Without decorated head-coach Rich Rodriguez patrolling the sidelines and game-breaking rusher Steve Slaton carrying the load out of the backfield, the West Virginia Mountaineers found a way to win Wednesday night’s Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

Normally known for thier offense, the Mountaineers used a stingy defense and a reserve running-back to throttle the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in a 48-28 blowout. With the loss, Oklahoma’s winless drought in bowl-games reached an unimpessive fourth-straight year.

West Virginia’s most valuable player wasn’t even expected to play a major role in the game. Noel Devine, a freshman running-back and one of the fastest rusher’s in the entire nation, came off the bench to run for 105-yards and two-touchdowns.

Devine, a Ft. Myers, Florida native who has had to overcome the deaths of both of his parents and his childhood best-friend, also accounted for 135-yards as a receiver and kick-returner in the game. He was pressed into action when Slaton - West Virginia’s most revered play-maker over the last two seasons - left the game in the first-quarter with a pulled-hamstring.

Quarterback Patrick White was his usual dynamic self, throwing for 176-yards and rushing for 150 more in a two-touchdown effort. The junior-passer guided the Mountaineer offense to a 525-yard effort, and the 185-pound passer did so without turning the football over.

As prolific an evening as White had under the bright lights in Glendale, his potent contributions have become expected. West Virginia’s defense, however, which has been blamed for each of the few games the team has lost in the last couple of seasons, was perhaps the most surprising contributor in the Moutaineer win.

West Virginia was able to pressure Oklahoma signal-caller Sam Bradford all evening, sacking the freshman three-times and forcing him to scramble out of the pocket on a slew of other occasions.

The incessant pressure and pass-rush of the West-Virginia defensive-line and linebacking corps made Oklahoma’s offensive-line uncomfortable all evening. False-start and motion penalites were far too plentiful for coach Bob Stoops’s Sooners, who were flagged for 13-penalties and 115 penalty-yards.

The game was expected to have been one of the more entertaining the bowl season has offered to date, but as you can tell by the lopsided score it didn’t deliver. West Virginia, expected to play with lackluster effort and questionable passion poored it on and out-classed an Oklahoma team that many people - including myself - conisdered to be the best in the nation.

The Mountaineers’ victory and performance was fun to watch, and the game was as feel-good to watch as a disney flick. It would have been easy for West Virginia to go through the motions on Wednesday and get blown out. With Rodriguez gone, and with Slaton sidelined with injury, a loss of any kind would have been justifiable.

But the Mountaineers wanted nothing to do with anything but a Fiesta Bowl win. Kudos to the players who earned the W, and kudos to interim head-coach Bill Stewart. Stewart has spoken with class and said all of the right things since taking over for Rodriguez.

His team proved on Wednesday night that not only can he manage a team in a time of crisis and say the right things, but that he can also coach. I hope he gets the job as WVU’s next coach, but whether he does or doesn’t - he won’t have to worry about being jobless next fall.

Stweart’s banner night won’t soon be forgotten by college football fans, who couldn’t help but cheer on a West-Va team that has been through so much in the last five-weeks.