Dec 30, 2002 4 min read

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Avon Cobourne began and ended his career in the same place – Charlotte’s Ericsson Stadium. In between, the 5-foot-9 running back that few colleges wanted after a knee injury in high school became the Big East’s career rushing leader.

The senior, labeled by West Virginia teammates as the hardest worker on the team, ran for 117 yards on 25 carries in Saturday’s Continental Tire Bowl to move into ninth place on the Division I-A career rushing list with 5,039 yards.

He finished his career with 28 100-yard games.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Cobourne said after No. 15 West Virginia lost to Virginia 48-22. “It’s tough right now.”

Cobourne already is being missed by his coaches and teammates.

“He’s such a great leader, such a great competitor,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “He’s a good example for our young guys on how to work and how to play with and without the football.”

Cobourne now must wait until April’s NFL draft to find out his next career path. On Saturday, he handed the reins of the Mountaineer offense to Quincy Wilson.

“He has bigger and better things he’s going on to,” Wilson said. “It’s on me now, like he said in the locker room. He told me that. It’s a little added pressure, but I’m ready for it. I’m really excited for the opportunity I got for next year.

“I’m ready to come back to school in a couple of weeks and get this winter conditioning in and get into spring ball. Our run gave us one of our biggest weapons this year. I don’t see why we can’t do it next year.”

Wilson, the only player in state history to rush for 3,000 yards in a season at Weir High, was seventh in the Big East in rushing with 863 yards during the regular season.

“He knows this is his team,” Cobourne said. “He knows it’s time for him to step up and be the leader.”

No one expected this type of season from the Mountaineers, who were picked to finish sixth in the Big East. Led by the nation’s No. 2 rushing attack, West Virginia (9-4) finished second in the league and had its best record since going 8-4 in 1998.

Still, Rodriguez would like the Mountaineers to become a consistent Top 25 program, and the bowl loss may have knocked them out of the rankings.

“We’ll be back, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Rodriguez said. “At no point did we say our program’s arrived. You don’t arrive until you line up and play poorly and still win.”

To get better, quarterback Rasheed Marshall will need to improve on the team’s 128-yard passing average. He set a Big East record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 618 yards, ranking 10th overall.

The bowl loss left Marshall hungry for his junior season.

“We’ve just got to work hard. We know what to expect. We know what it takes to win,” Marshall said. “It shouldn’t be a big surprise coming into next year. We just need to fill some spots and get ready to go.”

The Mountaineers will lose three of their four top wide receivers and three of five starting linemen.

“Everybody expected nothing out of this year’s team,” said offensive tackle Lance Nimmo. “Next year they’re going to expect something. So if they exceed what’s expected out of next year’s team, they should have a heck of a season.”

The defense will have to replace seven starters, including four of the six top tacklers.

Among those coming back are linebacker Grant Wiley, the team’s top tackler with 129 during the regular season, and fourth-leading tackler Jahmile Addae, who led the team with four interceptions.

The defense made fourth-quarter stops to secure back-to-back road wins over Top 25 teams Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, but there were letdowns in other games. The Mountaineers allowed 40 or more points three times this season.

“We have a lot of guys on the team that are good athletes and work well together,” said defensive end Tim Love, a senior. “I think it’s just a matter of them getting together and getting leadership in the off-season and next year.”