That’s all for this season. We’ll see you in 246 days. Thanks for all you do, everybody!

Still here, huh? Then for the committed and for those who perhaps should be committed, we’ll continue.

I suspect you know a lot of what’s coming and that you might not stick around until the end. Truth be told, it’s a week after the fact, and I couldn’t find a whole lot watching this game a second time that wasn’t clear the first time. I know the interest is lighter than normal today, and since some of you didn’t make it this far and others might not make it to the end, allow me to start where ordinarily I would finish. Thanks. Thanks to Chris Heslep for hooking me up with a high-quality copy of the game not long after it ends. Thanks to you all for reading and commenting and sharing this with others. Thanks for having me do this, too. I’m never sure if I’ll do it the following year because it’s time-consuming and I feel like I could come up with one or two other ideas that would fill the gap, but the feedback and the comments always make it worth it for another year.

And what a year this was! No need to go over what the team accomplished. You already know the achievements reached and missed. You know what did and did not happen in the Big 12 and what the schedule did and did not provide. Nothing has changed there. But here’s a thought for you: Five or eight or 10 or 12 years from now, it’s a team that _______.

Don’t answer that. Just consider that.

I really feel like the legacy is unwritten. If WVU reaches 10 wins again soon and/or has three 10-win seasons in six years, it’s a team that started something special and had a handful of pending NFL players and coordinators or head coaches on offense and defense. If WVU can’t find 10 wins soon or again, then this was a weird season with good fortune.

The part that makes this intriguing: How did WVU change its fate? It changed its offense. Why did it change its offense? The available talent at quarterback and the depth and talent at running back. What’s WVU’s biggest offseason change? At quarterback.

It’s so weird. WVU’s offense relied on Skyler Howard an awful lot, whether in changing plays or running and throwing the ball. Sometimes, this was to a detriment. Still, there’s no fair way to expect Will Grier or Chris Chugunov or Cody Saunders to be as savvy with the reads and the checks. I’m not sure what Grier can do with his legs, but no one has told me Chugunov can run, and though I really want to remove Saunders from this conversation because of his experience, he can run. So can WVU’s offense and its progression be the same without the at-the-line flexibility and the quarterback versatility or the compulsion to run so as to not pass? I know people want to believe in the automatic upgrade at quarterback, but it’s more than just arm strength and pedigree.

Again, just something to consider as one season slips into the next. How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the Good and the Bad of WVU v. Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

 

Good: Moneymaker
Brad Kaaya is going pro, and I’ve never seen someone lose and then gain so much money in 60 minutes. He was horrid at the start of the game, just exactly what WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson wanted to turn him into with the intricacies and the unexpected elements of the 3-3-5.

He was 5-for-13 for 29 yards, and the knock on him was that when he went south, he went all the way south. He was missing open and tight spaces, and he was holding the ball and looking over the defense. The pressure was getting to him, and you were right to wonder if he’d be able to get his feet beneath him and his head back between his shoulders.

This isn’t even the 3-3-5. This is WVU’s pass defense with two defensive backs lined up on the edge. Only one of those two, safety Jarrod Harper on the right tackle, blitzes, but he has company from the middle linebacker, Justin Arndt, and the spur safety, Marvin Gross. Kaaya sees Kyzir White, on the left tackle, drop back, and he sees Arndt on the way, but he knows there’s going to be room on the second level. He has to hurry because Arndt and Harper are closing, and he ends up flinging this flat-footed and high. (Side Good: Arndt. Only four tackles, but he was solid. He was a bright spot for the defense.)

He was off until he was really on, and, sure, he was hitting wide-open receivers in the secondary and later on the line of scrimmage. Those were easy throws. But the other part about Kaaya — and Gibson said this before the game and ESPN said this during the game — was that when he got hot, he could burn teams. He started making proper reads and perfect passes, and that seemed to spook the defense that started to play with an abundance of caution.

It began rather innocently and unexpectedly.

This is the first play after the incomplete pass on the blitz. It’s a run/pass option, and Kaaya sees cornerback Rasul Douglas playing very deep against his best receiver, Ahmmon Richards. He gets an easy completion, and Richards does the rest with the help of WVU’s defense. Douglas slips on ice, White misses a desperation dive and Harper gets spun around to mark the beginning of a long night for him. We’ve been over WVU’s pursuit drill previously — jump to “Good: Everything about this” — and maybe it’s unfair to assume the defense thought this would be a play to trigger it — a short throw to the right, pursuit to the left — but Antonio Crawford’s job is to get back and stay in the play as long as possible, and he’s out of it because he’s out of position.

But for everything that went wrong after the catch, it’s the decision to throw by a player who’s 5-for-13 that gets this going. Look at the fake to the left and the way it sucks everyone in that direction. There’s acreage on the right, and then there’s aggressive traffic coming left to right that Richards manipulates.  Don’t get me wrong: This should not have happened. But it did, and take a moment to appreciate what the Hurricanes did here.

Good: Hurricanes touchdowns
That one was a pretty good play. So, too, were the others.

Braxton Berrios, who somehow had just eight catches all season, cooks Toyous Avery here. Avery is the free safety, but he’s playing 1-on-1 coverage, and he knows WVU is blitzing. Suppose he’s anticipating a quick throw against the pressure. Miami played a game, though, and Berrios jukes Avery, who’s sort of stationary at the 16-yard line. He can’t recover once Berrios is even. WVU wanted to say Avery fell, and he did indeed slip as he recovered, but this was over when Kaaya saw the move. (Side Good: Berrios held on despite Rasul’s best efforts.)

Miami just ran the ball to the goal line, thanks to Mark Walton deking Harper at the point of attack, so the run is clearly a possibility here. This is not a run/pass option. Watch Malcolm Lewis, the receiver at the top of the screen. He didn’t have a touchdown catch all season. WVU’s defense is on the goal line, determined to stop everything that happens in front of it. Snap, fake handoff, fake block by Lewis and then a few quick and easy strides to get behind the defense that is determined to stop everything that happens in front of it. You think White wanted to pop Walton or what? Cheeky stuff there.

The final touchdown was merely the last thing the Mountaineers wanted to have happen to them.

Again, not a great night for Harper, who was nicked up at the end of this season and then again early in the bowl. David Njoku was, as advertised, a matchup problem. WVU did a good job containing him early, but once Miami started rolling, it seemed like everyone in orange though it was his turn to make a play.

Bad: Defense
I’ve been working on something like a simulation engine that maybe I’ll roll out next season, except that it’s imperfect and probably a bit more random than formulaic. But it’s statistics-based and generates expected outcomes. Punch in WVU’s defensive performance — 81 yards rushing, 3-for-12 on third down, seven punts, five three-and-outs — and that wins about 7 times out of 10. (Aside: Miami also won 7 of 10 times I ran the season stats before the game, and the average score was roughly Miami 30, WVU 20 so…) I think if you told Gibson before the game he’d have what he had — most tackles for a loss, second-highest punt total, second-best third-down defense, fourth-fewest yards allowed and yards per play — he’d shake your hand and thank you for congratulating him on the win.

The final half of the second quarter was as sieve as the defense was this season, and I thought Miami actually broke WVU at the start of the third quarter.

Those bubble screens were brutalizing the defenders, who had to run and chase and fight blocks and make tackles over and over. That’s mean. With the weight of the game and the heat of the night taking their tolls, the Hurricanes imposed their advantages, and the Mountaineers were so far from threatening.

And now, the next step for that side of the ball. We didn’t know the answers at this point last year when we wondered who’d replace all the seniors and starters, and we have the same questions again now. WVU needs immediate help from the recruiting class at cornerback and along the defensive line, but I’m going to round this out and point at linebacker and safety, too. There isn’t widespread need at either — WVU’s three starting linenen and top four cornerbacks were seniors — but there’s a predicament.

The returning linebackers are David Long and Al-Rasheed Benton, which, I think in that order, is a good start. (Aside: Long is the starting MLB in 2018, no?) You want your best three players on the field. After that, who? Are we sure about Xavier Preston? It’s a mammoth offseason for him replacing Arndt. Brendan Ferns can spell Benton in the middle as he comes back from the ACL, but is he an outside linebacker? Or is it up to the freshman class — Logan Thimons, Austin Hensley, Zach Sandwisch, Carter Walburn — to be there and be ready?

Safety is really interesting. Jeremy Tyler and Harper were nice pieces who hadn’t been asked or needed to play leading roles — and they wore down a bit as the season progressed — and are not impossible to replace. Tyler’s spot is easy: Dravon Askew-Henry. I thought Avery had a nice game despite the penalties — more on those — and he’s a suitable backup there. But can he play bandit? Who plays bandit? White is a lock at spur, and there’s at least familiarity with a plan that includes Gross there. But is Gross a bandit? Dylan Tonkery? Jovanni Stewart? Again, get your three best on the field, so it’s possible someone moves there — and spur is basically a more complicated bandit — but expect some workshopping in the spring.

As for the line, Adam Shuler is a starter. The other two spots are available. Reese Donahue has a chance to start, Xavier Pegues should be ready for the spring, Jon Lewis actually has another year, Jeffrey Pooler intrigues many and Zeke Rose will enroll next week. In the middle, WVU sort of needs Jalen Harvey to be for real, and he enrolls next week. Alec Shriner had moments this season. Chase Behrndt is no longer new to that spot. Lewis can step into the middle, too, but he really didn’t make or leave much of a mark this season.

Cornerback is wide-the-heck-open. Elijah Battle figures to be an incumbent. Mike Daniels played just a little. The Adamses have been waiting. WVU likes junior college transfer Hakeem Bailey, and I bet Gibson and cornerbacks coach Blue Adams look into grad school transfers there as well.

Good: Noble Nwachukwu
On the pregame radio show, I was asked who would be the best pro among the senior class. I picked Daikiel Shorts, because there is no superstar among the options, and I think he’s going to be valuable to a team that needs a reliable player. (Aside: Not a lot of special teams duties for Shorts through the years, though.) I think I’d like to take back my pick: It’s Nwachuku. He’s a beast, and he’ll find a home in a 3-4 or a 4-3.

He’s double-teamed here and Bruce Banners a tight end and a tackle to become a road block. That’s crazy. I know his numbers fell short of where they were last season, but his reputation was a part of that. He was really good all season and played at a very high level in the second half with routine plays like that and like this. Who’s the last WVU defensive end that was as good as him? (I know … Bruce Irvin. But Noble’s an every-down player. All respect due to Irvin, but he was not.) I have to think he’s the first WVU player drafted.

Bad: It’s that time!
I’m not going to get too deep into the Skyler Howard Portion of the Program, because it won’t read much different than before. He played too fast. He hurried throws. He missed throws. He did not get rid of the ball when he had opportunities. I think it bothered his increasingly demonstrative teammates.

This is immediately after he skips the pass to shorts — “missed throws” above — and Shorts is open again. Howard steps in and then backs out and takes a sack on third down. He was sacked four times as part of his 21 carries. I counted seven times when he ran or when he made a read for himself. That’s 10 carries on pass plays — not a lot of success and one bad result — and that says a lot about what went wrong against Miami.

Bad: Offensive line
Worst it played this season. Miami had a lot to do with it, and it seemed from the literal start that WVU knew it would have issues blocking the front and needed to nail a game plan to work around that. But here’s what Pro Football Focus reported: Four starting West Virginia offensive linemen finished with run-blocking grades south of 50.0 and four finished with pass blocking grades below that mark. A recipe for an offensive disaster.

That about sums it up. WVU could not block Miami.

The backside defensive end is unblocked, so it’s intentionally 5-on-3. The linebacker screams in and doesn’t miss, but look at the defensive tackle up top. Just rolls over the top to get into the play. (Aside: The running game was bad, but don’t put it all on the offensive line. The fullback, tight end and receivers didn’t chip in, either.)

Kyle Bosch was the one lineman PFF graded above 50. He, Grant Lingafelter, Colton McKivitz, Marcell Lazard and Yodny Cajuste will be back next season. That’s two guards and three tackles, so that’s a start though not a starting lineup. You need a center, and none of them are centers. WVU has a remaining need for two guards, a tackle and two centers, and the most likely candidates will be redshirt freshmen or redshirt sophomores or other folks who didn’t play in 2016 — like Ray Raulerson, who was brought aboard to snap. I wouldn’t be surprised to see WVU search for a free agent there, either

Bad: Plan
WVU tried to use Miami’s speed and aggression to its advantage — get defenders out of position and run by ’em. That’s why you saw the quarterback draws, screen passes and quick throws, but Miami was still good enough to blew up a lot of that.

And sometimes WVU blew it up, too. Rushel Shell runs into left guard Tony Matteo, who’s had better days, but that happened because Miami was up the field too quickly. Call all the draws and screens you want, and maybe on occasion you hit one against a group that aggressive, but that wasn’t a triumphant formula. And still, what was the alternative? WVU didn’t have the time to throw one deep ball. It couldn’t count on its quarterback to let other pass plays develop. Couldn’t block the run or the pass. Couldn’t get or stay open. I get the gripe against adjustments and the lack thereof, but I’m going to assume WVU put its efforts into Plan A and ideas that could replace items that spoiled in Plan A. I think we saw that. We did not see a Plan B. Two plays longer than 15 yards: A 29-yard designed run by Howard, a 26-yard pass to Shorts, and those were in the first and third quarters. A lot happened between those plays, and very little of it was good for WVU and its offense.

Bad: Usage
I don’t know why Justin Crawford got six carries unless he was hurt again during the game. I don’t know why Kennedy McKoy got one touch unless he was hurt. Maybe they had lousy practices. Maybe not. I don’t know why Rushel Shell got his first carries on the series after WVU went up 7-0. Crawford had four carries for 17 yards and McKoy had just scored. Things were working — the three-tailback diamond included, and we’ll get there — and here comes Shell. He drops a pass on first down — and he was going to lose yardage if he caught it — and then he ran for no gain and lost 3 yards. Crawford returned for the next series. I think we know Shell’s game, and he’s too patient or too proud of his feet to thrive against a defense that was playing like Miami’s.

The final stats get a little skewed because it got away from WVU so fast and because the philosophy had to change, but the general impression leaves you less than impressed. That’s the hard part about having four running backs who led the team in rushing and had 100-yard games this season. There’s a compulsion to use them all, and it’s never as easy as just calling a number and smiling about the outcome. Shell is gone, which helps the issue, and it would probably do the offense a lot of good if Tevin Bush didn’t go wild in preseason camp.

Bad: Whistle

A couple people wanted to know what happened here. I think someone on or behind the Miami sideline blew a whistle, and obviously a few players thought the play was dead. Look at the right defensive end. He’s looking right to see why the game was stopped. Watch Howard when he gets up. He’s talking to the official and pointing to where the whistle came from before the snap. As poorly as WVU played on offense and up front, I don’t think it was quite that bad.

Bad: Simply the worst

1. I’m not positive this should have been called a penalty, though I understand the flag.
2. I’m positive that Gary Jennings, after 12 games and 18 weeks of practices, should know better. That Miami gunner is right there, so unless Jennings a) has no depth perception or is color blind and thus needs to get his eyes checked or b) never looks up the field, he should have called for a fair catch, because physically catching the punt is the lone reason he’s out there.
3. I’ve never seen a punt returner jump for the catch.
4. WVU’s punt return team was the single-worst unit I’ve seen WVU produce in 11 years covering the team.

Jennings has a chance to be a productive receiver in the future. He should not be the punt returner next season. He had a job to do this season, but the season is over, so it’s time to ask others to do it. If he’s the one after the spring, go to the student body for a replacement. Or make sure Jennings is surrounded by a cast superior to the one he had with him this season. Mark Scott, the special teams coach who is one of six assistants with expiring contracts, has to come up with better players or schemes or both to put out there. The coverage teams were fine this season. The punter and the kickers were fine. The kickoff return team had its moments. The punt team just finished a season with 39 return yards on 35 punts Jennings caught and returned or caught with a fair catch. That’s 35 opportunities for field position, momentum, a touchdown, whatever. But the blockers were so bad WVU stopped setting up returns, and Jennings, who for all we know might be excellent at returning punts, was muted, and that probably led to a series of decisions like this one, when he boldly tried to make something happen.

Good: Grief

WVU felt like this changed the game a little bit, because the defense was humming and the offense had just turned good field position into a touchdown and had a chance to do so again. But though this was slight, it was and should have been a penalty. I don’t think it’s pass interference, though. That’s minimal in the end — the interception still vanishes — but an official told WVU Avery had the receiver hooked the entire time. That’s holding, not interference, and the replay seems to validate that.

I think the second interception taken from Avery was worth disputing.

WVU really felt like this changed the game. A 21-7 score is manageable, and an interception punctures Kaaya’s momentum and gives the offense, which was worse in the second quarter than Miami was in the first, something good to go on to start the second half. Instead, Kaaya gets another reprieve, and the Njoku touchdown ends the drive and, honestly, the game. I actually thought this was offensive pass interference live, and I still think it’s a bad call against Avery.

Good: Walton!

Walton’s going to be a pro and perhaps All-America good next season. He was just OK against the Mountaineers, and they knew they’d stop Miami’s run. Some WVU people told me he was a very good football player and said, “Watch him cover kicks.” So I did. He’s the one who levels Shelton Gibson here, but he’s also the one Khairi Sharif puts on the ground seconds before the tackle. Watch it. It’s a great play.

The Hurricanes delighted in Gibson’s game-long struggles. They kept their eyes on him all game and they didn’t let him get open or get loose.

In the end, he finished with three receptions for 24 yards and three penalties for 25 yards. Two were killers, too. WVU had a 7-0 lead and Miami downed a punt at the 5. On third-and-3, Howard completed a pass to Shorts for a first down. Nope. False start on Gibson. On third-and-8, Shell ran for 13 yards. Nope. Gibson was lined up off the line of scrimmage. Two third-down conversions wiped out by bad penalties.

The Mountaineers punted, and Richards scored on the next play.

Good: Ta-da!

Here’s a good way to use the depth at tailback! Three at once in the diamond. Success rate: 100 percent!

So the diamond is basically an inverted wishbone, and WVU, even in standard personnel, runs inverted veer stuff out of it. This is old and new. It’s still the diamond and it’s still inverted veer, except the twists here are the personnel and the pulling guard. It’s basically inverted veer with a quarterback power read. That’s a mouthful, so consider what Miami is thinking here. You’ve got to watch the three possible ball-carriers. You have to account for Howard. And then there’s a guard pulling.

As it was, Howard’s play is to read the left defensive end. The rest I have to think depends on the defensive alignment, but this sure seemed rehearsed. The left guard pulls, climbs and blocks. The right tackle peels back inside. The right running back, McKoy, leads the way for the left running back, Crawford, who is supposed to carry out the fake.

Miami is all crossed up. The unblocked end takes the bait and goes up the field. McKivitz traps the middle linebacker. Matteo and McKoy do their parts, and no one really takes Howard seriously, until he makes a wonderful cut to break it.

Classic Holgorsen follows: If it works, do it again.

Basically the same stuff here, except Crawford and McKoy swapped sides. But McKivitz goes inside, Matteo pulls across and no one blocks the defensive end. This time, the end reads it, so Crawford blocks him. Shell, from deep, then leads the way and does just enough to give McKoy an alley thanks to a reserved approach by No. 53.

WVU never ran this again. We saw the formation once more, and Howard completed a pass to Jovon Duratne, but Matteo was called for holding. Theory: This was merely slight of hand. A shell game, if you will. Go back and watch those two plays. Neither was a blocking clinic. Howard fooled Miami on the first and then Miami sort of scattered on the second. On both plays, WVU simply gave the Hurricanes too much to track and attack, and that created openings for the Mountaineers. I have to think as the game went on, the Mountaineers accepted they could’t block anything on the outside, and that took away all the potential for this formation to succeed.