WVU homecoming gets a little personal for Syracuse kicker

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06284/728928-144.stm

Wednesday, October 11, 2006
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Homecoming festivities fail to include this little item on the Saturday agenda: Personal redemption, Patrick Shadle, noon, Mountaineer Field.
The visiting team is supposed to play the role of roadkill du jour for West Virginia's homecoming barbecue. Yet Shadle and Syracuse aim to supply some tense moments on what is usually a football romp of a fall afternoon, and that aim is right between goal posts this place-kicking sophomore knows well.

"I'm hoping it'll be a good reception," Shadle said of his return to the country roads where he grew up scarcely 13 miles south of the field on which he kicked occasionally with the local high school. "Hopefully, somebody will throw some boos out there, too. It'll be fun to be in Morgantown."

To a portion of the in-state populace, Shadle (pronounced SHAY-dull) remains one that got away from the place where he was a three-time all-stater. To the coach of the fifth-ranked Mountaineers (5-0), the fellow who rendered the decision still considered a tad controversial provincially, it was a recruiting toss-up the winter before last between two Patricks, and Plum's McAfee won out because of his immediate college readiness. From any angle, the Mountaineers' Big East opener against Syracuse (3-3, 0-1) contains the homecoming subplot of a duel at two paces back and one over, soccer style.

"Well, I pretty much made up my mind after my junior year of high school that I wanted to get out of town and see what else this country had to offer," Shadle said over a conference call yesterday from Syracuse. "I was a big fan growing up obviously, living 15 minutes away from the field. It would've been a blast to play in Morgantown and play in front of my family and friends. In hindsight, that wasn't the case [because West Virginia made no scholarship offer]. But I'm happy being up here, and everything's working out."

Rodriguez picked up the tale he openly wishes will soon cease: "I know some of the locals gave me a hard time because we signed Pat McAfee instead of Patrick Shadle. Only one guy made that decision, and that was me. And that was a hard one. But we only had a scholarship for one kicker. We thought at the time we needed somebody who could come in as a true freshman and kick right away."

McAfee did that last fall, dumping kickoffs deep, converting 11 of 18 field-goal attempts and finishing second in team scoring with 81 points. Meantime, Shadle muffed a 39-yard try in the second game of the season against Buffalo in the Carrier Dome. End of year.

"You can tell he has much more confidence now," said Mountaineers freshman fullback Max Anderson, a Morgantown High School teammate and longtime buddy of Shadle who still talks to him weekly.

Shadle currently ranks among Division I-A's most accurate kickers. Only UCLA's Justin Medlock (12 of 13 for a .923 percentage) and Oklahoma's Garrett Hartley (10 of 11 for .909) have been more precise with as many attempts as Shadle, who has banged through nine of 10 field-goal attempts.

Shadle's only miss was a 45-yarder with 6:45 left in a 20-13 overtime loss to Iowa Sept. 9. "That's been flushed down the toilet already," he said of the kick.

He wound up in a similar position with six seconds left in regulation of that game, lining up for a 41-yarder to send Syracuse into overtime against then-No. 13 Iowa. The snap rolled and skipped back to holder Brendan Carney, an all-Big East punter who set up the ball splendidly, from where Shadle punched it through.

The Orange lost in overtime, but that field goal was a crucible of a moment for the kicker.

"Right after that game, I really started to calm down and find a groove," he said.

Shadle credited his success to the balance and flexibility gained by venturing feet first into Syracuse's offseason conditioning program, at his coach's behest. A strict diet also helped him lose 20-plus pounds by August camp.

"He's always been a big guy," Anderson said of his soccer-star pal who also played running back for his middle-school team. "He's having a great year. I can't wait to see him on Saturday."

Anderson, Shadle family and friends, and more in a packed house for dual homecomings.

NOTES -- McAfee has garnered considerable ribbing, not to mention respect, for his dandy tackle Saturday on Mississippi State's speedy Derek Pegues on a 41-yard return. "A lot of people were saying it looked like I was running off the field to get a drink of water, and the guy ran into me," McAfee said. Added Vaughn Rivers, whose 50-yard punt return for a touchdown helped to earn him Big East special-teams player of the week: "If he tackles me, I'm asking for a position change." ... Former Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen will be signing copies of his book at the Alumni Association tent from 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday.