Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which asked the aptly named Shaky Smithson to stay away today.

I hadn’t mentioned this at all, but now seems like a pretty good time. On Monday Bill Stewart was doing his part on the Big East teleconference and seemed alarmingly alarmed by whatever threat it is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (SHAWN-tuh-cleers) may provide tomorrow.

“People who think this is a walk in the park have no idea what college football is about.”

Eh, I thought that was a reach. Grandstanding, of course, and probably being a little polite to his friend and counterpart, David Bennett. Stewart likes to point out he respects all and fears none, and this is as good an occasion as any for that.

In truth, WVU should have, if not a walk in the park, then a bounce on the moon jump. Little trouble, lots of fun. Right? CCU is not Appalachian State. It’s not even Liberty, which gave WVU a light headache last year and then later eased by the Chanticleers.

You can expect WVU to be creative enough to get a lead and give Marshall and Maryland the toss-and-turns, but also bland enough to keep the repertoire under wraps. Then again, I’m not sure another 33-21 game is going to appease season-opening appetites this time. But I don’t think it’ll happen again, either.

Three housekeeping items before we jump into the F2:

1) Can men’s soccer get to 4,000 tonight? Hurricane Earl might have a say in all of this.
2) Texts From Game Day. It’s back. Are you?
3) This happened.

Final thought: I was watching the unwatchable Versus broadcast of Pitt-Utah last night and one of the major talking points was how Pitt had a new quarterback and a new segment of its offensive line. Good enough defense, sure, but a good amount of concern on offense.

Sound familiar?

You saw what happens when an OL is targeted and can’t block and when a coach tries to ease his QB into a warm bath. Add to that the fact the Panthers have a stud at receiver that Eu Smith does not have and you do begin to wonder. Utah, of course, is not CCU and opening at home is not opening in front of the Mighty Utah Student Section, but walks in the part are still hard to come by for several reasons.

(P.S. I’m not getting into the uniform/politics thing and there isn’t much more to say about Mazzulla and Pepper beyond this: A) Cops don’t set up stings or target athletes for public urination B) Lots of people do it and those two can do it all they want but, but everyone can get in trouble for it and those two (and especially Mazzulla) probably shouldn’t have to be told their mistakes will be and should be treated differently. It’s part of that whole privilege/responsibility thing.)

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, press all the right keys.

The 25314 said:

The only things I’m sure of are death, taxes, and reading about a “vanilla offense” after the first game.

… and now before the game. Sorry.

 

Mack said:

One of my knowledgeable friends and I talked about this a week or two ago. Looking at West Virginia’s schedule 10-2 is the number that jumps out. Assuming West Virginia isn’t going undefeated, then WVU will lose at LSU (because that’s the toughest game on paper). On top of that, I’ll throw in one Big East loss, because WVU has tended to lose at least one Big East game every year, even in 2007.

9-3 is a failure
10-2 is neither a failure nor a great success
11-1 or 12-0 is a great success

That’s a good way to look at things. I haven’t seen a lot of people giving WVU the LSU game. Have you? Could you?

SheikYbuti said:

Undefeated at home.  Competitive losses in the 3 difficult road games at LSU, UConn, and Pitt.  I consider 9 regular-season wins to be par (Vegas says 8.5).  I can foresee us getting as high as 11-1 (Pitt and UConn being the 2 most winnable), or as low as 7-5 (late season home games against Cincinnati and Rutgers being the 2 most losable).  No better than a 7-5 season (or even 8-4 if one of the losses is to Marshall) puts Stewart on the hot seat.  A BCS bowl, win or lose, ought to earn him a significant contract extension.

Covered all the bases there, didn’t ya? I see the point, though. Probably not a very thick line separating one set of possibilities from another. And that includes the contract. Outside of a national title, I don’t anticipate a “significant” extension. Remember, he’s 56 and he has four seasons, counting this one, remaining. And his son is on the JV high school team and he might have a college future somewhere some day.  

Sam said:

9-3 is a failure? Really? I’ll never stop being stunned by the ridiculous expectations of WVU fans. We’re a 9-3 school. If we go 10-2 or 11-1 we ought to be ecstatic and celebrate such a rare occurrence.

Indeed … yet Stewart wants a 10-win season. Not sure if it’s 10 regular-season wins or 10 with a bowl win, but he said 10 is the goal. If you don’t reach the goal … well, “failure” is a strong word, but it would mean the coach and players failed to reach a goal.

Karl said:

Hard to underestimate the importance of having an inexperienced QB, no matter how good the rest of your team is. Remember last year when everyone thought rutgers was going to win the Big East with Dom Natale? He hadn’t played before, but the analysts figured he was a senior, so he’ll be OK. He lasted about a quarter vs. Cincy before they put in a true freshman and started building for the future. As I write this, Pitt is struggling vs. Utah, largely because Sunseri doesn’t know what he’s doing out there.

Sunseri’s performance — and apparent injury — didn’t speak well for the backup, senior Pat Bostic. The value of the backup!

Gordo said:

Karl, if I knew you I’d bet you a steak that you’re dead wrong. Pitt’s problem is more about their O-line than their QB. Lewis can’t even get going. Our O-line will give Smith a better chance to succeed.

OK, but what on what do you base your faith? WVU still can’t talk itself into being excited about RG/RT. What Utah did to Pitt isn’t going to be very different from what opponents do to Eu. They’re going to spotlight Noel and ask a QB/WR to beat the defense. And, again, Pitt has a Jon Baldwin. WVU, as best as we can tell, does not.

thacker said:

This is not a season about player ability or success … it is much more about Mullen’s ability to lead and adapt without interference from Holliday. If Mullen’s has canned what I perceive to be his “Wittenberg Esoteric Cosmic” bullshit, this could be a highly successful season that should exceed 10-2.

And there’s the cherry.

Mack said:

Mullen teaches them the fundamentals, then they go to a school with a good playcaller and flourish…

I suppose that’s valid. I suppose it’s fair to wonder if Mullen is learning/has learned the OC fundamentals and can now flourish.

overtheSEC said:

Mack, that’s so right on the freaking money that I’m mad at myself for not thinking of it first.
Being good at one thing does not make you good at another similar, yet completely different thing. Reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke (but really, everything reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke)

As a comedian, I always get into situations where I’m auditioning for movies and sitcoms, you know? As a comedian, they want you to do other things besides comedy. They say “alright you’re a comedian, can you write? Write us a script. Act in this sitcom.” They want me to do (stuff) that’s related to comedy, but it’s not comedy, man. It’s not fair, you know? It’s as though if I was a cook, and I worked my (butt) off to become a really good cook, and they said “alright you’re a cook… can you farm?”

Jeff Mullen bought a two bedroom house, but isn’t it up to him how many bedrooms are in the house? “This bedroom has an oven in it. This bedroom has a lot of people in it sitting around watching TV.”

glibglub said:

I vote we replace the bat signal with the Butler family version, i.e., “Get your whoopie cakes in the Kitchen…NOW!!”

I can’t borrow that from Da’Sean. That’s his intellectual property. Then again, imagine what he’d use on me if he found out I’d stolen it and he beckoned me to meet with him. Hmmm.

jj said:

-25314-

I think this might qualify as bat signal abuse. Major news events during blogger rest times have, I believe, been the precedent for use of the bat signal. A twitter story about Barney scat seems to fall short.

… I don’t know about that.

The 25314 said:

jj,

I was attempting to be ironic.

However, the story is so ridiculous that I was hoping the blog that brought me such tweets as Joe Mazzula as the Fresh Prince and Ol’ Stew rocking out to “Good Golly Miss Molly” would have a take on a defecating dinosaur.

As for Butler’s story, it’s no “The Puppy Who Lost Its Way,” but it’s hilarious in a Napoleon Dynamite sort of way.

Absolutely. I signed up for Twitter a week ago. I synced it up to the phone and was at the dog park the other day when it started going crazy. I was enthralled as I got the story 140 characters at a time. It is what it is. He is who he is. Good to see success hasn’t changed the guy. At all.

Foul Shot said:

At this point, it may be best for Pat to move on to another team.
I thought for sure that his skills would be useful in the NFL.
So far, not the case.
Brown – now I was pretty sure he would not be a QB in the NFL.
But, his size and strength can be used in other areas as they are seeing with special teams play.
Sad to see, but it goes to show why we as observers most times just dont have a clue.

I don’t think either of these guys is long for life in the NFL. Good guys, good college players, but everyone meets their end.

Jeff in Akron said:

If Doug Flutie can go to Canada and come back a couple of years later as a starting QB in the NFL, Pat White can do the same.

It is my hope that White is released by the Dolphins, they obviously don’t realize the talent they have in White. Let White go north for a couple of years, someone will pick him up then.

The difference being, White will be able to pick and choose which team he plays for. He will select a team that could best utilize what he brings to the table.

It took an injury for P-Rod to give Pat the ball. Had Bednarik not gone down against The Ville in 2005, would Pat have been able to stage the comeback? Slaton is often given the credit for winning that game, and rightfully so. Still, Pat White made plays to keep drives alive to allow Slaton to finish the deal.

My point is that Pat is a “gamer”, the bigger the game the better he plays. Evaluating Pat in practice doesn’t allow that into the equation. Should White end up in the CFL, how long will it take for members this blog to figure out how to watch him play every week?

… aaahh! The CFL! The Flutie comparison is interesting since size is the issue for both, but is the CFL a career rejuvenator (Flutie) or a career extender (Avon Cobourne)? And would Pat want to do it? What we all seem to overlook is that when Pat was drafted, it sure looked like there was one perfect for him … and the Dolphins took him. Is there, or will there be, a market for his talents now/later that wasn’t there previously?

The Artist Formerly Known as EER96 said:

Mike:

Does the other side say check your guns at the City Limits? That is a nice area that has had some crime trouble lately…

Lately?

oklahoma mountaineer said:

This is a little off topic, but I know that most everyone assumes that he is leaving early for the NFL. I’m not so sure that declaration plans for him and several others across the landscape will not be determined by what the NFL/player’s union decide about next year in terms of their CBA.

If I’m one of these guys, is it better to declare and then possibly get stuck sitting out a year without a paycheck or the possibilty to work out/play to keep my stock high or to go ahead and suck it up and stay in school for another year and risk injury??????

Good point. You usually see it argued the other say: Stay in school and don’t get locked out and left without a paycheck. You say get out while the stock is high and ride out the CBA situation? I guess all possibilities are on the table here. What if Sands, for example, left school and there was a lockout and he played in the arena league? Or the CFL? Makes good enough cash, stays in football shape, does some school work on the side, signs a free agent deal (outside of the draft selection parameters) and enters the NFL there. Is that a realistic route?  Is it better to stay in college, dominate and earn a degree?

Dr Love said:

I am convinced that there will not be a lock out in the NFL next year. There is too much at stake for the players and clubs to upset the public and risk the league’s status with fans. What will be interesting is how the rookies will be compensated and if what used to be lumped into rookie pool money will inure to the vets. or the clubs. That will be a huge sticking point and is something Mr. Sands needs to consider and favors his decision to leave a year early.

You nailed it. I don’t anticipate a work stoppage because there’s way, way, way too much money to be made by everyone in a NFL season. Figure it out who makes how much and then roll around in the money. The other end of this is fans would forgive a work stoppage. Their thirst for the NFL trumps thirsts for the NBA, MLB and NHL. The NFL could go away and be welcomed back, no matter the length of the absence. That’s a leverage factor, I think, for the owners. The ones who need income might eventually capitulate to that point.

Spatial Angel said:

This is serious. The kid knows the offense. He’ll provide inside information to the Herd staff. The sideline conversation will go something like this:

DH: Marquis, where are they going to run it?

MW: Down our throats, coach.

The valuable insight from Marquis Wallace.

Dave said:

“Go hooome Chanti cleeers”

Get ready for Saturday afternoon, prime time football … it’s the ‘Cleers and the ‘Eers coming up next! … bending, bending, bending …”

Enjoy the weekend!