU is renewing its series in the near future with Penn State for the 60th game going back to 1904, along with Virginia Tech for the 52nd meeting going back to 1912 and Pitt for Backyard Brawl No. 105 in an intense series that began in 1895.

Through all of this history, though, while WVU was at times a national force, seldom was it the big dog on the block. Maryland lays claim to a couple of national titles, as does Penn State, with Pittsburgh claiming nine championships.

Virginia Tech, like WVU, has never won a title, each arriving once at a title game only to lose, the Mountaineers’ coming in 1988 with Major Harris at quarterback and the Hokies’ losing in 1999 with Michael Vick.

While WVU holds narrow series edges over Maryland (27-22-2) and Virginia Tech (28-22-1), it is on the short end against the two former Pennsylvania powers. Pitt leads 61-40-3 and Penn State holds a ridiculous 48-9-2 edge, including a 34-2-1 record since 1956.

But here’s the deal — the situation is ripe for West Virginia to lay claim to the area’s supremacy.

True, recent history shows WVU hardly setting the world on fire, Dana Holgorsen having won but half of his games since his first year and having had a difficult time within his own Big 12 Conference.

But those who see the glass as half full can say that last season was close to being a year of change and that this season’s start offers high hopes of a football revival.

The same cannot be said at the other schools.

Penn State’s castle came tumbling down with the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal that led to the end of Joe Paterno’s long and powerful reign at the school and left it in a football shambles.

Pitt has gone through its own Dark Age pretty much ever since Dan Marino left and now tries to revive it with yet another head coach in Pat Narduzzi, the Panthers’ 10th since Jackie Sherrill left the school. It not only tries to do this in a new conference where it is not a dominant force, but in a hometown where it will always play second football fiddle to the Steelers in fan affection and support.

Virginia Tech once was battling for league championships and national recognition, but it has shown signs over the past three years of sliding backwards as the Frank Beamer era as head coach draws to an end, leaving the Hokies on the lurch of heading into the unknown.

And of course, Randy Edsall did not bring to Maryland what it had hoped and having begun this season with a loss to Mid-America opponent Bowling Green, it would appear the Terrapins are not only in for a long season but, quite likely, Edsall’s last season at the school.

All of this leaves the Mountaineers in a good position with a bright future awaiting them to step forward and take charge of it.

This being an area rich in football recruits, one they have rediscovered after a flirtation with seeking help in Texas and that surrounding area due to the Big 12 connection, could be mined for talent even better than before if WVU was to become the dominant football power.

Already, you can see the decline in Maryland football helping, WVU now reaching into that area to get such players Tavon Austin, William Crest Jr., Jordan Adams and his twin, Jacquez, when he qualifies; Marvin Gross, Jarrod Harper, Jonathan Haynes and David Sills.

With games coming up against all of these teams over the next decade, if the Mountaineers can continue to move forward, they can have an opening to establish themselves as the area’s best and thereby help their national prestige.