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Nehlen's bowl skid ends with his career
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Finally, the biggest blemish on Don Nehlen's record has been removed.
|  | | Coach Don Nehlen leaves with a 202-128-8 record in 30 years as a coach, the past 21 of those at West Virginia. |
Nehlen avoided his ninth straight bowl loss heading into retirement as West Virginia beat Mississippi 49-38 in the Music City Bowl behind a record performance from oft-injured quarterback Brad Lewis and a wild finish.
"My wife will be able to serve me cereal in a bowl -- and I
won't lose it," Nehlen said.
Nehlen, who finishes with a 202-128-8 record in 30 seasons as a
coach, had not won a bowl game since the 1984 Bluebonnet. That also
was the final game as a player for his replacement, Rich Rodriguez,
who was hired last month.
In fact, Nehlen had not enjoyed a lead in a bowl since 1994, a
span of four games. Two years ago, the last time it went to a bowl,
West Virginia fell behind 24-3 at halftime to Missouri in the
Insight.com Bowl and never recovered.
This time, West Virginia (7-5) turned the tables behind five TD
passes and 318 yards from Lewis, who had played much of the season
with a sore knee and throwing hand and had eight TDs in the regular
season.
"He was hitting them on the money," Nehlen said. "That was almost a flawless first half."
Nehlen said all week he planned to open up his lethargic offense
and have some fun. With season-long problems on special teams -- including blocked punts and bad snaps -- he went as far as saying he
might not want to punt on fourth down.
He didn't have to. The Mountaineers' first punt came in the
final seconds of the third quarter with his team enjoying a
40-point lead.
And even then, Nehlen didn't stop coaching.
Nehlen, who turns 65 on New Year's Day, chased down the referees
on a pair of defensive penalties in the third quarter.
After Mississippi made the game interesting midway through the
fourth quarter, he jumped into his sideline huddles and pointed a
finger at his players.
They weren't going to let this one slip away. Lance Frazier's 40-yard interception return with three minutes left finished Mississippi's chances of a miracle comeback.
As Nehlen accepted the Music City Bowl trophy for his team, West Virginia fans screamed, "Nehlen! Nehlen!" He grabbed a microphone and publicly thanked them, then went to the locker room to be with his team.
"I just told them basically, as a coaching staff, we love them all," he said. "A lot of hugs, and they were all sweating."
"Coach is a strong man," said offensive lineman Tanner
Russell. "But the strongest man is one who knows he's allowed to
cry. There was a lot of emotion in there. It's irreplaceable."
If there was a team that had a reason not to be focused, it was
the Mountaineers, who had endured a month's worth of distractions.
Besides the bowl streak and Nehlen's final game, Rodriguez made
people on campus nervous by saying he would not retain the majority
of Nehlen's assistants, who also were coaching their final games
Thursday.
Also, Rodriguez said in his first news conference that no
players' jobs were secure. So some, including Lewis, a junior,
wondered if they were starting their final games.
Lewis responded. He threw two TD passes apiece to Khori Ivy and
Antonio Brown. Wes Ours caught a 40-yard TD pass and scored on a
1-yard run. Shawn Terry returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards
for a score.
The Mountaineers needed just 18 total plays to score five
first-half touchdowns.
"I wanted to walk off this field knowing I played 100 percent
for coach Nehlen and myself," Lewis said.
West Virginia's eight straight bowl losses had tied it with
South Carolina. Although the NCAA doesn't keep records for bowl
futility, the streak was believed to be the longest ever in
Division I-A. South Carolina's streak was from 1946 to 1998 before
it beat the Mountaineers in the 1995 Carquest Bowl.
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West Virginia makes Nehlen's finale sweet, easy
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