Tuesday, July 3, 2012

60 Randy Dunnigan

Hometown: Dublin, VA
Career: 1995-1998
Record: 28-19, Bowl Record: 0-3
Today we take a look at one of the overlooked Mountaineer lineman. Randy Dunnigan is not what most would consider a Mountaineer legend, but he certainly did have a solid playing career. He played for the Mountaineers in the late 90s, making running room for Amos Zeroue and keeping defenders off of Marc Bulger. His most notable accomplishment, being one of the Mountaineer players at #60 with a photo on the internet. Sorry folks, but this is one of those instances where photo availability won out.
Memorable Game: For today’s memorable game, I could not resist the chance to highlight West Virginia’s big road win over the Miami Hurricanes in 1997. The 1997 season began with promise as the Mountaineers had begun the season with a 2-1 record. They came into the game in Coral Gables seeking the program’s first win over Miami since 1993. The Hurricanes were a team on the rise, featuring a potent passing game featuring Vinny Testeverde. The Mountaineers would need a dominating performance to upset the Hurricanes. The offense was able to run all over the Hurricane defense, amassing 443 yards. Bulger picked apart the secondary, while Zeroue sliced through the defensive line. In the end, the Mountaineers would register just their second victory in Coral Gables, 28-17.

Competition: Realistically, this selection could have gone to a notable name like Gene Corum. He was not only a solid lineman in his era, but also was a pretty decent head coach for the Mountaineers. The problem with selecting Gentleman Gene was finding a picture of him in his WVU uniform. Part of the novel of this blog is coming up with players pictures in their uniforms. So, with Corum out of the running, the selection came down to Randy Dunnigan and Don Bassler. When it came to making the final selection, Dunnigan got the nod.

Teaser: Tomorrow we take a quick break from linemen to highlight a great WVU linebacker. This player came out of Fairmont to be a solid contributor to some really good Mountaineer teams. While this player did not make it to the NFL, I’m sure he is quite successful in his chosen career. What I wonder is, do players like my selection at #59 end up like Terry Tate? I could just imagine this player patrolling the office.

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