The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Tuesday, wait, Saturday practice notes

December 31, 2011 by Mike Casazza

“Practice went fine today. We consider this our Tuesday practice so we were getting into our normal routine for the game week. The weather has been outstanding and I can see that our players are getting excited for
game day.

“The players’ focus has been good, and they have been working hard. We are down here to win a football game, and I think our mix of preparation and fun has been good.”

WVU Coach Dana Holgorsen said that and that Najee Goode, Joe Madsen, Eu and Keith Tandy will be Wednesday’s game captains.

The Mountaineers practiced today for one hour and 45 minutes at Barry University and then went to the Orange Bowl Family Beach Party from 2-6 p.m. at the Fontainebleau Hotel. Walk-on receiver Connor Arlia, from Weirton, was taken to the hospital after a jet ski accident. The trip was precautionary and WVU will update his condition tomorrow.

Former Mountaineers at practice Saturday were Grantis Bell, Johnny Dingle, Dale Williams and Puppy Wright. Former University of Miami Coach Randy Shannon and Florida Atlantic assistant coach Kurt VanValkenburgh were also in attendance.

Hey, WVU: Talk about stuff (anything)

by Mike Casazza

A few years ago, Julian Miller told me that in today’s game of college football, nine sacks would make for a good season. He topped that as a sophomore. And again as a junior. This preseason, he said he wanted to become a better player by managing a defensive touchdown. He did that, too.

I should have asked him about winning lottery numbers or perhaps a final score Monday. I instead asked him about Tajh Boyd, his premonitions and the defense’s late-season resiliency.

Dana Holgorsen was about as freaked out by Dustin Garrison’s injury as you would imagine. He feels terrible, I’m sure, but publicly he’s unflappable. Remember, late in the season this guy became their talisman, so it’s no surprise the beat goes on …

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Clemson commentary

by Mike Casazza

That right there is Tajh Boyd and he’s done his homework on the WVU defense.

“They lost Terence Garvin and I don’t know how much that affected them. We’ll have to see when we get out there, but he’s a really, really good player.”

And when Boyd says “see when we get out there,” he means it. He wants to get to know whoever is playing Garvin’s spot.

“We’ll definitely take some shots,” he said.

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Intracompetitive defense has surging confidence

by Mike Casazza

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b6vTQzlBmU

Bruce Irvin and Najee Goode just can’t agree on who sacked Zach Collaros and forced the fumble that Julian Miller recovered for a touchdown. What the Mountaineers will agree to is  they’re not here without that play.

“What happened to Collaros is unfortunate. It’s part of the game and I talked to him afterward and he understands where I was coming from, just playing the game, but that brought in Munchie Legaux, who had never played and (defensive coordinator Jeff) Casteel started dialing up blitzes,” Irvin said.

“That was a big turning point for both teams. We got after him them after that sack and that touchdown. It was really not only a game-changing moment, but a season-changing moment.”

The security is pretty loose, though

by Mike Casazza

That’s the school that gave to you Eu, Stedman Bailey, Ivan McCartney and, before all of them, Josh Taylor. At least one more player is on his way in the 2012 recruiting class and who knows how many more will follow?

I took a personal tour Thursday all by myself. How?

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Dustin Garrison will miss Orange Bowl

by Mike Casazza

The freshman running back damaged knee ligaments in practice Friday.

Day Two: Here comes the insanity!

December 30, 2011 by Mike Casazza

I think this may have been the news of the day: You’re looking at Jake Spavital’s back and his T-shirt that I thought read:

Intensity:

Play fast

But I work hard and I pay close attention and I followed my instincts. It reads:

Insanity:

Play fast

You’re welome.

We’re still in the sputtering phase here in South Florida. Yesterday was the arrival. The team practiced late in the afternoon — I’m looking into the thing you’re wondering about, but remember there is a reason we’re not allowed at practice — and only tomorrow do we get to speak to the “star” players for the WVU defense and the Clemson offense.

Today was not without information, though. Check out the early notebook for a primer on the battle to start at spur safety in place of Terence Garvin (Hint: It’ll be a freshman!), how many Red Bulls Dana drinks in a game, the emergence of a heretofore anonymous receiver, Shaq Rowell’s bowl game comparisons and a man named Redhead.

As for practice, it looked a little like this …

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Keith Tandy gets to know Clemson

by Mike Casazza

The neat part about the bowl prep is that a lot of it happens without the “distraction” of classes. The days are free from going to and from the big buildings on campus and knocking out lectures and exams and study halls and the like. Teams can still only spend four hours a day and 20 hours a week on football.

There’s plenty of free time and the most sage players, the veterans who have gone through that before and most likely realized afterward they did’t use it to the fullest, are wise enough to use it to the fullest. Keith Tandy is one such veteran.

A noted wiz in the film room, the senior cornerback, who is now two-time first-team all-Big East, has figured out the Clemson offense. Doesn’t mean he’s going to stop the Tigers, but it means he’s seen enough to figure out what they like to do and that he’ll have some premonitions on the field Wednesday night.

“Usually the first couple of times, the first two or three times they’re in a situation, they might run something different,” Tandy said. “When everything gets tight and all the fire is flying, they run what you see on film.”

Clemson has the best offense WVU has seen this season with an all-ACC quarterback and a first-team All-American receiver and tight end. It appears the Tigers will have one more weapon at their disposal …

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The (Big East tri) champs are here

December 29, 2011 by Mike Casazza

(No idea why, but the YouTube clips won’t embed. I’m … sorry?) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMWkPVzVtuI

Whahey! Note the defensive coordinator conspicuous by his presence.

This arrival thingy was a very big deal, orchestrated with roughly half the Miami-Dade Police Department and their K-9 units, plus water cannons that shoot at one another from across the tarmac and create an arch for the arriving plane to pass through. Intense stuff. Look at the players struggle to contain themselves.

They knew what was awaiting them at the bottom of those steps …

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Different threads, same results

by Mike Casazza

We’re all probably going to make too much of the Tajh Boyd/WVU storyline as we get closer and closer to the Orange Bowl because this really does happen all the time. Kids make decisions and change their minds and eventually run into one of the teams he once thought was his future.

But Boyd’s story is a little different. He knows that. He understands he was responsible for that. The kid who spawned Mountaineer recruiting hysteria in wholly different ways in 2008 and is now the very good starting quarterback for Clemson welcomes the inevitable.

“The T-shirt was one of those things we did at the time because he thought we were going to be special,” Boyd said. “It was all about West Virginia and what we all were going to do there.”

Oooohhh, the T-shirt …

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