That’s your Big 12 Conference commissioner, Bob Bowlsby. He commuted north last night from Charlotte, where he and the SEC were working on some Champions Bowl details for the five cities which are finalists — and though it’s not mentioned, I do believe that includes New Orleans, Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas.

Nothing terribly new out of the press conference, though Bowlsby, who has probably given some rendition of this speech umpteen times, manages to squeeze new stuff out of old questions and sprinkle in just enough depth and detail in other responses to keep you alert and leave you affected.

Probably the most interesting stuff from the above overlaps many of the 30 minutes, but we and Bowlsby were most interested in the selection process for the playoff and the formulation of some sort of RPI type device to assist the selection committee.

Clearly, Bowlsby wants his teams to be there at the end, so that means taking the start of the season more seriously and scheduling in such a way that what his teams have done in September is weighed heavily two months later.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, there’s no dogging it. 

NCMountaineer said:

I’m also not overly concerned. A win is a win and this was a definite trap game with the beginning of conference play on the horizon. What this game showed me was that we REALLY need our big backs healthy and ready to roll. Buie and Garrison are nice change of pace backs, but Alston is a bruising runner that almost always gets positive yardage. This game also showed how important Clarke is in this offense. I bet Geno stays cleaner with those two at full strength. Hopefully they are ready to go next week. I now wonder if Clarke gets some carries after our smaller backs were so ineffective Saturday and its been proven that big backs can be good in this offense.

Yeah, talk about unintended consequences. It would appear to me a defense has to be forceful to contend with WVU so it can disrupt the blocking and the routes and the pocket. That would also be the best way to deal with Alston. Remove Alston — and then Clarke — and that’s a bad formula for the Mountaineers. Not much they can do about that.

LP said:

12:24 – Spike Hertz’s coke -A

I’m a 31 year old man and I get this text. Is that sad?

I’m a 32 and I got it. It’s certainly not sad. I;m happy to learn more and more about the audience every day.  

IrishBillATL said:

Why do I keep seeing this Chuck McGill fella talking about WVU sports? Has Marsha sent an official spy to cover us instead of blatantly stalking us with the other Chuck?

He’s the sports editor/columnist and, as such, my boss. Repeat all those nice things you guys said that one time about him, OK?

Mack said:

Maryland did rush 5 and even 6 many times in that game. Clearly, Chris Smeland is not the Maryland defensive coordinator.

rekterx said:

I guess Maryland decided that they could lose BIG if they let Geno have all day or blitz the crap out of WV and at the very least beat up Geno in a loss.

BTW … the helmet ripped off the head of Geno play was greatly mishandled by the officials.

Not sure the officials had any other option on the play. It all happened and concluded pretty quickly. I guess they could have looked the other way on Jenkins being up the field because Geno had to pass or suffer a head injury. And spot on with Maryland’s game plan. I’ve seen a few non-conference games against Big 12 teams now and that seems to be a common tactic. But Big 12 teams seem able to counter and defeat it, save Oklahoma State, which had a few unlucky turnovers and an awful defensive night against Arichzona.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

Does anybody think the O-Line problems are fixed after Saturday????? The middle of that line caved in more than a badly baked cake…..I do believe they had a pretty solid line and a linebacker that was good, but they aren’t all world by any stretch.

Radio broadcast began by talking of the experience of the O-Line and that it was a strength…….ask Geno, under truth serum, if he agrees.

I find it hard to believe the radio broadcast was biased and, thus, misleading. I don’t find it hard to believe that Maryland’s Vellano and Francis were top shelf opponents. Might be that they were repeatedly better and/or that WVU just wasn’t ready — and that could, and should, change later in the season. What the coaches have said a few times is the Big East’s defensive lines are no worse and in many cases better than the Big 12’s. I think WVU’s offensive line is better this year. How much, we’ll soon discover. 

pknocker40 said:

‘They blitzed the crap out of us’

Maryland Football: may cause abdominal distension. Consult a physician before consuming.

Solid future reference.

Clarence Oveur said:

For Mack: “HEY SMELAND, TAKE YOUR WRIST BANDS AND SHOVE ‘EM!”

Bobby Heenan said:

In order to beat the blitz I think we’re going to have to see our RB’s step up in multiple ways. They’ve got to pick up the blitz well and they’ve got to make guys miss in space and/or run over them when given the chance. To combat the blitz they’re going to get opportunities in swing passes and designed screens, and burning teams will get them to lay off some. If we can hit on a couple of solid screens and maybe a draw or two, you’ve got think they dial back the pressure.

Ideally you could run into and through it and Alston is better at that and better built for that than are Buie and Garrison. Buie, though, is a better receiver out of the backfield than Alston. WVU is thus best equipped for the blitz when those two can play together and that wasn’t possible against the Terps. Circumstances align sometimes. WVU knows what to do against the blitz. Saturday just wasn’t their best day.

Spatial Angel said:

If hockey can have nicknames for lines, so can football. The ‘badly baked cake line’ it is.

BBC, for short.

JC said:

Maryland had a great defense effort and Geno still threw for 338 and 3 TDs……I’ll worry a little more when something worse happns.

Probably a good rule of thumb. The implication is that a blueprint is readily accessible, though, and there are going to be teams coming up that can handle themselves up front like the Terps. You can do a lot with even average second-level players when your front is that able.

Drew said:

Thinking back to the OB, the offense ran a screen look or screen option on almost every play, or so it seemed to me. Clemson’s defense last year was heavy with blitzing if I recall correctly. The screens and the constant threat of a screen really quelled the pass rush early on and sufficiently sustained it throughout the game.

I was really looking for more of that Saturday when the terps made it clear they were going to consistently bring pressure. With a struggling line and missing backs to help protect Geno, I can’t help but wonder why an adjustment wasn’t made to make UMD respect the screen. Were the terps doing something defensively that prevented this that I missed? Catching passes out of the backfield are noted strengths of both Buie and Garrison from the mouths of the coaching staff.

Looking forward we are certainly going to struggle to run against teams like UT and KSU and even ISU possibly. I hope this game helps them prepare for those. I also applaud the staff for not panicking and drastically changing the game plan in a way that could have been detrimental. Obviously what the offense was doing was good enough to win, but that may noy be the case with the future increase in competition.

Good recall, quality observation. Not sure where that was or if it was there and just didn’t avail itself, but it seemed the plan was different — and maybe the lack of a running game put that idea on the shelf. What we have to remember, though, is that WVU had a very limited idea what to expect because none of Maryland’s first three opponents used any of WVU’s formations, let alone plays. Last year’s tape was useless. I’m guessing there was a healthy amount of trial-and-error within the game. This just goes in the tool box as the team goes forward.

Dirty Frank said:

I thought Brian Stewart had a great plan on Saturday – not just the blitzes, but the defense behind the blitzes.

I’m assuming that we’ve shown that our plan to beat the blitz is a WR screen (particularly a middle WR screen), 3-5 yard square-in, stick route, or some kind of short drag route/crossing pattern (in other words, the short passing game). When Maryland blitzed, those plays generally didn’t work because Maryland jumped the routes and either forced incompletions or made tackles for short gains/losses.

To me, that means we need some over-the-top timing patterns to keep the defense honest. More conventional screens and draws would help, too. Note that we caught Maryland in a blitz in the second half with Austin matched up with a LB for a TD right down the seam.

It’ll take another viewing to be sure, but I have to assume there was some 1-on-1 with the outside receivers (maybe cover-1 or cover-0) that we weren’t able to exploit behind those blitzes.

Glad you mentioned that, because I thought something happened very early to affect the game. Check this play, from WVU’s first offensive series. 

That never happened again, that I can recall. Maryland never let WVU maneuver and manipulate the defense and never isolated Stedman. I would imagine WVU wanted to take the top off the defense against the blitz, or make better use of Stedman, but that Maryland did a good job either guarding against that or denying those routes.

SheikYbuti said:

That one TD to Tavon in the right corner when Squirt sold the hot potato looked like a zero coverage to me. As in, Maryland had “zero” defenders within 15 yards of him.

Indeed and that was a similar play/formation. Stedman was locked up outside, but WVU matched Tavon against a safety. That’s a no-contest. He angled outside and asked questions of the defense. The throw was easy. 

Hootiefan7 said:

Is there any way to get the annoying adds that pop up in every video to not be on there? I have to watch the videos twice because the first pass I am staring at a box trying to click it to close.

Yes, cut me a check.

pknocker40 said:

On the Ichabod Crane play, am I crazy or is the play supposed to be whistled dead once a player loses his helmet? In which case Geno’s subsequent throw should not have counted as a live action and the ineligible receiver flag should not have been thrown, right? Whatever.

It’s a really gray area and one that Dave Hickman tried exhaustively to clarify at the rules seminar at Big 12 media day. Long story short, Geno is allowed to finish the immediate action since the helmet coming off wasn’t the result of something he did. Yet if he ran without a helmet, it would have been a penalty. He was in the throwing process, so he was permitted to finish. If he pump faked and his helmet popped off without involving any defenders, the play is done.

netbros said:

Wednesday Walk-Through

Where Mike and his readers unabashedly predict the anticipated game plans of the respective offensive coaches and defensive coaches against the upcoming opponent.

Hilarity ensues.

This has potential.

glibglub said:

I’m not complaining, but I’m starting to think that somewhere on WVU’s jerseys, there should be an “@ Noon on FX” logo.

Eff! I knew I forgot to ask Bowlsby something. 

Mack said:

I do like how Holgorsen picks and chooses when to criticize an opponent. I also like how he keeps the tone conversational and does not act like he hates being there.

I also don’t feel like he tries to create a “chilling effect” as to tough questions. RichRod would get noticeably angry if you asked any question that was in any way critical of the coaching staff. (Bill Stewart would essentially break down into tears). Holgorsen’s reaction is generally, “Good point. We probably do need to work on that.”

At the end of the day, no one cares if you’re making mistakes during the game. If you win on Saturday and don’t make an ass out of yourself on Sunday-Friday, no one cares.

This will probably come as no surprise, but personally, I think Holgorsen is a very smart football coach. Yet he does not flex that muscle very often. He might wise ass you from time to time, but I think he does that to the people he likes and feels like he can mess with in that setting. What you see is a guy who is talking football. He’ll explain things. He’ll agree. He’ll disagree. But you generally feel like you’re at the same level.  That matters and that ties into your last paragraph. He won. He can handle critiques because he can go, “Yeah, well, we won.” But he can also be human and endear, too. I mean, he again admitted he got emotional and acted out during a game. That’s not coming out of a lot of college campuses  

JP said:

I love that he says that Maryland’s offense, which involves huddling and standing over the ball for 30 seconds before snapping, is hard to watch.

Think he was talking to any kids in the Baltimore/Metro D.C. area?

The 25314 said:

I do not like the company line at all.

The goal should be to be perfect in every aspect of the game.

I guess that’s the goal, but I want to win the lottery, too. The issue I imagine everyone has is that there are open admissions and conversations that perfect is not attainable. Right?

Josh24601 said:

Now that the WVU staff realizes that the number of missed tackles is being tracked by the media and fans, they’re not going to tell the truth about them anymore. Instead, knowing that no one is likely to expend the time needed to check, the staff will juke the stat or lie about it outright to support whatever narrative they wish to feed the team or the opponent. In order to get a real number* hereafter, some intrepid WVU beat man or blogger is going to have to count these independently.

*Talk amongst y’selves in re the importance of tracking the volume of missed tackles.

I sense a message within the comment. Not sure how far I’ll go, but I think it’s an interesting stat after what happened the first (and second) game. I might have to ask about the definition of a missed tackle because there are variables to consider.  

SheikYbuti said:

I’m not sure there’s much practical difference between a “missed” tackle and being out of position to make the tackle by taking the wrong angle. I saw an awful lot of the latter this past Saturday.

Really, what’s the difference? This is the staff that tracks the number of times its defense forces the quarterback to move and reset. 

Barney Stinson said:

“Instead, knowing that no one is likely to expend the time needed to check”

Challenge accepted!

… waiting … waiting … 

Dave said:

I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time with how things have changed.

Smith is one of the best QB’s in the country, they’re laying up serious numbers, so while I understand the jury is still out for the Big 12, it seems like there is a lot of nitpicking over these other games.

I think they’re still trying to figure some things out and there are holes. I agree, Holgs does things a lot different than Stewart did, but we expected immediate input, progress, and changes with him and it was just not Stewarts style. With Holgs, I think it will come but he’s really within one year of his own staff. 3 games. These guys walk to a different drummer, so let them have a few games or a year to show what they want to show.

Dave! As for my role in this, I’m writing 10,000 words a week in print and 15 posts a week here. Sooner or later we’re going to funnel down to a finer point — and I also figured out how to use a flip cam over the summer.

Jeff in Akron said:

I don’t care how many points WVU wins by from now on, as long as they win. The days of WVU needing to beat a team by a certain amount of style points for respect are over. Strength of schedule is stacked heavily in WVU’s favor. The next four weeks will decide if WVU is truly a national title contender, and I am fine with that.

The way I see it, teams can take away the WVU running game. They may even be able to generate a relatively consistent pass rush. On the flip side, teams may be able to generate a consistent passing attack. All of that plays into the hands of Holgorsen and Co.

When you look at it, what QB/receiver combination in the country, let alone the Big XII, beats Geno and Co. Even “IF” a defense can take away Austin and Bailey at the same time they are shutting down the running game for an entire game(never gonna happen) there are still options for Geno to generate first downs and points. Forget Buie as a runner, he is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. Mr. Woods then becomes a major factor with all of the attention on the other side. That also leaves Thompson against a linebacker/safety. There are too many weapons for any defense to completely shut down.

There is only two things that can make the wheels fall off this offense, one is lack of effort or preparedness, the other is one of those we don’t speak of.

Want to have some fun? Go back two years and look at the posts and the commentary after WVU led Maryland 21-0 and won 31-17. Excellent perspective when put next to Jeff’s comment here. 

The 25314 said:

tl;dr

Enjoy the weekend!