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Noel Devine

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Template:Infobox CollegeFootballPlayer Noel Devine (born February 16 1988) is an American college football running back for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He was a former blue chip prospect and holds many high school rushing records.

Devine completed his freshman season at West Virginia University, finishing with 73 carries for 627 yards and 6 touchdowns. Devine ended the season with 1,316 all-purpose yards, the 24th most in a single-season in school history.[1] His performance in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl included a 65 yard TD run, the longest run by a West Virginia player in the school's NCAA bowl history.

High school career

Noel Devine attended North Fort Myers High School, the same high school that NFL stars Deion Sanders, and Jevon Kearse attended. Devine rushed for 627 yards and averaged 8.6 yards per carry as a freshman.[2] In his sophomore year, Noel had 1289 yards and 4 TDs on 206 carries, for an average of 6.3.[2][3][4] One of his most impressive games of his 10th grade year was in the 63-7 victory over Estero High. Devine rushed for 365 yards and six touchdowns on only nine carries. Devine also returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown.[5] As a junior, Devine rushed for 1,986 yards and 24 touchdowns on 173 carries, averaging 11.5 yards per carry.[2][6] In his senior year, Devine totaled 2,148 yards and 31 touchdowns.[7][8]

On October 20, 2006, Noel became the all-time leader in rushing yards for Lee County, surpassing former Mariner High School student and Tampa Bay running back Earnest Graham. Coincidentally, it was Graham's alma mater against which Noel was playing when the record was broken - he scored on a 65 yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter.

He finished his high school career with 92 touchdowns, another Lee County record.[9]

In the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, he amazingly took a kickoff back 88 yards before catching his right toe on the turf and falling short of the end zone.

Devine was the #3 ranked running back (and #5 prospect overall) in the nation by ESPN's 2007 Recruit Tracker. Before signing with West Virginia, he was recruited by coaches from some of the nation's other top collegiate programs, such as the University of Nebraska, University of Alabama and Florida State University.

On February 7, 2007 it was announced that Devine had reached a verbal commitment with West Virginia to play football on an athletic scholarship, which was confirmed on a letter of intent signed on March 30, 2007.[10]

Collegiate career

Freshman season

Devine got his first chance to play in the 4th quarter of West Virginia's season opener against Western Michigan. Devine showed his speed as he beat the defense to the corner as he went 23 yards after spinning off of a defender. Devine scored his first collegiate touchdown on an 8 yard run to score WVU's final score, as the #3 ranked Mountaineers beat Western Michigan 62-24. Devine finished the game with 7 carries for 44 yards and a reception for 19 yards.

In the second game of the season, Devine helped the WVU seal a 4th quarter victory over in-state rival Marshall. Devine only had 5 carries, but managed to rack up 76 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the third ranked Mountaineers beat the Thundering Herd 48-23. Devine also had two kickoff returns for 40 yards. His longest run of the day was 39 yards.

Noel Devine (right) and Jock Sanders (9) stand on the sideline during the Mississippi State game

In the third game of the season, against Maryland, Devine had the best game of the season to that point. In the 31-14 win, Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries; a 27.2 yards average. His biggest run of the day was a 76 yards dash down the sideline to the one-yard line. On his next carry he juked out a number of defenders and spun off a facemask grab to cap off the 18 yard gain. He also had one reception for two yards and two kick returns for 47 yards. Devine took only two carries to reach 100 yards against Maryland.

In the next game against ECU, Devine had 7 rushes for 11 yards, a reception for 7 yards and a kick return for 25 yards. In the Mountaineers' first loss of the season against USF, 21-13, Devine had 4 carries for 36 yards. He also had 36 yards on two kick returns. In the 55-14 win over Syracuse, Devine was held to 13 yards on 4 carries, with 33 yards on two kick returns. Devine sat out the Mississippi State game. Against twenty-fifth-ranked Rutgers, Devine had 6 carries for 40 yards.

Against Louisville, Devine had 2 rushes for 11 yards and one reception for 4 yards. He also had 4 kick returns for 97 yards, including a 41-yarder. After the 38-31 Louisville win, rumors circulated that Devine was mad about lack of playing time and had supposedly "torn up his locker" in a fit of anger. In an article with Rivals.com, Devine dismissed the rumors saying, "If I really wanted to play I would have gone to a sorry team...I didn't expect a lot of playing time." Devine also said, "I think I have played fairly. There's people that are not playing and they're on the team and they're happy. You got a great running back ahead of you. Really, I'm not expecting a lot."[11]

In the 28-23 road win against twenty-second-ranked Cincinnati, Devine had only 23 yards on 2 carries, including a 17 yard rush. However, had four kick returns for 86 yards, averaging 21.5 yards per return. In the Big East Championship-clinching 66-21 win over twentieth-ranked Connecticut, Devine rushed for 118 yards and a score on 11 carries, which ranked second-best on the team, trailing only quarterback Pat White.

Subsequently, the then second-ranked Mountaineers were upset 13-9 by Pittsburgh in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. Devine had only 11 yards on 7 carries; a 1.6 average. However in the 4th quarter, Devine returned a kickoff 48 yards in the final minutes of the game. But, ultimately, the Mountaineers were stopped on fourth down to end the game.

Devine would finish his freshman season in West Virginia's Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. After losing Steve Slaton to a leg injury in the first quarter, Devine filled in for WVU with 105 yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns, including a 65 yard run which provided the final score of the game. The run broke a West Virginia bowl record for longest rush and was the second longest play from scrimmage for the Mountaineers in the season.[citation needed] He also returned 4 kickoffs for 88 yards, a 22.0 yards average, and pulled in two receptions for 47 yards.

Devine was given honorable mention for the Freshman All-American team by various sources, including SportingNews,[12] and was awarded the team's Danny Van Etten Rookie of the Year Award by head coach Rich Rodriguez. After Rich Rodriguez left the team before the 2008 Fiesta Bowl that offseason Devine thought about transferring. He finished his freshman season with 73 carries for 627 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also added 7 receptions for 90 yards and 26 returns for 599 yards. Devine ended the season with 1,316 all-purpose yards, the 21st most in a single-season in school history.[13] Devine also finished the year ranked tenth in the Big East in rushing yards per game and #5 in the conference in kickoff return yards.[14]

Sophomore season

After former head coach Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia and announced his decision to accept the head coaching job at the University of Michigan, Noel Devine considered transferring, but decided he would finish his career at West Virginia.[15] On January 14, 2008, West Virginia starting running back Steve Slaton announced his desire to enter the NFL Draft instead of returning for his senior season. Slaton's departure meant Devine would be the probable starter for the 2008 season.[16]

Devine and quarterback Pat White were named the #1 "scary star" of the 2008 by Rivals.com.[17] Shortly afterwards, the Mountaineers began their first spring practice. West Virginia running backs coach, Chris Beatty, said of Devine, “He’s as quick as he looked on television...So quick and yet he has great patience and things like that. My goal is to just let him run fast and do the things he does so well.” Devine also commented that he could handle at least 30 carries a game as the feature back, despite his size; which he said he wanted to jump up to 180 pounds.[18] Head coach Bill Stewart also said that Devine maxed out at 405 pounds at the bench press during the spring.[19]

To begin the 2008 season, Noel Devine rushed for 47 yards on 9 carries and also had 37 yards on 6 receptions in the season opening victory against the Villanova Wildcats, 48-21. In the following 24-3 loss to the ECU Pirates, Devine rushed 12 times for 94 yards (7.8 yard per carry average) and returned two kickoffs for 47 yards. In West Virginia's following 17-14 overtime loss to Colorado, Devine rushed 26 times for 133 yards and also had 11 yards on three receptions (second on the team in rushing behind quarterback Pat White).

In the 27-3 victory over Marshall, Devine rushed 14 times for 125 yards (8.9 yards per run) and his first touchdown of the season. To begin Big East play, Devine rushed 19 times for 55 yards, a 2.9 yard per carry average, in the 24-17 victory over Rutgers. In the following 17-6 victory over Syracuse, Devine rushed for 188 yards on 18 carries for a touchdown. His 188 yards was a career-high, and his 92-yard rushing touchdown in the 4th quarter not only was a career-long, but also was the second-longest rush in school and stadium history.[20] Devine's performance in the Syracuse win won him the Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors.[21] Following the 188-yard performance against Syracuse, Devine totaled a career-high 207 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the Mountaineers' 34-17 victory over Auburn. For the game, Devine recorded six runs of at least 20 yards. The two-game stretch totaled 395 yards and two touchdowns.

West Virginia then defeated #25 UCONN 35-13, the team's first road win of the season, in which Devine rushed 17 times for 60 yards - a 3.5 yard per rush average. However, West Virginia was then defeated by Cincinnati in a 26-23 overtime loss, as the Mountaineers rallied from being down 20-7 with under two minutes left in the game to tie it and send it to overtime. Devine, however, finished the game with 19 rushes for 58 yards and 6 receptions for 48 yards - a total of 106 yards of offense.

Devine and West Virginia bounced back in the following 35-21 victory over Louisville in their annual rivalry game. Devine posted his fifth 100-yard rushing game on the season with 154 yards on 13 carries. The performance included a 79-yard run, which was a school record for the longest non-touchdown run in school history.[22] However, the Mountaineers then lost in the Backyard Brawl to Pittsburgh 19-15. Devine carried the ball 12 times for 17 yards - a 1.4 yard per carry average - and caught 3 passes for 6 yards in the loss.

Devine finished out the regular season with 17 carries for 90 yards and 3 receptions for 21 yards - 111 total yards of offense - in the 13-7 win over South Florida, however Devine did not start as head coach Bill Stewart said he was disappointed in his performance the prior week.[23] However, Devine was named a second-team All-Big East selection following the victory.

In the Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over North Carolina, Devine rushed 13 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. He finished his sophomore season with 1,289 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Junior season

Entering his junior season, Devine was coveted for his summer workout results: a power clean of 300 pounds, a 500-pound squat, a bench of 435 lbs., a 38-inch vertical leap, a 10-foot-7 inch broad jump, and a 4.04-second pro agility drill time.[24]

Career statistics

 WVU   Rushing   Receiving   Kickoff Returns
Season Games Att Yds Avg Lg TD Rec Yds Avg Lg TD No Yds Avg Lg TD
2007 12 73 627 8.6 76 6 7 90 12.9 34 0 22 511 23.2 48 0
2008 13 206 1289 6.3 92 4 35 187 5.3 17 0 3 63 21.0 24 0
Total 25 279 1916 7.4 92 10 42 277 9.1 34 0 25 574 22.1 48 0

Personal life

Devine was 3 months old when his father died in 1988 of complications from AIDS,[25] and 11 years old when his mother also died of AIDS.[25] Custody passed to his maternal grandmother, but the two did not always see eye to eye. Eventually, Noel moved in with the Liz and Robert Harlow Sr, the parents of one of Noel's friends. [26] Devine himself is the father of two children by two different women. [27] He was also a witness to a shooting late in 2004, in which one of Noel's friends, 15 year old Rashard Patterson, was killed by a shotgun blast to the chest. [28]

Noel has a special relationship with Deion Sanders, who himself is a graduate of North Fort Myers High School. At one point, Sanders planned to become Noel's legal guardian.[27] Devine moved to Prosper, Texas, where he lived with Sanders, but after a few weeks, he took Deion Sanders wife's Escalade to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where a plane ticket back to Florida awaited him. Devine and Sanders are still in contact with each other, perhaps more so as the 2007 signing day approached, when Sanders assisted Noel in preparing to sign a letter of intent and play football in the college ranks. Deion Sanders revealed his mentor role in Devine's decision in his column for The News-Press, a Fort Myers news outlet.[29] He recommended to Devine that a prep school would help better prepare him for college.

Noel Devine was interviewed by ESPN The Magazine under their NEXT editions, which picks the next big athlete of the year. Devine was a nominee for the 2008 edition, along with Brandon Roy, Joba Chamberlain, Tyson Gay, Patrick Willis, and Novak Đoković. In the interview, Devine stated that his idol is Barry Sanders, and that his best game of his career at that point was against Maryland.[30]

In Mid-February 2008, Devine and teammate, Jock Sanders, allegedly beat and stomped two students outside of Club Z in Morgantown. Head coach Bill Stewart said of the incident, "To me disrespecting someone downtown of the opposite sex is a whole lot worse than bumping into a guy in a bar, which you shouldn't be in the bar anyhow. But, to me there's intangibles in life. Sometimes there's confrontations, sometimes you don't handle confrontations right, but preplanned, pre arranged instances–you can't overlook that."[31] On March 13, Devine, Sanders, Eain Smith, and Brantwon Bowser were arrested. They pleaded no contest.[32] The four were, nevertheless, expected to begin spring practice.[33]

References

  1. ^ http://www.wvustats.com/football/recs_player.php?team_id=308&code=psapr
  2. ^ a b c Rivals.com, retrieved on 2008-08-09
  3. ^ http://slumz.boxden.com/archive/index.php/t-321063.html, see fifth post down, retrieved on 2008-08-09
  4. ^ http://boards.ign.com/college_football/b8546/58785779/p140, see first post, retrieved on 2008-08-09
  5. ^ Noel Devine: And I Quote
  6. ^ Scout.com, scroll down to "Biography" section, retrieved on 2008-08-09
  7. ^ Rivals.com, retrieved 2008-08-09
  8. ^ MaxPreps, retrieved on 2008-08-09
  9. ^ ESPN. ""Noel Devine Archive"". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-02-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Long, Chris / nbc-2.com. "Noel Devine signs letter of intent with West Virginia". NBC2 News. Retrieved 2007-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Entry Not allowed
  12. ^ http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/Sports/2007120738
  13. ^ http://www.wvustats.com/football/recs_player.php?team_id=308&code=psapr
  14. ^ http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/stats/football/2007-2008/confldrs.htm
  15. ^ Scout.com: Devine Decision
  16. ^ Sporting News - Your expert source for MLB Baseball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball and Fantasy Sports scores, blogs, and articles
  17. ^ Rivals.com College Football - College football has some scary stars
  18. ^ "Devine Pleases Beatty" - The Journal
  19. ^ "Replacing WVU's 'truck,' a possible transfer and gems from Bill Stewart" - Charleston Gazette
  20. ^ http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=13500&cat=exclusives
  21. ^ http://www.whsv.com/sports/headlines/30916264.html
  22. ^ http://msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=13757&cat=exclusives
  23. ^ http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=13831&cat=exclusives
  24. ^ http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-4-298/Allen--Murphy--Devine-among-other-Big-East-workout-warriors.html
  25. ^ a b Steward Mandel. ""Catch him if you can"". SI.com. Retrieved 2007-09-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Powell, Robert. ""And God Created Noel Devine"". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-08-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ a b Farrell, Mike. ""Peek into inner circle shows Noel Devine's no deviant"". The Sporting News. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ Harry, Chris. ""It took being adopted by Deion Sanders before this tailback realized where home really was"". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2005-08-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ Sanders, Deion. ""Decision like this takes time"". The News-Press. Retrieved 2007-02-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ Next - Home
  31. ^ West Virginia Sports News, Scores and Coverage
  32. ^ Four WVU Football Players Arrested | WDTV CBS 5 - News, Weather and Sports - Bridgeport - Clarksburg, WV Bridgeport/Clarksburg, WV | Local News
  33. ^ WBOY-TV – News for Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, West Virginia
Preceded by WVU Starting Running Back
2008 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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