About a month ago, the WVU senior quarterback was nominated for the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works
Team, which regarded itself as the most prestigious off-the-field honor in college football. Tandy earned the nod because of his community service work that includes mentoring for the Boys and Girls Club, talking at local schools and camps about the importance of education and living drug-free and by visiting patients at the WVU Children’s hospital.

He’d just as dedicated to the team off the field, as well, which is making him even better when between the sidelines.

Ryan Nehlen called Tandy his “nemesis,” but noted their competition has made the receiver a better, smarter player — and Nehlen is a pretty smart kid, too, who was the UHS salutatorian and  is tracking toward medical school.

Dana Holgorsen nonchalantly mentions Tandy’s practice interceptions, as though they are common occurrences, somewhat expected, not really a bummer because Tandy is just that good.

Eu Smith said Tandy is the smartest cornerback he’s gone against and one who sets traps before the snap.

It’s kind of fitting that Tandy likes to craft mysteries on the field. He’s studying how to solve them off the field. He’s in the forensic and investigative science program and he knows the value of investigation and research is valuable wherever it is applied. It’s made him WVU’s CSI.

Cornerback Sensation to Ignore.

“It’s more like the work ethic,” he said. “Every time I go in school I try to learn as much as I can. It’s the same out here on the field; I try to learn as much as I can. I don’t want to know that people do something, I want to know why they do it.

“Why are they running this route? Why are they in this formation? That’s why I learn about the route combinations.”

Tandy doesn’t know just who he is covering; he knows who is covering the slot man and where he will be and what route do they normally run out of the formation. Each time a team comes to the line of scrimmage, tape runs through the mind giving Tandy a visual of a likely play.

That is one reason new coach Dana Holgorsen likes to be uptempo so much; it not only is limiting the time for the defense to catch its breath, but also to think of what might come next.

If you study for a biology test, one should also study just as hard for Saturday’s football test.

“He does a great job of studying film and tendencies on receivers,” Casteel said.

“You can worry about a lot more things. You can learn a lot more things. In different situations you learn their tendencies, what routes a receiver runs in certain formations and at certain points in the game. It helps you anticipate routes,” he said.