Welcome to a forgiving, though not forgetful edition of the Friday Feedback. I’m going out on a pretty firm limb, I feel, but the guess is Joe Mazzulla’s reinstatement is a timely topic. Just a hunch, but I doubt the penalty phase is over here and I highly doubt this was just a generic instance of coach penalizes player for infraction. The structure of Huggins’ quote and the time between plea and reinstatement makes me feel this was different — and, for example, we do believe Mazzulla entered counseling, perhaps of his own volition.

We all have our opinions on this matter — I haven’t hidden mine, you haven’t hidden yours — and now we have a conclusion, so we’ll volley more opinions back and forth. That’s the way these things go.

I know the cards some people will play — this is Huggins being Huggins; another athlete getting preferential treatment.

First, the latter: A guilty plea and a non-expungeable offense isn’t really getting away with anything. This is going to follow Joe from now until whenever. (Aside: Magistrate court told me and others it was a guilty plea to the original offense of domestic battery, WVU made an adamant round of calls to media Thursday saying it was a guilty plea to disorderly conduct … I know only a little about the legal system, but I think you’d plea to a lesser offense, yes? Also, it’s a guilty plea, not no contest. There is a difference.)

As for the former, OK, valid criticism. I can even let it pass. There is a reputation there and it was something we all felt Huggins could address in this case. That said, it’s a case-by-case deal. It would have been silly of Huggins and unfair to Mazzulla to treat this case as a way to alter perceptions of the past. What does Mazzulla have to do with, say, Art Long? If nothing else, Huggins has experience dealing with these matters, so he evaluated and adjudicated at his own discretion. I’m OK with that. If it fails to prevent a future incident — My boss called yesterday and said, “Did you hear about Mazzulla?” and I was afraid to say, “No, what about him?” — then there’s a more serious problem at play and a more finite resolution.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, never hit on 21.

P.S. Don’t forget the University Chapter’s “Countdown to Kickoff” Sunday. Doc Holliday has confirmed. 

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Hopefully, this is the first of 2 for the basketball team. I’d like to think these guys will learn from their fall….measure of a man is not that you fall, but how you pick yourself up.

Totally unrelated note….AD Ed Pastalong releases non-conference basketball schedule today (as reported on MSN). When does this guy shove off into the sunset and the Logo usher in a real golden age of athletics in Morgantown?

I just want to get to the second point (by the way, it was released Tuesday, but no worries). He’s set to sidle into emeritus status June 30, but invariably these releases contain something to the effect of “West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong has announced…” I always wondered if Pastilong was holding his own press conference with the sports information employee. Is he upset no one attends? Is there time for Q&A? Can I go to one? Have I now burned that bridge? Anyone?

Jeff said:

So our redshirt freshman center is going to line up across from a dude weighing almost 85lbs more? That’ll give ya’ some first-game jitters!!!!

There were some players talking about Asa Chapman at interviews yesterday. A few guys know him from high school days. Others have seen him on film already. The Mountaineers believe they have more talent up front, but they are aware of Chapman’s size and mobility. Mr. Madsen does have an interesting assignment to begin his career, for sure.

Josh said:

he puts M&Ms in his helmet.  

OK…the story goes that Chapman has always battled his weight, but, given he was so good at whatever size, never conquered it. One day at prep school Chapman was at practice and snacking on some M&Ms as he took a breather, either in a drill or in some down time. The whistles blew and Chapman had to get back to work and do so before it was discovered he was eating candy. Uniforms understandably bereft of pockets, he put the bag of M&Ms in his helmet, put his helmet on his head and got back to work. He was discovered soon thereafter. I really wish this kid made it to WVU.

Josh said:

Jeff,
we have a plan. Joey is going to drop a a 3lb bag of m&ms throughout the first half. This should delay Asa’s reaction to the snap and allow Joey to get a strong initial push as well as get his hands in the proper position. Eventually Asa is going to catch on to what is going on so in the second half comes the big switch…..Reese’s Pieces. Off of the snap Madsen is going to block the Dlineman opposite Jobe, and Jobe will pull left or right, the opposite side we are running. While he is pulling he will leave a trail of chocolate and peanut buttery goodness that no 385 lb man can resist. The genius of Casteel prevails as Asa is held in check by the ET defense.

You’re welcome, Jeff Mullen. You’re welcome.

overtheSEC said:

So what are we talkin’ here? Grizzled? Patchy McGee? Anything less than Wispy Wiggins by midseason would be a cryin’ shame

http://www.men-access.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/Hierarchy_of_Beards.jpg

Josh Lider is definitely in “bunny down” territory.

Mack said:

He’s the best WVU reporter in the business, folks.

As it relates to third-and-short, which seems to be in the coach’s heads so much that it’s worrisome… doesn’t it seem that these coaches see 2nd or 3rd and short as a challenge where we have to line it up and try to pound it up the gut? It seems like Rodriguez would approach this situation as, “Let’s put White, Slaton, and Schmitt in the backfield and run triple option.” Ground and pound vs. misdirection… I think WVU will always struggle with bullying the opposition, but we’ll see.

It’s definitely a point of emphasis. I used the word “obsessed” this week and thought it was entirely appropriate. It’s a good observation, though. I think last year they lacked the Schmitt part of the triple option and were therefore discouraged from trying it as often. I also think they tried and thought waaaaay too hard in other short-yardage situations. This year they can use Clarke and Kovatch in the triple option and that’ll probably be used more, at the very least early on, because the line is just so suspect right now. Misdirection could take some heat off the line and let it play a little more loose and free. 

gordo said:

Anyone heard much about how Heastie is progressing. I haven’t heard much at all since he arrived in January. Must be doing ok since he’s the backup.

I goofed up and forgot to include him among the freshmen who will play. He was here in January and that apparently was too much for my brain to handle. He’s a backup outside receiver who’s put on a nice bit of weight up top. Most of that is muscle. The rest is a strong beard he says he won’t shave before WVU loses.

JP said:

I’m curious how Josh Jenkins has been doing. WIth all the accolades he had coming out of high school, I expect him to flatten some d-linemen this year!  

WVU just wants consistency from Jenkins, which isn’t an unusual demand for a young player. He’s got his weight under control — he came in around 330 last year and is under 300 now — and has looked pretty fluid from what I was allowed to see. He’s got a nice frame and talent to build on. I think we’ll see him take big steps this year.

gordo said:

Mike – In regards to #4 – is it just me or does that seem to happen a lot to Devine? It seems that he doesn’t get to the end zone as much as he should. I have no question about his quickness/elusiveness/acceleration. I wonder about his top-end/finishing speed.

Also, I’m a big supporter of Stew but one thing I don’t understand is how you can watch this guy day in and day out and only give the guy 15 touches in a game. That boggles my mind.  

No. 4 would be Devine getting tracked down by Louisville’s Johnny Patrick last year. I agree with you, though I don’t wonder about top-end speed. He can fly when he opens it up. Let’s also remember he sometimes has eight, nine, 10, 11 guys chasing him and frequently allows for pursuit because he’s taken so long to get onto his most direct path to the end zone. Sometimes all that weaving and zigzagging brings defenders (back) into the play. Finishing? Sure, but someone — and maybe it was Noel — was talking once about this and made a point that seemed silly, but in reality makes some sense. Little guys, little lungs, they lose their wind faster. I guess that’s an explanation. As for touches, I think he gobbles up most of the carries vacated by Miami’s third-string QB.

Mack said:

gordo, you’re right. Devine averaged over 50 yards per carry with no touchdowns for part of the game at Maryland in 2007 because he kept breaking free and then getting tackled inside the 5-yard-line.

Devine’s clearly not as fast as Slaton, but if he’s breaking big runs… it still makes him a lot better than most other teams’ starting tailback.

…especially in college. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with 2,000 all-purpose yards (running, receiving, returning) and 10 TDs this season.

Sam said:

Mack,

Which Slaton are you talking about? Early, absolutely-gone Slaton, or bigger, preparing for the NFL Slaton? Because he might not be as fast as the early version, but he certainly moves better than the later model version.   

Foul Shot said:

And, he actually participates more than the later version.  

Mack said:

That’s true… but Slaton never ever got caught from behind in college. He just didn’t break free nearly as often during his junior year.  

Sam said:

Mack,

I distinctly remember Slaton getting run down, because the announcers went out of their way to say, “Woah, we’ve never seen that before.” That was during Slaton’s NFL prep season. 

I just wanted to include that exchange because I rather enjoyed it.  

Matt said:

In regards to Johnny Patrick catching Devine… I watched the video, and applied some Trig. When devine is on the 28 yard line, Patrick was on the 32 yard line and approximately 65 feet laterally from Devine. Solving for the scalene triangle, I concluded that Devine ran 171 feet and Patrick ran 177 feet from starting points until their arms first touching at the point they met. This doesn’t account for Devine turning to stiff arm him and patrick reaching forward with his arm. So taking that into account (conservatively 3 ft. worth of arms reaching), Patrick gained approximately 3 feet on Devine over close to a 60 yard distance. Per Patrick’s bio on Louisville’s athletic website, “one of the fastest players on the team… has great speed and quick feet.” So I wouldn’t exactly be worried about Devine’s speed.  

I feel like we’ve arrived at a new level of legitimacy after this. Enjoy the weekend!