Brandon Hogan’s immediate future, with or without WVU, will be addressed. Follow it here. Meantime, any guesses are welcome, but my hunch is indefinite suspension, though with no guarantee the kid ever plays for the Mountaineers again. It could be a while before the legal process plays out and then Hogan must again endear himself to his teammates.

I do have two questions:

1) Is this a big moment for Stewart?
2) Should it be?

Not sure that makes perfect sense, but I do think a lot of people are going to form more definitive opinions about Stewart and his handle based on what he does today. Then again, I’m not entirely convinced a coach should be so strongly evaluated by what a player did after 3 a.m.

There’s a connection, certainly, and maybe it’s stronger when a player has been given the opportunities Hogan has, but I’m intrigued to see how strong people believe it should be.

There are no wrong answers, by the way.

As for the Hogan chain reaction …

… he’s a starting cornerback and shares punt return duties with Jock Sanders. Say Sanders does more there, but he needs a break every now and then and there are times WVU uses two returners — one deep, one short for roll punts.

Maybe a Stedman Bailey gets a look there, or someone else, but, for the time being, there’s a little doubt when the ball is in the air because Hogan, save one miscue against ECU last year, was pretty sure-handed. The new guy has to prove such reliability. Maybe teams do more roll punts or low liners to test the kid’s hands.

It’s a deeper dilemma on defense. Hogan is a starting corner and he’s very solid against the run. Also, Keith Tandy has had Maalox moments, as recently as Friday night. Not to say Tandy’s job is in jeopardy, but if he’s ever to hit a slump and/or has to come out, and Hogan is not available, you’ve now got two “backups” in the game. Yes, WVU thinks highly of Brodrick Jenkins and Pat Miller, but not as highly as it does of Hogan and Tandy.

If Hogan is out, Tandy and likely Jenkins start. WVU has a particular package on passing downs where Tandy plays free safety and Jenkins plays Tandy’s spot at corner. Supposing Tandy stays at free safety in that situation and Jenkins at corner, now Miller has to play Hogan’s position … and on a passing down where, it would reason, an opponent might pick on him.

It’ll be interesting to see how Jeff Casteel & Co. deal with this during preparations for Saturday. It’ll be perhaps more interesting to see if an opponent has this on its agenda.