ESPN College Football

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	Noel Devine averaged 8.6 yards per carry last season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach

Last season, college football fans saw a glimpse of what West Virginia's Noel Devine can do on the football field.

The speedy sophomore averaged 8.6 yards on 73 carries and 23.3 yards on 22 kickoff returns. He dazzled West Virginia fans by running for more than 100 yards against Maryland -- on his first two carries of the game.

To many Mountaineer fans, Devine ran the way departed tailback Steve Slaton used to run.
Now that Slaton is playing for the Houston Texans in the NFL, Devine has to prove he can carry a much bigger load at West Virginia. And Devine has to prove he is as fast running between the tackles as he is in open space.

"I'm not concerned," said Devine, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound native of Ft. Myers, Fla. "I'm just ready to prove a point to a lot of people who think the same thing. I think I can prove them wrong."

Devine, who led the Mountaineers with 27 plays of 20 yards or more last season, said he hopes to carry the football at least 12 to 20 times per game this year. He also hopes to catch the ball five to seven times out of the backfield. New offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, whom new coach Bill Stewart hired away from Wake Forest, wants his team's running backs more involved in the passing game.

"We're going to be passing the ball to the backs a lot more," Devine said. "I just want the ball in open space."

Stewart, who led the Mountaineers to a 48-28 rout of Oklahoma in this year's Fiesta Bowl as their interim coach, is anxious to see how Devine handles a bigger load this season. While Slaton was hurt, Devine ran 13 times for 108 yards against the Sooners, including two touchdowns. He also had two catches for 47 yards.

"He weighs 175 pounds," Stewart said. "But he benches 405 pounds. Can he take the hits? It worries me to death because he's not a big man. He's a guy that has to touch the football 25 times per game. I wasn't a math major, but that's about 300 carries in a season."

Defenders will have to catch Devine before they can hit him.

"To me, it's not about a player's size," Devine said. "It's about his heart. If you can play, you can play."