Steve Slaton was outstanding, as usual. No one, however, expected West Virginia's running game to be so Devine.
Slaton ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns, Noel Devine amassed 125 yards on his first three carries, and No. 4 West Virginia cruised past host Maryland, 31-14, last night.
Slaton scored on runs of 22, 1 and 1 yards. The Conwell-Egan product has 41 touchdowns at West Virginia, one short of the school record shared by Ira Errett Rodgers and Avon Cobourne.
The 5-8 Devine served as a Slaton's setup man. Early in the third quarter, Devine ran 31 yards to the Maryland 1, putting Slaton in position for his second TD run.
Late in the period, Devine rambled 76 yards to the Maryland 1. Slaton scored on the next play to put the Mountaineers up, 28-7.
In the fourth quarter, Devine ran for 18 yards to place West Virginia (3-0) in position for a field goal.
Devine, a freshman, finished with 136 yards rushing on five attempts.
Keon Lattimore ran for 80 yards and a touchdown for Maryland (2-1). The Terrapins yielded a total of 350 yards in their first two games; West Virginia finished with 448.
West Virginia took the second-half kickoff and moved 63 yards in nine plays to go up 21-7. Three punts later, Devine's 76-yard run - tied for the longest non-scoring carry in WVU history - helped put the Mountaineers up by 21.
In another game:
* At Air Force, Ryan Harrison's 33-yard field goal on second down gave the Falcons a 20-17, overtime victory over TCU, keeping the Falcons unbeaten under new coach Troy Calhoun.
The Falcons (3-0, 2-0 Mountain West), who overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit, were swarmed on the field by thousands of cadets.
Harrison earlier hit a field goal of 57 yards. Jim Ollis led the Air Force offense with 140 yards rushing.
Andy Dalton threw for 312 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Horned Frogs (1-2).
Noteworthy
* Texas senior safety Tyrell Gatewood was suspended indefinitely after his arrest on drug charges following a traffic stop. Gatewood, 22, was charged with two counts of possession of a dangerous drug. It was his second drug-related arrest in a year, although misdemeanor possession charges were dropped after his arrest last September.
Freshman defensive back Ben Wells, 18, who was riding with Gatewood when he was pulled over late Wednesday, was given a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia and released.
Linebacker Sergio Kindle and defensive end Henry Melton both were arrested on drunken driving charges this the summer. Freshman linebacker Dre Jones was charged with aggravated robbery this summer. Former safety Robert Joseph was charged in the same incident and was arrested in a separate incident earlier in the summer.
* University of Texas at San Antonio students voted to increase student-paid athletics fees from $120 per semester to $240 to support an eventual football program at the school. The Division I school has 16 other sports. *
