Steve Slaton - West Virginia Mountaineers Steve Slaton

Steve Slaton Rushed for 1836 yds and 25 TDs as a JR. Steve Slaton has an excellent speed and leg strength. Very productive, breaking the 22 year old school career rushing record before his junior year in Conwell Egan Catholic H.S. ended. JR stats: 1626 yds rushing (9.3 ypc) and19 TDs; 16 tackles/2 picks.

Track: 6.98-60m/10.7-100m/22.6-200m/23.5-LJ

Steve Slaton reports a 2.5 GPA and a 920 SAT.

Steve Slaton: "I have great speed and field vision. I'm also really strong. I love playing RB and I've been playing it my whole life. I have the speed, elusiveness and strength. I'd like to run over linemen more and be a more powerful runner."

Steve Slaton

This is a tribute to Steve Slaton and all that he has done for the Mountaineer program, and for bringing dominant football back to Morgantown!

Steve Slaton Awards and Recognitions:

Named Walter Camp, USA Today, Rivals.com national player of the week and the Big East player of the week for the October 15, 2005 game against Louisville.
Named first team freshman All-America by Rivals.com, second team The Sporting News, Collegefootballnews.com, Scout.com)
Named as the Big East rookie of the year, the ECAC rookie of the year, and second team All-Big East his freshman season.
Named 2005 Nokia Sugar Bowl MVP after rushing for 204 yards on 26 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns in a 38-35 WVU victory.
Named Big East Player of the Week following the Marshall game on Sept. 2, 2006.
Slaton was named as a semi-finalist for the 2006 Maxwell Award, which is presented to the Collegiate Player of the Year.
Slaton was named as one of ten players to watch for the 2006 Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year.
Slaton was named as a finalist for the 2006 Doak Walker Award.
Slaton was named as a Football Writers of America All-American, an American Football Coaches Association All-American, a First Team AP All-American, a The Sporting News All-American, to the Scout.com First Team All-American and All-Big East Team, All Big East First Team, first team Walter Camp All-American, to the ECAC D-I All-Star team, and second team All-American by SI.com for the 2006 season.
Slaton finished 4th in the 2006 Heisman Trophy race behind Troy Smith, Darren McFadden and Brady Quinn. Slaton finished with 6 1st place votes, 51 2nd place votes, and 94 3rd place votes for 214 total points.
Finished tied for 4th in the AP Player of the Year in 2006.
Slaton was named the 2006 Scout.com Big East Offensive Player of the Year.

2005 Season

Slaton began his true freshman year as the 4th string running back. He saw his first action in the second game of the season versus Wofford. He carried the ball 8 times for 42 yards and also had a 14-yard reception.

After not getting any carries the next two games, he led the team with 90 yards rushing on eleven carries against then #3 ranked Virginia Tech. Slaton got his first ever start of his career in the next game against Rutgers. Rushing for 139 yards and a touchdown, Slaton helped the Mountaineers to the 27-14 win.

Slaton had one of the most memorable games in WVU football history in the next game vs. Louisville. After trailing 17-0 at Halftime, Slaton and the Mountaineers rallied from a 24-7 4th Quarter deficit to win the game 46-44 in 3 overtimes. After kicking an onside kick that led to the tying score, the Mountaineers headed into overtime with the Cardinals. Slaton finished the game with 188 yards on 31 carries and 5 rushing touchdowns. Slaton also had his first receiving touchdown of the season. His six touchdowns are a WVU and Big East record. He was named the Walter Camp, USA Today, and Rivals.com national player of the week and was also named the Big East player of the week. Slaton added 71 yards on 17 carries in a nationally televised Big East game with Connecticut, while his teammate Pat White upstaged him with 106 pass yards and a score and 63 rush yards and two rushing touchdowns. Slaton left the game early after an injury to his wrist.

Slaton's 17 rushing touchdowns on the season was tied for third most in a season in West Virginia history, while his 1,128 yards rushing is ranked 13th most rushing yards on a season in school history (a record he broke his sophomore season). Slaton had another outstanding day against Cincinnati, gaining 129 yards on 25 carries and scoring 4 touchdowns. To begin the 2nd quarter, Slaton had a Walter Payton-like diving touchdown over a pile on the goaline, followed by two more touchdown runs. Slaton scored three more touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) in the next game against Pitt. Slaton had 179 yards rushing on 34 carries as West Virginia beat Pitt, 45-13. In the final Big East game of the season, Slaton had 86 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown against the South Florida Bulls. West Virginia finished the regular season 10-1 and 7-0 in the Big East, earning the school a bid in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, while Slaton finished the season with 1,128 yards on 205 attempts with 17 touchdowns.

Nokia Sugar Bowl

WVU defeated the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the 2005 Nokia Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2006. Slaton was named the Sugar Bowl MVP, gaining a new Sugar Bowl record of 204 yards on 26 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns. Slaton's 204 yards were not only a Sugar Bowl record, but the second most rushing yards ever in a BCS game

2006 Season

Slaton began the season in the same fashion he finished last season. He recorded his second straight 200-yard performance by putting up 203 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns against instate rival Marshall. Slaton saw very limited work in the second game of the season against Eastern Washington. Playing only the first two series of the game, Slaton was still able to break 100 yards rushing getting 105 yards on only 8 carries and scoring two touchdowns. He scored on a 49-yard touchdown run on WVU's second play from scrimmage.

In a very meaningful game of revenge, Slaton dazzled a national audience by gaining 149 yards in the 1st Quarter alone against Maryland. Slaton was recruited by Maryland, but his scholarship was eventually withdrawn. Slaton finished the game with 195 yards on 21 carries and added another two touchdowns. Slaton helped the highly ranked Mountaineers to their fourth win of the season by gaining 80 yards on 24 carries against the East Carolina Pirates.

The Mountaineers moved to 5-0 as Slaton had a very impressive day against a very good Mississippi State run defense. Slaton finished with 185 yards on 26 carries and scored his 7th touchdown of the season. In the first Big East game of the season, The Mountaineers used a dominating ground game to beat the Syracuse Orangemen 41-17 and remain undefeated. WVU had a total of 457 yards on the ground and 5 touchdowns. Slaton carried the ball 20 times for 163 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown run. On a Friday night game in front of a national audience against the Connecticut Huskies, Slaton carried the ball nineteen times for 128 yards, including a career high 56-yard touchdown run.

In the Big East game of the year vs. Louisville, Slaton was unable to repeat last years performance. After a great first half, Slaton had two costly fumbles on consecutive snaps to start the 3rd Quarter. Slaton sat out the rest of the 3rd because he was unable to grip the ball after taking a helmet to his elbow. He returned in the 4th to help WVU close the gap, but the defense was unable to come up with any stops and WVU lost the game, 44-34. Slaton finished the game with 156 yards on 18 carries and a 42-yard touchdown run. Slaton added another 74 yards on 3 receptions.

In the ninth game of the season, Slaton exploded for runs of 65 and 63 yards to help WVU bounce back and beat Cincinnati 42-24. Slaton finished the game with 148 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries. The highlight run of the game came in the 2nd quarter, when Slaton took a draw play around the right corner and outran the whole Cincinnati defense for a 65-yard touchdown run, his career-long. In the 99th meeting of the Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh, Slaton had one of the most impressive games in WVU history. Although getting off to a slow start in the first half running the ball (7 car., 6 yds.), he became the first Mountaineer to ever have more than 100 yards rushing (215) and 100 yards receiving (130) in the same game. The 215 yard performance, which was a career-high, came on 23 carries and his 130 yards receiving, another career-high, came on 6 first half receptions, including a 67-yard pass from White that led to West Virginia's first score of the game, off of a Slaton 15-yard run. Slaton added 4 more touchdowns, 2 receiving and 2 rushing. The following week, Slaton has his least productive game of his college career when South Florida held him to just 43 yards on 18 carries in a 24-19 loss.

In the final regular season game, in front of a national audience, Slaton helped lead the Mountaineers, without star quarterback Pat White, to a 41-39 triple overtime victory against Rutgers. Slaton gained 112 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns, including one in overtime. Jarrett Brown, White's replacement, had 244 yards passing with a touchdown and 73 yards rushing and a ground score.

Slaton finished the season with 1,744 yards on 248 carries with 16 touchdowns with a wrist injury all season. Slaton's 1,744 yards was third in the nation, while his average yards per run was ninth and his touchdown total was tied for 8th. His yardage was a West Virginia rushing record for a season, breaking Avon Cobourne's record of 1,710 yards, and was 22nd in West Virginia's record book of most total offense in a season. Slaton's 360 reception yards is the second most in a season by a running back in school history as well, behind legendary fullback Jim Braxton's 565 yards, while his 27 receptions was tied for third most by a back in a season. Slaton's all-purpose yards of 2,104 is a West Virginia season record as well. In the season, Slaton and quarterback Pat White combined for 2,963 yards and 34 rushing touchdowns.

2007 Season

Slaton missed spring practice due to connective surgery on his wrist. He took part in conditioning drills during the early summer after rehabing his wrist.

In the first game of the season against Western Michigan, Steve Slaton struggled rushing early as the Broncos keyed in on him, but was able to catch a 50 yard touchdown pass. Slaton only had 21 yards in the first half, allowing quarterback Patrick White to have a career-day. Slaton burst out in the second half however with a 58 yard touchdown score. Slaton ended with 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns and 61 receiving yards on 2 receptions and a touchdown as the Mountaineers won 62-24.[8] In the second week of the season, after being held to just two yards on 5 carries in the first half, Slaton and his teammates came out strong in the second half to beat Marshall 48-23 in front of the largest crowd ever at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, in Huntington, West Virginia. Slaton finished the game with 146 yards on 24 carries and touchdown runs of 1-yard and 18-yards. In this game, Slaton became the third Mountaineer to surpass 3,000 rushing yards in his career.

Steve Slaton and Patrick White on the sideline of the Mississippi State gameIn the third game of the season against Maryland, Slaton and the Mountaineers beat the Terps 31-14. Slaton finished the game with 26 carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Slaton's longest run was of 22 yards which was a touchdown. Slaton earned the Wrangler Player of the Game honors presented by ESPN. In the following game against ECU, Slaton tied the school record scoring his 42nd rushing touchdown of his career. Slaton finished the game with 18 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown along with three receptions for 42 yards as the Mountaineeers won 48-7. In the 5th game of the season, Slaton, for the 3rd year in a row, was held under 100 yards rushing by South Florida. Slaton finished the game with just 55 yards on 13 carries as WVU suffered their first loss of the season, 21-13. Against Syracuse, Slaton had 69 yards on 15 carries and 51 yards on 4 receptions in the 55-14 win. The following game against Mississippi State, which was homecoming for the Mountaineers, Slaton put up one of his best games of the season. While wearing his new golden uniform, Slaton rushed for 127 yards on 23 carries for one touchdown, also four catches for 36 yards and a kick return for 26 yards, as the Mountaineers rolled 38-13. Slaton's touchdown put him in the record books as the school's all-time leading scorer on the ground, passing Ira Rodgers and Avon Cobourne with 43 rushing touchdowns.

Steve Slaton/Pat White All Access

At #25 Rutgers, Slaton and the Mountaineers rolled over the Scarlet Knights 31-3. Slaton only had 16 carries for 73 yards, but did sport 3 touchdown rushes. Slaton's first touchdown came on a sideline-to-sideline 38-yard dash for the first score of the game. Slaton also had a reception for 51 yards on a screen pass and a 21 yard kick return. Against Louisville, Slaton had a less than impressive game with 17 carries for 60 yards, but he did have a touchdown in the 38-31 win. He also had two receptions for 14 yards. Head coach Rich Rodriguez said of Slaton's performance, "Obviously, he didn't play his best game...Steve wasn't his best. He knows he can play better without the ball, and he usually doesn't fumble. He's got to get better in practice." At that point, Slaton had been held under 100 yards rushing for four of the previous five games

Slaton and the Mountaineers clinched the 2007 Big East Championship with a 66-21 win over #20 Connecticut. Slaton had a sub-par performance, rushing for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns on ten carries and grabbing two receptions for 11 yards. His 54 rushing yards was only fifth on the team that day. However, he surpassed 1,000 yards on the season on a 31-yard touchdown run for the third straight year; and by him surpassing 1,000 yards on the season, Slaton and Patrick White both surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the second consecutive season, a feat that made them only the third pair in FBS history to ever do so. The next week however, the #2 Mountaineers fell to 5-7 Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl 13-9 to end their National Championship hopes. In the upset loss, Slaton only carried the ball nine times for eleven yards.

Slaton finished the regular season with 1,053 yards on 210 carries for a tying season-high 17 touchdowns. He also had 25 receptions for 348 yards and a touchdown. Slaton and quarterback Patrick White combined for 43 total touchdowns, more than 67 Division 1-A teams that season

2008 Fiesta Bowl:
West Virginia racked up 525 total yards in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl — 349 on the ground — and stayed in control from the opening kickoff until the final horn, dismantling Oklahoma 48-28 in front of 70,016 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Steve Slaton's Top 5 Plays

Top 5 plays of Steve Slaton's college career

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