Welcome to the Friday Feedback, an establishment so solid that home misses it.

Big scrimmage — as paradoxical as that sounds — tomorrow at the stadium. Suddenly, right guard and right tackle are very much for the taking for someone on the offensive line, though Jeff Braun and Cole Bowers, respectively, can put a lock on things. Then again, a Quinton Spain can put his name on Dave Johnson’s mind at, say, right tackle.

Speaking of Spain …

The cornerback competition seems interesting, and Keith Tandy timed his return just right. Ditto for Sid Glover at safety, where Eain Smith cannot be denied. Depth at wide receiver needs to be settled and someone has to be the backup at quarterback and running back.

All in all, a little more meaningful that we — I? — anticipated a week ago. I know I’m looking forward to seeing who’s the best 11, which is not to be confused with the 11 best.

“The best 11 is not necessarily the 11 best,” he said. “In other words, if I’ve got a talented guy, a great athlete, one of the 11 best, he should play. But if he continues to make mistakes, he’s not where he should be, he’s not part of my best 11. We play the best 11-man unit we can play. Knute Rockne. Not the 11 greatest athletes, but the best 11 in the unit. That’s how we do it at West Virginia.”

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, sometimes it’s OK to let errors go.

roopoo said:

Hey Mike…hearing rumors about Bigfoot…I suppose it is that time of year but are you hearing anything?

Yeah. Nothing.

The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:

Mike:

Any truth to the Justin Turner transferring from Michigan to WVU rumors? Are you hearing anything?

I’ve read he’s coming to WVU and enrolling Monday. I’d have to assume he’ll be a walk-on this semester and be eligible for a scholarship in the spring, as has been the deal proposed to and taken by the other Division I transfers recently.

hershy12 said:

Should I know who Justin Turner is?

Probably not. I don’t remember him at all from “covering” WVU recruiting. I looked back and don’t have him in any of my notes for stories for 2009 recruiting … and probably because he committed to UM as a junior. I really wonder and doubt if anybody bothers to pursue this story yesterday and eventually report it unless it had been spotted on a message board — and don’t be offended if that offends you because I didn’t even look into it until I saw Turner’s name mentioned here. But good for journalism.

hershy12 said:

I think whoever ends up being behind Geno will see a good bit of playing time this year. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% behind Geno, and I think he can definitely get the job done. I just question the offensive line and whether they can protect him, and I’m still not sure about Geno’s durability. Jarrett was a big strong QB and he was constantly getting beat up. I hope the offensive line has improved, but we’ll see.

My wager: No one redshirts. All three play. Maybe that explains Johnson’s sudden change of heart and fondness of his surroundings.

Karl said:

How about the first half vs. Marshall when Geno didn’t do squat? He looked terrible in every other appearance. I am not impressed at this point at all, but Mike says he’s for real, so we’ll see.

Did I say he’s for real? I didn’t mean to convey that. I mean to say he’s the starter, which, to be fair, has as much to do with him and his performance thus far as it does with the backups. I do have converns, mainly his ability to stay healthy … and there are issues on the offensive line, agreed? He’s just not a big guy and he hasn’t been hit a lot. And horizontal throws need to arrive a little quicker, too. Having said that, I pay only the requisite attention to the things we’re told in press conferences, but when I watch the kid throw and carry himself and interact with teammates, I can invest a little more in the praise he’s received.

Drew said:

You guys have to understand how limited Geno was last year. When he came in the Marshall game the offense was widdled down to a fraction of the normal playbook, particularly in the first half.

I remember one play near the end of the 2nd quarter, I think on a 4th down, where he escaped pressure and made a nice throw out of the pocket for a first down that put us in position for a field goal.

I’m not saying he’s gonna be Pat or Maj or even Bulger or Hos, but he’s talented. He showed that at times last year.

What I liked most about his limited appearances last year was his leadership and command of the offense. He had no problem barking out orders, even as a true freshman. He also displayed poise in the pocket. Unlike JB, he will stand in the pocket and still deliver a good ball even if he’s going to take a hit afterwards. He looked to me as if he is not easily rattled.

I don’t think it was trimmed for him, but I think he was only able to do a fraction of the things in the game plan designed for JB. There’s a difference there in that Geno was probably able to do things — different things — that weren’t included in the game plan for the other quarterback. Eg., there was no separate playbook for him that everyone had worked on in practice that Mullen could go to when JB was hurt. They took the JB plan, found what Geno could do and rolled with it. And yes, he’s pretty collected and I kind of like the way he interacts with defensive players and veterans, not just the guys on offense, during practices and scrimmages. But I need to see how those things go when he’s 3-for-7 and hasn’t picked up a first down close to halftime. He says he doesn’t rattle, but he’s never been consistently hit and harassed by college defenders. It could change. At the least, it’ll be tested.

Josh24601 said:

I’m really rooting for Tavon to be a hit out wide and/or as a slot receiver and for someone among Alston/Hargrett/Johnson — in FantasyLand, Alston and Hargrett start a Thunder & Lightning band together — to emerge as a quality back-up for Noel this year and man the tailback post next year.

You and 10 coaches and 85 players on scholarship hope for roughly the same. What’s worth watching is how good J.D. Woods and Stedman Bailey — and maybe Sticks — are outside relative to the backups at running back. If there’s strength at WR and some void at RB2, maybe Austin slides back and forth a little more.

Birch said:

One question: Did the beagle see the groundhog?

Beagle + Groundhog = Ape****

Trust me on that one.

Yes. Yes she did. The damn groundhog had a really, really annoying routine of hanging out where my dog likes to hang out, — not at the same time, of course — and the scent sent the dog into hyperheadcase mode. And yet, I’m beginning to think the dog misses her little friend.

Wayne said:

Mike,
I hope that Colin enjoyed the Fishbowl. BTW, most of the people that I know would have disposed of the critter in a less friendly manner.

Do you know these people below?

The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:

Mike:

He seemed like a nice young lad! With that attitude, the guy might have been able to cover kicks for WVU.

Groundhog elimination – Isn’t there an app for that? I think it involves Bill Murray showing up at your place with some dynamite.

Seriously, shoot the d**n thing. You are just creating a headache for some other homeowner. Do we need to call the Compliance Officer to make sure you follow through?

Ah, forgot I had that glock under the mattress …

ffejboc said:

My experiment with humane traps ended after I set one under my house one time and then forgot to check it!

Not sure slowly dying of hunger and/or thirst is a better fate than being shot. In trying to be kind, I ended up treating the varmint worse.

And here I thought I was doing a good thing. Now, that cat I found in the cage yesterday morning might disagree.

JutYourJaw said:

I read on Eersports.com where they had an exclusive interview with Tevita Finau.
In the story, Eersports.com exclusively reported that Tevita Finau broke the news to Eersports.com exclusively first that Eersports.com first learned that Tevita Finau confirmed through sources close to the situation that he would have caught the groundhog with his bare hands.

Interesting, but I didn’t see that.

John said:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f200/insubstantial/horrorbeaver.gif

Noted.

overtheSEC said:

I heard the groundhog singing this as he was running away

Cinderella story!

Wayne said:

Mike,
What’s up with Wallace? Did he not have initial NCAA clarance? If so, they couldn’t keep him from ever playing at WVU because of practicing while a non-qualifier could they? There were rumblings of this possibility on Sportsline. I didn’t think that even the NCAA could punish the school and player for a mistake made by the Clearing House.

What’s up with Wallace is perhaps a travesty. Dave Johnson spoke so highly of him Tuesday: “He’s a smart kid. Very analytical. He talks about things and asks a lot of questions. He’s excited about being here and he’s doing well. We think he’s right on track for where a freshman should be after 10 or 11 practices.” They were putting him in different positions,  just to see if he could handle any and everything, and it sounded like he was doing all right.  And then — wham! Rug yanked right out from under him. Stewart seemingly derided Wallace as a “fourth-team freshman guard,” but I really wonder if that was a frustration aimed elsewhere. The NCAA does this every  year at what seems like every school and more or less retroactively reviews cases. It can be as simple and as stupid as saying, “Hmmm, he made a big leap from ACT No. 2 to ACT No. 3. We’re suspicious. Flagged!” It can also be serious and — and I don’t want to say this is the case here — it may find a player was ineligible or improperly admitted. Tough to say what the deal is here.

Drew said:

If they screw up can we send the NCAA Clearinghouse a notice of allegations?

No. And this is my problem with this every year. Sometimes the NCAA just screws up. Flags a kid and finds he was OK all along. And what happens? Nothing. The kid loses, say, a week of practice. If you’re Wallace and you were humming early on and then were sidelined for a week and then found out you were good to go all along, that’s great. Great, but you’re also way, way behind now. Schools have to meet all sorts of deadlines for matters like this. The NCAA not only doesn’t have a deadline to review players, but it doesn’t have to act expeditiously, either.

Karl said:

Mike — All due respect to Dr. King, I would have begun that sentence, “Irvin grew up in Stone Mountain, Ga., home of the great Jake “The Snake” Roberts.”

My bad. DDT … don’t do it twice.

Drew said:

In what way could WVU possibly benefit from rushing into another extension for Stewart?

Luck is right, in my opinion, regarding any potential effect on recruiting.

It may sound nice, but there is a bevy of evidence that a contract will not actually prevent a coach from taking another job or a school from firing a coach.

Doesn’t matter what we think about the potential for a contract extension. Luck, it seems, doesn’t think it’s a necessity. Can it be earned? Sure. One wonders what the parameters are, though.

Foul Shot said:

I cant see what benefit there is to extending him – to the school.
No one is banging down the door to hire him away, like the extension would mean anything anyway in that case.
It would cause the school to owe money in the event Luck decides he wants to try someone new.
I think it was a great answer. And, also it may put to rest some of the discussion related to coaches having the ability to recruit during times when their contract is getting close to ending. As we now see, this is not on a potential recruit’s mind anyway, at least in his son’s situation. Luck’s kid went to Stanfod and Harbaugh is mentioned to move just about each time there is an opening.

Agreed on the nature of the answer. Remarkably candid, right? And when you think about his son and his son’s coach — as you’ve pointed out — it makes total sense. I have to wonder, too, if an extension might also tweak the buyout. Add years, up the salary, reduce the liquidated damages?

wvmaniac said:

Mike,
What angle is Pastilong working? What does it matter to him if Stewart is granted an extension? Fear of failure?

I think he was just trying to sew up one thing before he left. He walks away and his coach is good for, say, five years, and it’s one thing his successor doesn’t have to tinker with right away. Don’t forget, Stewart and Pastilong are tight.

hershy12 said:

How do you get into the field of governance and compliance?

I wonder how many people have been asking that question lately.

glibglub said:

Willingness to tell Bruce Irvin that he probably shouldn’t be wearing those spider pads will substitute for the experiential requirement.

Enjoy the weejend!