It sounded strange coming from a runner, but West Virginia tailback Jason Colson admitted he has to learn to fall down.
Colson lost three fumbles -- including two while he was fighting for extra yards -- in the Mountaineers' 15-7 Big East opening win Sunday at Syracuse.
"It's just extra effort," Colson said. "I will learn to fall down. I just have the urge to get extra yards, but that wasn't a good thing to do in this game.
"I wanted to put on a show, but the team won and I hope that overshadows my fumbles," he said. "I was trying to get the extra yards and I probably should have went down, but it's something that happens."
Colson, a junior who rushed for 706 yards and six touchdowns last season, refused to blame the officials for late whistles.
"The officials did a great job -- it wasn't that," Colson said. "Unfortunately, I had a couple fumbles today and I'll try to put that behind me. It's something I've got to correct to be a better player."
Colson also declined to give Syracuse credit for big hits.
"No, they were just holding me up and coming at me from angles," he said. "The hits weren't hard at all."
Twice, Colson gave up the football when West Virginia was inside the 20 and driving for touchdowns and control of the game.
"I'm not concerned about him," Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez said. "He's a good player."
Fortunately for Colson, Syracuse failed to convert any of its 15 third-down attempts and the fumbles only impacted the score, not the outcome.
Colson came into the game hoping to improve on his 113 yards rushing last year against Syracuse.
He brought along his personal cheering section, with more than 100 friends, family members including the Rochester (N.Y.) Edison Tech football team.
However, he failed to inspire many in the crowd of 45,418 after rushing for 26 yards on 11 carries and catching one pass for 20 yards.
"It's kind of eating me alive right now, knowing I didn't put in the kind of performance I should have," Colson said.
Colson said he learned a hard lesson.
"Extra effort isn't always a good thing," he said. "That's something I'll take into next week."
West Virginia opens it's home season with a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday against non-conference opponent Wofford, of Spartansburg, S.C, which has a student enrollment of 1,100.
