WVU's star running back Noel Devine, who suffered a bone bruise in the Mountaineers' 20-14 loss Saturday night at the hands of the LSU Tigers, is expected to be back in practice this week. He doesn't expect Devine to aggravate the injury, so as of now, there's no contingency plan. Said Coach Stewart during yesterday's press conference:
↵↵↵"I don't think the injury is that severe where we'd have to have an emergency plan, so it'll be just like it was game in the game," Stewart said. "(Fullback) Ryan Clarke would be the backup and then there's Trey Johnson and Shawne Alston.
↵"Now that being said, if he were to get hurt (in practice) and had to be out a week, now we have 10 or 11 days to get ready and you may see someone back there like a Jock Sanders. At this point, it'll be just what we've done."
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Stewart also stressed that he's hoping to have all of his key players back in the lineup for the Mountaineers' first conference matchup against South Florida.
↵↵"Not that I'd ever overlook an opponent, but South Florida being Big East (game) No. 1, that's, to me, where I want to have all the starters back intact ... They'll play. How much they play against UNLV, I'm just not quite as sure because there's a five-day turnaround and we play our first conference game," Stewart said.
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