How about No. 7 gunning for 2K?

That’s why Devine is thinking big this fall. That’s why the most exciting player in college football is thinking about rushing for 2,000 yards and winning the Heisman en route to taking West Virginia back to the Big East summit.

 “The sky is the limit,” Devine says. “Anything is possible. For now, I am focusing on my teammates and team, wanting to win as many games as we can. If we are successful on the field, the other stuff will come along.”

This  leads me — and I’m sure you — to a few questions and probably a lively debate.

First, can he do it? It’s a big number in a 13 game season.

Second, will he be enabled to do it?

Third, what effect, either good or bad, could such a number have on the spoken goal of offensive balance?

I’d never, ever bet against the kid, but 2,000 yards is so hard. I think if he got at least, psh, 22 carries every game, he’d have a heck of a shot. I just don’t think he’ll get that type of work.

And really, should he? I’d argue no.

First, guys like Tavon and Jock and Ryan Clarke could help with some carries, even if out of the receiver position. We may see some backups can handle and may eventually demand/deserve a number of carries per game. And if Noel is taking the ball a lot and getting hit and tackled a lot, doesn’t he wear down as the season goes on? Does he becore more susceptible to fatigue and injury? Don’t Stewart and Mullen owe it to themselves and their players to sustain the health of the best player for as long as possible?

That leads to the really interesting part of this: How might the number of carries affect the offense? I like to think the offense is at its best when the best player has the most opportunities. Noel gets carries and racks up big numbers, defenses react and the passing game is thus a little more available.

But I also just said a lot of carries might put the player at risk, which is a terrible blow for the offense.

Football being what it is, there’s no “wrong” way to do things and WVU wants to spread the ball to backs and receivers and tight ends. I see the logic there — heck, it might even open things for Noel — but I might want to see if these valuable parts are as valuable as we are being led to believe — they might be; I jsut don’t know yet. That’s to say, no one is doubting Tavon Austin’s ability, but can he play receiver and can he do it at such a level that he needs to catch six passes a game? We’ll see.