Welcome to the (236th!) Friday Feedback, which is a what more than a who and concerned with how instead of when. And when I get to the stadium tomorrow morning, that’s how I’ll approach the players who I think can turn WVU into what might be a better team than most people want to think.

Far be it from me to tell you to take a lot from the game tomorrow and the way its reported too seriously. How nonsensical is it? The defense has been the story the past two games — although, to be fair, I suppose the defense has been the story the past two seasons, right?

But that’s what you’re dealing with, so I’d advise you to tread lightly as you attempt to draw conclusions. I think some things can be weighed more heavily this year than last year, for certain, because last year’s spring game and the participants were at the mercy of players who were to arrive over the summer. This year’s spring roster is probably going to have just a few immediately notable additions in June and July and August.

Again I urge you to concern yourself with how instead of who and why instead of what. Example: We know Wendell Smallwood has been the guy this spring. It’s absolutely understandable to get a good look at him tomorrow — but we know he’s had a really nice run of form. Instead, let’s see how they use him. Is he a running back? Is he the first-team running back. Oh, he lined up at receiver? Well, was did he line up at slot or did he motion out from the backfield? Did he run routes or did he do simple stuff?

Hmm, the offensive line wasn’t all that? Well, did the guards dominate? Because they probably should. Did the defense overwhelm the tackles? Who were the tackles? What side did the play calls avoid? What side did the results favor? When were there issues? And why is that?

Something I really want to see: Third downs. WVU’s offense struggled there — and the red zone — last season and WVU’s defense couldn’t get off the field. This is the resistible force and the movable object. I expect both could be better, but I want to see how and I want to know why.

Apart from that? How similar are the play calls for Paul Millard and Skyler Howard? Did Dustin Garrison have a few good days or a really good spring? Is Jon Lewis a thing? Will the corners sink or swim in man-to-man? What does Tony Gibson show us, because did you catch that part where he mentioned a package with one guy with his hand in the turf and 10 guys standing up? And how many defensive players are cross-trained? I don’t expect to see many, but I also can’t yet believe WVU’s defense is so blessed with talent and depth that it can plug in and elevate backups at all spots without borrowing from others.

Oh. Attendance, too. I kind of feel like Dana Holgorsen and WVU are on a goodwill roll and that in a clever, covert sort of way the access to practice has worked wonderfully for the Mountaineers. There hasn’t been a lot to come out of camp, which means mostly good to great stories have emanated from the privacy. They’ve practiced in front of three live crowds and done somewhere between OK and pretty well every time, which is a credit to the team for sticking the landing. We have no idea what’s happened the other 11 times, and it’s wholly irrelevant because what people do know, as well as what they don’t know, figures to conspire and combine into something people want to see on a sunny Saturday.

Or not.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be cool.

netbros said:

These poor kids on defense who are now going into their third or fourth year probably don’t know which end is up

True. Imagine Jared Barber. He’s played-played for Jeff Casteel, Joe DeForest, Keith Patterson and Tony Gibson. Call it Barbacide.

Sammy said:

I’m a little confused by the “We were neither” quote — we could neither backpedal or shuffle?

The other intriguing part of the defense is that the talent there, at least in depth, seems to have really upgraded, and there are only 3 senior starters on this year’s defense (Banks, Golson and Hyman), and we actually were able to redshirt some people last year which it seems like WVU hasn’t been able to do for awhile.

I mentioned this last week but I’m a fan of selective JUCO recruiting but I’m especially a fan if the JUCO can be redshirted. I know most of those guys get recruited because of a glaring need but it’s a big advantage to be able to redshirt a guy like Glowinski, while think about how much a redshirt year would have benefited Alford and White.

It’s really amazing the numbers got so depleted at WVU. People like to debate the value of the recruiting stars, but I think most would agree being a 5-star means you are more ready to play than a 3-star. And while WVU has had great success with two and three star recruits, you need a full roster, depth, redshirt years, a strength program and good teaching to make it work. It feels like we’re only now getting to that point, and still a year or two away.

If Dana gets canned this year because the team only wins 4 or 5 games because of a brutal schedule and crappy QB play (and his other issues), I hope the new coach doesn’t dynamite the roster and instead builds on what will be a senior laden defense and much better depth at places like offensive line and runningback. (We had like 7 offensive linemen total when Dana arrived, and they signed six in this last year alone.)

I think Mitchell meant that the corners weren’t specifically or expertly trained in either technique and thus weren’t good enough to be one or the other.

pkocker40 said:

ccteam says:

April 7, 2014 at 2:24 pm

peddle, shuffle, pedal… sound like a dance or an exercise class”

Should Dana hire Richard Simmons to consult the secondary coaches?

Not necessary…

SheikYbuti said:

pknocker40 says:
April 7, 2014 at 3:22 pm

“Should Dana hire Richard Simmons to consult the secondary coaches?”

No. With Daron Roberts in charge, they’ve already “felt the burn.”

Bang.

tls6apa said:

Hickman is stealing my talking points (record comparison and the d10wrestling article)!

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140407/GZ02/140409362/1143

Yeah, you’ve gotta be careful around here.

ccteam said:

ccteam is alive and well and still reading posts. Just too busy to comment most days.

Yes!

ccteam said:

Trickett will never be confused with the most talented QB’s in WV history, but he is one tough son of a gun. I admire him for that.

I’ll second it.

glibglub said:

I’m sure the “coach’s son” dynamic is at least somewhat at play, but really, of all the sports to pursue if you are a person with a chronic condition that makes nutrient absorption and weight gain difficult, FBS football is surely the one that is going to exact the heaviest toll. Like Cocteau — no, autocorrect, ccteam — says, he’s tough.

Yeah, I wonder if there was a point in Trickett’s life where a doctor or a coach or a friend said, “Listen, about football … maybe it’s not for you?” But then again, I doubt that happened because the doctor or coach or friend probably had knew he or she would have to run it by dad first. Imagine that.

AnxiousEER97 said:

Here’s my problem with Trickett – his sideline demeanor. I watched him during the practice in Charleston last weekend. I watched him on the sideline last year. He often looks disengaged. Plays with his hair a lot. There is always a fair amount of distance between him and any offensive coach. If I’m doing my best to crack the QB rotation, and I want to improve my play, I stay engaged in the action. I don’t see that from him.

Interesting.  I haven’t gotten that vibe, but I’ll admit I haven’t paid close attention to it. I’m curious, though, what others might have to say about that.

Gordo said:

Shabazz Napier is full of crap. I played sports on a Div. III level and I was never without food. I can’t imagine that this is true.

I’m sure there are some people on here who played at a D-I level. Can anyone substantiate this claim that many student athletes make about not having food to eat? And I’m not talking about not having money for a pizza or a movie night. The rest of us didn’t have cash for that either. Welcome to college. But these guys not having access to ANY food?? C’mon.

Yeah, sounded a bit unusual. But then again, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this, either.

I love you, Doug! said:

“44-year-old seats.”

The Coliseum is FORTY-FOUR YEARS OLD!

Another decade and it’ll be “venerated.”

How did I get so old?

Let’s work on “venerable” Coliseum first.

ted said:

Keep spending that cash Ollie. You’ll have the best 5-7 team & facilities that money can buy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you also get a raise and contract extension…

…okay. Look, we did this last week. You can bring the heat against Luck, or against anyone, but it has to have some merit. Spending $106 million you can generate pretty easily in order to improve facilities is, like, specifically his job. This would be better if it were aimed at Holgorsen. Also, you live in a weird place if you think tanking football and basketball programs don’t reflect on the A.D.

ffejbboc said:

Turn Hawley Field into a softball field instead of a parking lot.

Next to football, and men’s & women’s basketball, softball is the sport I see most often on TV.

I see a little bit of baseball and soccer here and there, but women’s softball is a TV-friendly sport we are seriously lacking.

Funny, but Luck made a point to say the decision had been made not to have softball.

Aaron said:

That “102 bathrooms short” statistic is astounding… unless you’ve seen the lines for the men’s room at halftime! (Pro-tip: the shortest lines are at the men’s room between the green and red gates by where the All Americans are pictured. Seriously. You’ll thank me next time you go to a game.)

I think it’s my favorite stat in a long time. And, man, I really, really wanted to redact that restroom tip. Cat’s out of the bag now.

Josh24601 said:

I’ve been around long enough to take comfort in this: the north scoreboard and corner LED boards will not all work. And when they do, the video board won’t work. Ah, home.

Money, well, spent.

SheikYbuti said:

And if they do all work, the scores of other games will be 3 hours behind.

But it’s going to look good.

EERS81 said:

I say not enough. When we built Mountaineer field in 1980 – it moved us ahead of many of our rivals. Have been to games at Texas, TTU, Baylor (moving to a new stadium), TCU, and Oklahoma and don’t see this as moving us ahead of any of them, maybe equivalent with some. Mike you can comment here. Brought my kids who attended TTU to Morgantown last year and they were surprised at how dated things were. We need these upgrades but hope we keep moving forward. For those that don’t think facilities are important – check football record in the last years at old Mountaineer field (and would Don have come if we stayed there?). Rome wasn’t built in a day…and neither will Mountaineer athletics in the Big 12 – it is a process. Glad someone has a vision for it…

My comment? I’ll just repeat what I’ve said here before.

I love you, Doug! said:

I worked at newspaper that discovered, in the 1990s, that, thanks to the long-gone presses in the basement, lead had permeated the entire building. For more than a year, my newsroom was a maze of corridors marked off by scaffolding and black tarps, as moonsuited workers did lead-removal right next to working journos.

I don’t think there were any consequences, except for my headaches, irritability, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, difficulty learning or concentrating, aggressive behavior, stomach pain, constipation, vomiting, nausea, weight loss, hearing loss, anemia, unusual paleness, slowed growth, seizures, coma, staggering walk, kidney damage, loss of appetite, reduced sensations and muscle weakness.

So, no big deal?

Patchy said:

Big 12 rights fees are all well and good but WVU isn’t the only one getting them so it’s a push in terms of keeping up the Joneses.

There’s no doubt that updates/upgrades are needed but the $75 million bond that’s breezily being mentioned as the bulk of the funding will have to be paid back with interest someday, someway and they will be happy to drain another pint of blood (or more) from everyone with a pulse to meet their obligations now and in future.

That’s true, but I think it won’t be as bad as the skeptics and the pessimists might expect. For starters, it’s an $85 million bond with $75 reserved for the master plan. That overflow is there for a reason. That’s quite literally the seminal aspect of these affiliations. Might they tap some veins? They always do.

netbros said:

At what point does the coliseum become too old? At what point does the expense to repair and enhance the coliseum become too much? At what point does it begin to make more sense to construct a new basketball (and other indoor sports) arena?

Funny again, but Luck said WVU was 10, 15, 20 years away from building a new arena. That’s not exact, of course, but it’s at least on the brain. I think they’ll put lipstick on it for as long as they can, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea. You can do a lot with old arenas to keep them modern and on par. Best example? Maybe the best place to watch a game: The Phog.

Kevin said:

Off topic, but if WVU were in the Final Four (or a big football game) and TV persisted with that Teamcast idea they used this year, who would WVU’s commentators be?

Eh, probably the radio guys.

I love you, Doug! said:

Also, how mobile is Logan Moore? Or does it not matter, because he’s only going to be scrambling on the sideline?

Very mobile. He’s a legit athlete, good enough that he’s bounced around from receiver to quarterback. And not just between seasons. He was a receiver last year and did a bunch of scout team QB stuff when WVU prepped for mobile QBs. He can wheel. But if he’s playing at all this season, WVU is in a really bad spot. He’s there to make sure everyone gets enough reps.

Kevin said:

It really concerns me that it isn’t clear whether Howard or Millard has the stronger and more accurate arm. I don’t think we can reasonably expect Crest to be the answer this year either.

So, I am going to hope that Trickett recovers well from his injury, gains a better understanding of the offense and that the rumors that he was encumbered by injury in every game except for the Ok St game. I think that might be our best case scenario.

Well, I was only saying I didn’t know because it’s not clear through the limited amount of time I had to make comparisons.

Drew said:

How is Dawson saying anything other than “Well, it won’t be Paul” with that statement?

Millard couldn’t escape a crawling infant let alone an athletic defensive end he doesn’t see coming.

Slight exaggeration there, but he honestly looks like he’s the slowest I can remember a WVU QB being in the pocket. Even Chad Johnston would almost make it to the sideline before he got sacked. Millard has virtually no chance of escaping any serious pressure.

I’ll say that Millard looks to have thinned down a little bit. But he’s never going to be a mover or a shaker. WVU just needs him to not hold onto the ball and take brutal sacks. He was good and terrible against Texas. Remember he got hot and moved the ball a bunch? And remember he held the ball a bunch and kept getting sacked and fumbling? He’s capable of extremes. WVU needs him to trend to the former and avoid the latter.

Drew said:

On the plus side, at the practice in Charleston it looked like Paul had some zip on some of his throws. I was very surprised. The caveat, though, obviously, is there is no threat of getting hit in practice. He threw from his back foot a lot last year. Will he still step into throws when actually pressured and hit?

I knock on the poor guy a lot, but I really like a lot about him. I love his gunslinger attitude. He knows how to run the offense very well. Maybe if we had a better line or he had a stronger arm/quicker release he could be more effective. It’s just unfortunate he doesn’t have the physical tools to excel in the BigXII.

I loved that mentality about him … as the backup. He had finite snaps with which to work, and he knew it, so he went to work. That was fine. It’s different when you’re the starter and the leash is much longer than the amount of time it takes your quarterback to button his damn chinstrap. I just don’t think he was very comfortable as the starter last season, but that happens to guys who go from holding the clipboard to holding the offense in their hands. Based on what I’ve seen and what my colleagues from Wheeling and Charleston have relayed, he’s been the best QB, by far. Knowing what to do is more than half the battle. Some of his mistakes are easy to cure, if he’s capable of just distributing the ball. But I think the leash is really short. I thought it was last year, not merely because of Childress (remember him?!?!) and Trickett. I think folks were shook WVU struggled against W&M and that Millard missed so many things against Oklahoma’s much-better-than-W&M defense. To me, he was better against Kansas, but that game, for some reason, came off the rails. (Yo, you probably don’t want to read all of that one.)

Crawling Infant said:

(drool)

Getting late here…

Rugger said:

Drew, I’ve been looking for an occasion to start drinking again. The Bama game could be perfect.

Just remember we’re making $3MM from that game which will pay for 102 toilets and a new inflatable helmet.

Oh. Man. Really?

I love you, Doug! said:

Things That Move Faster Than a Paul Millard Scramble:
– crawling infant
– sleeping infant
– pain impulse from tail of Apatosaurus to brain
– fossil of Apatosaurus
– Tim Conway Shuffling Old Man character
– glacier
– 75-year-old Jerry West
– statue of Jerry West

First-and-10. Georgia Dome. Shotgun draw. Timeout, Alabama.

Clarence Oveur said:

Collectively, our Quarterbacks couldn’t pour piss out of a cowboy boot if the directions were on the heel.

OK, this is Stackhouse v. Hornacek here.

JC said:

It’s too early for me to be worried about the QB’s……It’s too early for me to be worried about the QB’s……It’s too early for me to be worried about the QB’s……It’s too early for me to be worried about the QB’s……
{pours a shot}
{chugs rest of bottle}
{sobs}

I mean, it’s not even noon. It’s not even May!

lowercase jeff said:

i have a 4 day road trip planned around the bama game. 4 national forests, 1800 miles, 33 hrs of driving. i do not expect the game to be a highlight.

Enjoy the weekend!