Seven tackles, three pass breakups and an interception of Stull showed just how Sands, a 6-foot-5, 211-pound safety from Miami, Fla., has become a ball-hawking asset in the WVU defensive secondary. Though he’s only in his second year with the Mountaineers, Sands has shown marked individual progression and the game seems to be slowing down for him. He's reacting instinctually rather than thinking momentarily before moving, a progression that has turned him into a much-needed impact player in the WVU secondary.
“It’s slowing down to the point where I’m seeing how routes are developing and who the quarterback is going to throw it to,” said Sands. “Last year as a freshman, I said it all year, I was doing more thinking of what I had to do before the play and not worrying about what the offense is trying to do against us. Now I know what I’m going to do and it’s just a matter of reacting to the ball.”
WVU head coach Bill Stewart, like most, has noticed Sands transform into a defensive weapon that quarterbacks may start avoiding throwing the ball near.
“From what I have seen, and according to coaches [Steve] Dunlap and [Jeff] Casteel, he is getting it,” said Stewart. “He is absorbing more and more and getting everything quicker. I want him to start getting the interceptions, not just knocking them down.”
To date, Sands leads the team with five interceptions, is seventh in tackles (45), has eight pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Sands is hardly one to shy from telling it like it is. He admitted WVU played it’s best-prepared game of the season in beating its arch-rival Pitt.
“That was our best prepared game,” he said. “But have you seen our best game yet? I don’t think so.
“We’re still waiting for this goose egg that we know we can do. We can absolutely shut a team out if we really go at it.”
It’s been well-documented how Pitt beat WVU the last time the two rivals clashed in Morgantown. Though Sands was just still a senior in at Miami Carol City Senior High School, he is fully aware of what transpired on the infamous December night, in 2007. The Panthers, a 28-point underdog, shocked the No. 1/2 Mountaineers, 13-9, slamming the door shut on a chance for WVU to play for the national championship.
Immediately following Pitt’s upset bid, some of the Panthers migrated to midfield and stomped on the Mountaineers’ flying WV logo and did so with smiles on their faces, while several distraught Mountaineers dropped to the ground, hanging their heads. Stewart made it a point to remind his team of those events and showed that footage all of last week, leading up to the game.
“He just wanted to remind us how that felt for another team to come in and dance all over your logo,” said Sands. “That’s very disrespectful. That’s how we took it. We took it as a disrespect to us, to the fans, to the community, to the university.”
With all the intangible motivation in the world from that loss and from Pitt’s 19-15 triumph last season, Sands and Co. were seething, anxiously seeking the chance for revenge.
“We were just like, ‘Where’s Pitt at right now? We want them right now,’” said Sands. “We made sure at the end of the game, they were not going to be doing that again.”
Save the 30-19 defeat at South Florida, WVU has won or been within striking distance of winning all of its games, thus far. Against the league’s top team, undefeated and No. 5-ranked Cincinnati, WVU was handed a controversial three-point road loss, but in the next game, bounced back and beat second place Pitt. While most of the Mountaineers are happy to be eyeing a second place finish in the final league standings, Sands knows WVU has not contended for the Big East championship the way it could have.
“In every game, we were right in the thick of it. The games that we did lose, we shouldn’t have lost,” he said.
WVU (8-3, 4-2 BIG EAST) will round out the regular season next Saturday, at Rutgers (8-3, 3-3 BIG EAST). The Mountaineers are still playing for a 10-win season, a fifth straight bowl win and a fifth straight top 25 finish.
“If you don’t want to play for the coaches, you got to at least be able to play for your teammates,” said Sands. “They are the ones out there with you everyday. We got to finish these last two games out and make sure we put WVU back on the map.”
Photo Credit: AP
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