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

Hmm, here comes the baseball team

May 4, 2016 by Mike Casazza

That’s a pretty big deal in the throes of conference play, but good luck arguing the Mountaineers weren’t deserving with those three did. Perhaps more significantly, WVU won a mid-week non-conference game Tuesday, edging Virginia Tech, now 16 games below .500, by a run in a game that had a mid-week feel.

And now, entering a critical weekend series against Texas, the Mountaineers have won five out of six.

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The Big 12 is getting ready to grow

May 3, 2016 by Mike Casazza

The Big 12 is out in Phoenix for its spring meetings, and this event serves as a prelude for more important meetings with university presidents later this month in Dallas. At those meetings, and not these, it seems we’re going to see the strongest move yet toward adding to the membership.

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Decisions, decisions …

by Mike Casazza

 

Who knows for sure what’s about to happen to Devin Williams? That’s not rhetorical. I’m trying to find and then talk to that person. But what we do know is we like to second-guess and project, and it doesn’t matter if it’s Daryl Worley before the NFL draft or Wendell Smallwood after it.

So now, the attention turns to Williams.

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… like it’s 1999!

May 2, 2016 by Mike Casazza

 

The Coliseum, home to offices and ordinary business hours this time of the year as well as a few graduation ceremonies this weekend, is closed again today. It was shut down Friday.

Why, you ask? Asbestos!

The suspect asbestos containing material discovered Friday was encapsulated in an inaccessible area above ceilings in entrances to the restrooms ringing the concourse, and did not pose a health hazard to any individuals within the building, Principe said, adding that it was only exposed by the renovation work. The Coliseum was closed immediately after the discovery.

The testing firm continues to collect air samples throughout the remaining areas of the Coliseum, and the results of these samples should be available Monday, May 2.

The results have not yet been revealed — I pushed this back as far as I can — but this doesn’t seem as dire as the last time the Coliseum had this problem. During the current ongoing construction, some renovation work exposed concerns “in an area above ceilings in restroom entrances that surround the concourse.”

Update: All good.

Gee, I wonder what they’ll discuss…

by Mike Casazza

A fun little addition to West Virginia’s social media footprint is the director of player personnel’s daily update on the whereabouts of assistant coaches.

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Draft recap: Good money on WVU

by Mike Casazza

 

Hey, his knee looks good, no? Karl Joseph, the now former West Virginia safety, was the 14th overall pick Thursday. Four other Mountaineers followed during the seven-round event, making it the school’s best draft since 1999, and those five are going to sign contracts worth a little more than $23 million.

Five more undrafted free agents picked their new homes after the draft, and though their paths are trickier, they at least chose their teams based in large part on the likelihood of making the roster or the practice squad.

Let’s have a look, beginning with what’s probably the surprise of the event as it relates to the Mountaineers.

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That time Karl Joseph made history, money…

April 29, 2016 by Mike Casazza
Joseph_MORAES-3

 

You are looking live at the newest member of the Oakland Raiders, which is going to throw a scary defense out on the field this fall. Karl Joseph was selected with the 14th pick in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday, the highest a West Virginia safety has ever been selected.

Joseph believed he was due this ending, which is why he kept saying he was the best safety if not the best player in the draft, but he also received useful counsel before the draft from his determined agent, his friend and former teammate Kevin White and his future adversary, Todd Gurley.

“He gave me a lot of good advice early on on how to deal with the injury and about the whole process,” Joseph said. “He got hurt about the same time as me, a couple weeks later, actually, but close to the time I got hurt, so his advice meant a lot. The way he came back, the kind of season he had last year, I’m positive I’ll be able to do the same thing.”

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The time Karl took over a game

April 28, 2016 by Mike Casazza

A long, long, long time ago, we in this space dubbed Karl Joseph “Batting sixth, Karl Joseph.” He was a freshman and he was something like an all-or-nothing player. He was green, but he was good, but he was also green. He’d make a play or he’d miss. He’d be on top of something or he’s be somewhere else. He did more good than bad, but he was, in baseball terms, the sixth hitter. He’d smack a bunch of home runs and hit the ball hard, but he’d also strike out a lot and bat around .240.

It was fun and dumb, and it’s history. Joseph grew up to be way better than that joke, which we always knew would be the case.

He asked the NFL for draft feedback following the 2014 season, and the projections told him he’d be picked anywhere between the second and seventh rounds. It’s not a single-source evaluation, by the way. There are three evaluations, and all they told Joseph for sure was he’d be drafted but also that he could work on his pass coverage.

Joseph was dynamite in his first game of his senior season, and in the third quarter alone, he had five tackles and three interceptions, which was basically Joseph saying he got the message, and he would not change but would get better.

For the record, he was always above average when on the ball, which is different than in coverage. For proof, check out the first interception of his career, which was basically the lone defensive highlight from a 49-14 loss at Texas Tech in 2012.

That time Karl met Samaje Perine…

by Mike Casazza

My guess is many of you would make another choice for the most more memorable Karl Joseph moment from this game, which ended up being the last Joseph played for West Virginia, but this play might be my favorite Joseph play of all time. Perine is 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds and — I suspect what I’m about to tell you is was probably related to this play — ran for 242 yards and four touchdowns against the Mountaineers the year before. Steve Atwater and Christian Okoye think that was a collision.

That time Karl scared Wendell Smallwood…

by Mike Casazza

 

Running back Wendell Smallwood, like Karl Joseph, will get drafted this weekend. Smallwood, like Joseph, enrolled in January, the former a year after the latter. And Joseph did not care for the impression Smallwood was attempting to make in his first spring with West Virginia and, more importantly, against Joseph’s defense. It would not stand.

“I kept getting first downs and he was like, not crying, but he was yelling at me, ‘You get one more first down, I’m going to kill you,’ ” Smallwood remembered. “I’d just gotten to school. I’m like, ‘Oh, man. This kid’s’ crazy.’ Then we get off the field and he’s on the sideline next to me, like, ‘What’s up? What are you doing out there?’ ”

All of that recognition goes into what makes each player. It’s as quintessential as winter workouts, spring drills and fall performances. Their reputations are earned and exhibited without apology.

“I don’t mind it at all,” Joseph said. “It’s not something I’d say I care much about, but I like it. Anytime I can get in somebody’s head and make them game-plan differently or think about how they’re going to run the ball on my side, that’s a plus.”