West VA football

West Virginia Football and the Big East

What a difference a COACH makes, huh?

Last night I watched on ESPN West Virginia vs. Colorado, and I really thought this was going to be the “statement” game for WVA. When I saw this game coming on, I figured that WVA was going to (and NEEDED to) make an example out of Colorado. They came off a big win off Villanova (by points only, not by measure) and a surprising loss to ECU.

Players on the Mountaineer team said themselves that they were a bit too cocky, and perhaps learned a lesson in humility, so I figured that this ought to be a big win, especially since the university was gonna try to push their QB, Pat White, for a Heisman run.

But Colorado was 2-0, beating Colorado State and Eastern Washington. I personally had something against Colorado because I thought their head coach took the job because it seemed to guarantee his own son a quarterback position, but that’s just my foolish opinion. Personally, if he’s good, then there should be no question.

But I still thought WVA should win this game…big.

So what happened? I sat there flipping back and forth between this game and the one on ESPNU on Alcorn State and Arkansas Pine Bluff…

(Folks, I SAID I am a big college football fan)

Since the ESPNU game came on first, my attention was fixed on that, but once the WVA/Colorado game started, I had to bounce back and forth.

I gotta tell you, I was deeply disappointed in how WVA played. When ECU beat them, that could have been a fluke…but losing to Colorado seems to substantiate that this team was never a top 10 squad to begin with. In fact, by Sunday they won’t be in the top 25 at all.

It’s like the coach burned every play in the playbook that had anything to do with passing. Even the guys calling the game on ESPN had major questions about the play calling. The game was always there for them to win, even when Colorado jumped on them 14-0 in the first half.

But they failed to manage the clock near the end of the game, and with poor kicking, they managed to lose this very important game in the overtime. This virtually eliminates them from ANY hope of the National title…heck, ONE loss did that.

But it seems that maybe the only redeeming factor is in the idea that the Big East seems to be a very soft conference this year…that and the ACC (of which I live in the middle of). West Virginia lost this game and should be very embarrassed because they are much better than that, but 2 losses is like sticking a battle axe in your sternum…you’re about done.

But maybe not…if you look at it this way:

The goal of any college football team is to win the National Championship. If not that, then make it to a BCS Bowl (where all the money lies). If not that, then qualify for a bowl (any bowl). If not that, have a winning season.

Even inside those goals are other goals, like winning the conference, or finishing the season on the top 10, or top 25 or anything like that. Let’s not think that the ONLY goal is winning the National Championship, only 2 teams get that shot, and only one will win. The other 99% of the division won’t see it.

So West Virginia has to rethink their goals. Yeah, they’re down now, but they can still salvage the season (amazing that I’m saying this 3 games in the season).

So look at your schedule. Of the remaining games, West Virginia has every chance to win the minimum 6 games to qualify for a bowl. To me, Marshall should be one, and with home games vs. Rutgers and Syracuse, I might almost guarantee one victory there. So WVA can come out of this 4-3 or 5-2. I’m just not convinced about Rutgers yet; they got some problems.

The Auburn game will be a tough one, and I don’t really see WVA (at this point) winning it. But let’s say they don’t, can they beat Uconn? Maybe, maybe not, but if they are going to make a stand, they have to win that particular game, I think it defines their season (unless they beat Auburn, which I cannot predict).

Two away games vs. Louisville and Pittsburgh are going to tell if this team has lightning in a bottle, or just a “mid card” team. Then you finish with South Florida. Here is the question for WVA… can you win 8 games? If they play like they did against Colorado, running 487 times a game…then I see them finishing with 6 wins… and MAYBE a bowl.

But if they start passing and mixing up the plays a bit and stop becoming so predictable, then I CAN see 8 wins. What I saw last night of WVA was not the team I saw last year, granted they lost a great running back, but that #8 by your name seemed to have been taken too lightly. Now there is NO number by their name except this one…

1-2.

Until next blog….