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SPORTS
Stewart worried about West Virginia, not Hanna
CHARLESTON -- Tropical Storm Hanna's anticipated march up the East Coast won't make a big dent in West Virginia coach Bill Stewart's preparations for East Carolina.
For someone who's already steered a team through a coaching change in the offseason, Stewart isn't fretting about the possibility of poor field conditions on Saturday in Greenville, N.C.
"That's the last thing on my mind right now," Stewart said Tuesday at his weekly news conference in Morgantown. "That's way above my pay grade. If we're going to need a boat, let's get it on."
No. 8 West Virginia's spread offense took on a new look with Pat White setting personal marks by going 25-for-33 with five touchdown passes in a 48-21 win Saturday over Championship Subdivision Villanova.
Stewart wouldn't speculate whether rainy conditions would prompt him to return to a run-dominated attack at East Carolina. He'll keep that ace up his sleeve.
"We'll see. The snow, the sleet and the rain I love to throw it," Stewart said. "We know where we're going, the defense doesn't.
"I've never bought it where you can't pass the ball in the rain. If it's a monsoon and if Hanna goes nuts on us, we'll be throwing a bucket around, I guess."
Two South Carolina schools, Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern, are considering moving their home games Saturday. Decisions are expected by Wednesday.
Stewart said he's leaving the logistics of his game up to the schools' athletic directors.
"We'll play wherever they want to play, when they want to play," Stewart said. "I don't worry about the weather."
The National Hurricane Center predicts Hanna would most likely come ashore as a hurricane Friday or Saturday between the east coast of Florida and the North Carolina coast. Forecasts Tuesday showed the storm making landfall near the Georgia-South Carolina border.
Hanna had winds of 65 mph Tuesday evening as it drifted over the Bahamas. But the Hurricane Center said it could intensify back to hurricane strength Wednesday.
