Recap with quotes.

A few things that are in my head before I go to sleep:

– Bill Stewart’s job is in the balance. There’s no need going on if we can’t agree on that. This is not to say he’s out or should be out or that he can’t or won’t salvage things, but a very new chapter to his time as the head coach at West Virginia University began late Friday night as he walked from the team locker room at Rentschler Field and toward the team bus.

– As was previously planned, Stewart’s weekly press conference will be Monday this coming week and not Tuesday. The reason? Stewart will be out recruiting beginning Tuesday. You could argue easily he hasn’t made a more important recruiting sweep than this one.

– Oliver Luck was at the game last night. He had, I’m told, tickets for the stands and a pass for the type of place where the visiting A.D. might sit. I’m wondering if the people surrounding  him wherever he chose to sit could have affected him in any way.

– There are losses and there are ways you lose and they reflect on a coach, team and program in two different ways. The way WVU lost last night was worse than that WVU lost last night. Turnovers, penalties and an erratic offense are not new issues. They are persistent. For two-plus seasons now. It’s been said again and again, but the offense can move if it can get out of its way. I think you can legitimately ask now if the way plays are called and drives are schemed are being affected by a fear of the other shoe dropping, so to speak.

– Blame coaches all you want, but a lot of this is on players. Sorry. WVU fumbled seven times in a college football game last night. Bill Stewart, Jeff Mullen, Chris Beatty and Dave Johnson did not fumble once. I think the staff conspired to do everything it could to get the ball in the end zone in overtime — and maybe even a few times in regulation — and a first-and-goal run play from the 1-yard line blew up in everyone’s faces. That’s not supposed to happen.

– WVU committed just four penalties — which is about the average for a loss … I’ve done the numbers — but they were all on offense and three were at bad times. The fourth was an illegal formation, which, in game eight, is puzzling, particularly when you did it three times in game seven.

– I don’t think this is a slump.

– Ryan Clarke may be a very good short-yardage back and may be what the offense needs from time to time, but he can lose the football. If you’ve asked in the past why he hasn’t been featured more, you may have seen the answer.

– Defenders are trying to take the ball from Noel Devine and Geno Smith. Both their turnovers were pure strips.

– A bowl eligible college football season is 13 games long. In the past 13 games, which includes everything in a full bowl eligible season — seven conference games, five road games, 10 games against BCS opponents (usually nine, like this season, but also sometimes 10) and a bowl — WVU is 8-5. That includes a 4-3 record in Big East games, 2-3 road record (2-4 if you count the bowl loss), a 5-5 record against BCS opponents and a defeat in a bowl game.

– For a long time, WVU was able to thump its chest about a few things: It had a premier Big East program, it operated cleanly and without breaking any rules, it dominated rival Marshall and could be counted on, basically every year, to beat Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers, which went a long way toward establishing and sustaining a high profile in eastern football. A lot of that has come down this year. WVU will share last place in the Big East during its open week. It could be alone in last place when it plays next. The NCAA case is going to make news again soon. WVU was fortunate to beat a terrible Marshall team and has in consecutive weeks lost to Syracuse for the first time since 2001 and to UConn for the first time ever.

– I said this in the game blog and I don’t think it’s hyperbole. For a team with so much skill, you’d really have to strain to find a team that values possession less than WVU. It’s really bizarre.

– Jeff Mullen is, I think, a bright and wonderful person. I really, really like him and enjoy talking to him and would prefer the feeling was mutual. That said, he was a different person last night. I sensed he was figiting himself a little during his postgame interview. (You can check out all postgame interviews here.)

– Stewart did not enjoy last night’s press conference. There were direct and difficult questions.

– I think WVU’s defense is veteran and smart enough not to go in a bad direction and quit on the offense, and perhaps the open week comes at a very good time, but this is a football team that’s lost when allowing 20, 19 and now 16 points in overtime.

 – Not that the defense is free of blame. It hasn’t forced a turnover the past two games and sooner or later a truly special defense has to not just support, but save a struggling offense. And Jeff Casteel admitted his side came up short on a few occasions and needed to be better on some key third downs.

– WVU has four games left, two at home and two on the road, which is where WVU is now 5-8 under Stewart and where WVU plays conference-leading Pitt and Louisville, a team it may very well have to beat to be in a favorable bowl position. Cincinnati at home and Rutgers in the regular-season finale following the Pitt game aren’t picnics, either.