13-9.
Those numerals.
In that specific order.
13-9.
“That score just takes the wind out of you,” said Tom Contraguerro, a member of the West Virginia football team in 2007. “A lot of people have had a lot of questions about that game, and what I tell people is that nothing went right for us that night. Absolutely nothing. Nothing went our way, and while that’s always been true in sports and in life, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong that night. Everything.
“Our defense was one of the top defenses in the country, and we couldn’t get off the field. And on offense, we just didn’t play our game. It was a perfect storm that didn’t go in our way, so yeah, 13-9, still grinds at me to this day because we were No. 2 in the country and we could have become No. 1,” he remembered. “All we had to do was beat Pitt and we would have had the No. 1 spot in the BCS and played for the national championship. Unfortunately, everyone knows how that game went for us.”
The Mountaineers began the 2007 season ranked No. 6 in the Coaches and Associated Press polls with Rich Rodriguez in his seventh and final season as head coach. WVU sprinted out to a 4-0 record before No. 18 South Florida scored a 21-13 upset, but then the Blue and Gold reeled off six straight wins before entering the Backyard Brawl versus the visiting Panthers.
West Virginia was favored by 28 points over Pitt but managed only a touchdown and a safety after averaging more than 40 points per game that season. Following that loss to the Panthers, Rodriguez then left to take over the Michigan program and assistant coach Bill Stewart was installed as the interim head coach for the Fiesta Bowl.
“We worked very hard during the next month after that game, and even though we were near the top of the rankings before the loss to Pitt, no one was giving us a chance against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl,” Tom explained. “But none of us listened to the news or the sports reporters and we just did what we had to do. We also knew that our fans would be there for us and that’s all that mattered.
“So, we went out that night and we shocked the country again,” he said. “It was a great way to go out as a four-year player and it’s something I will never forget.”
First Since 1979
The very first WVSSAC football championship was secured by Wheeling Central Catholic High School with a 39-21 victory of Buffalo-Wayne High School at Laidley Field in Charleston.
Tommy Thomas, Pat Leinweber, Matt Hamm, Eric Osterman, and Mike Becker were some of the seniors on that team, and the Marron Knights’ legend Jim Thomas was the head coach. “JT,” though, then experienced a 21-year drought. The “Super Six” had moved to Wheeling Island Stadium and Contraguerro, a freshman linebacker, was on the roster.
CCHS lost in the Class A finals in 2001, won the single-A championship again in 2002, and then lost early in the playoffs his senior season. What was next for the current General Manager of Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration was a difficult decision well before graduation.
“I was getting offers some Division II schools and a lot of (Mid-American Conference) schools,” he said. “Even though I had made the decision that I wanted to play D-1 football before that, me and my Dad visited some of the MAC schools like Kent State. But it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a Mountaineer.
“A lot of my friends from Central were going to West Virginia, and it was closer to home and I knew my parents would be close and I’d be able to come home when I had some free time,” Contraguerro recalled. “Our family has always been very important to me so I knew I wanted to be close to home. Plus, my sister, Stacy Bordas, was at WVU, too, and I actually ended up living with her my sophomore year.
Even a scholarship was not awarded, a dream was realized.
“Everything just came together for me so I decided to go to West Virginia and walk-on to play football,” he said. “Plus, our teams at WVU were really talented and there was a lot of hype because of the players that we had on our roster. We didn’t have as great a season as expected that first year and we ultimately lost to Florida State in the Gator Bowl.”
The Spring Game
WVU’s Gold-Blue Game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. today after a one-year hiatus because of Covid-19, and even though Milan Puskar Stadium only will be 25 percent filled, the vent still provoked one particular memory for Contraguerro.
Sure, after that freshman loss the Gator Bowl, the linebacker was a member of the teams who defeated Georgia in the Gator Bowl, Georgia Tech in the Fiesta Bowl, and then again a 48-28 winner against Oklahoma in the 200708 Fiesta Bowl.
And, yes, it was a great day to be a Mountaineer.
“Yes, that was a huge win, and sure, there were the games and all the winning, but one of the best memories I have to this day is the feeling I had when we were running out of the tunnel right before a home game,” Contraguerro revealed. “That cannot be duplicated. It such a very, very special feeling. When I have gone to games since, I think about that feeling and I’m really happy for our players when they get to run out of that tunnel.
“You just know how it felt and you get chills remembering it. It’s not the same feeling as being down there, but you are happy for today’s players,” he said. “West Virginia football means a lot to the people of the state and it was a special thing for me to be a part of during those four seasons.”
Head Coach Neal Brown, hired to replace Dana Holgorsen in January 2019, signed a two-year extension this past week after guiding the Mountaineers to a two-season record of 11-11. The .500 record and the contract extension, Contraguerro believes, are positive signs for the future of WVU football program.
“I think there are a lot of great things taking place now Morgantown with all of the development taking place, and now that WVU is in the Big 12, so many improvements have been made to the facilities for all of the teams and not just football,” he said. “I remember going to WVU from Wheeling Central, I thought we had the best of the best, but compared to today? Not even close.”
“I am hopeful now that Neal Brown is the head coach that the program can get back to where we were when we were still in the Big East Conference. I think he’s doing a great job because he’s brought back the team concept and the family concept back into the program, and as a former player who experienced those things, they’re really important,” Contraguerro added. “Ultimately, Coach Brown is taking the program in the right direction and I am trusting the climb.
