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

‘We were awful.’

December 9, 2015 by Mike Casazza

So I was wrong, and maybe you did want to shield your eyes, because Bad West Virginia was back last night. After doing so many good things on offense and defense and on the boards to build a 12-point lead, the Mountaineers were outworked, outflanked and outclassed in the final 23 minutes and outscored by 28 points.

That was a meltdown in all the aforementioned areas, and WVU looked and acted beaten with a fair amount of time left on the clock. Woof.

WVU shot 40 percent for the game and 6 for 20 in the second half and finished 12 for 21 from the free-throw line and 2 for 14 from 3-point range, including 0 for 7 after halftime.

“I can’t imagine we’re as bad as we are,” coach Bob Huggins said. “Watching them every day, I can’t imagine when the game starts we’re as bad as we are.”

WVU (7-1) led by 12 points on three occasions in the first half against a team that hadn’t trailed by more than nine points all season. Virginia had more turnovers and allowed more points off turnovers in the first half than it had in the first eight games, but started its robust recovery late in the first half and then dominated the second half.

The Cavaliers (8-1), who led the nation in scoring defense the past two seasons and are No. 5 this season, shot 62.8 percent in the game and 73.7 percent in the second half (14 for 19), that thanks to six layups and two dunks.

It was so bad that Huggins lectured his team until 17:27 was left in the first half of the second game in the doubleheader, which started 25 minutes after WVU’s loss.

“We were awful,” Huggins said. “We were awful. Maybe I have, I don’t remember, but I don’t ever remember a team giving up that many layups in the halfcourt. That was against our halfcourt defense, which is supposed to be pretty good.”

There are a lot of reactions to this, and I’m trying to blend them into a column, but WVU bombed its first true test of the season. I know, I know, same team won the Las Vegas Invitational, but if you want to gauge a season with wins over Richmond and San Diego State, go ahead and do that and enjoy the NIT. WVU needs to be better than what it was Tuesday night to go where it wants to go.

This is not to say WVU won’t be better, but you saw an opponent that intentionally takes away drives and doubles the post and will let you catch it on the open perimeter, and the Mountaineers could do nothing about it. There are different defenses and different names for it, but teams have done this before and likely will still do this. They’re going to crowd the lane to stop WVU’s motion and is drives, to harass Devin Williams, to make other players score in the post and to entice 3-pointers and jumpers.

That’s not broken. That’s what works, in some way, shape or form, and the only way for the Mountaineers to fix this is for them to break that.

Unrelated: The Big 12 wagged a finger in the direction of central Texas and announced a new football scheduling requirement.

Unrelated II: The All-Big 12 football teams are announced at 11 a.m.

WVU v. Virginia: Styles clash near Fashion Avenue

December 8, 2015 by Mike Casazza
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You are looking live at The World’s Most Famous Arena, where West Virginia and Virginia have are warming up before the first game of tonight’s Jimmy V Classic.

The matchup lost a little luster when the 10th-ranked Cavaliers lost the second game of the season to George Washington. Interesting game, that was. I’m not saying there’s a blueprint for how to beat Virginia or that one loss this season does anything to establish a trend, but the Colonials, who are pretty good, did something akin to following a slightly worn path.

Allow Rushing the Lawn to explain.

  • The Cavaliers gave up 73 points in a regulation game for the first time since the infamous Tennessee blowout game back in December 2013.
  • The Hoos were called for 24 fouls, their most since the Maryland ACC/Big10 Challenge game last December, and only the third time overall in the past 5 seasons.
  • Virginia missed 15 three point attempts last night. The only time they missed that many last season was the Michigan State NCAA Tournament loss.
  • UVA was outrebounded by 5 boards after outrebounding Morgan State by 30. The Cavaliers have lost their last three games when they were beat on the boards.
  • The Hoos attempted 12 less free throws than the Colonials last night, which was the largest difference for Virginia since February 2013. The past nine times the Cavaliers suffered such a free throw attempt disparity they have lost.

Now, let’s project that upon the Mountaineers.

  • WVU has won 24 of the past 27 times it’s scored 70 or more.
  • WVU has won 15 of the past 17 times it’s committed fewer fouls than the opponent.
  • WVU has the nation’s best 3-point defense.
  • WVU has won 23 of the 26 times its outrebounded the opponent.
  • WVU has won 20 of the past 22 times it’s attempted more free throws.

Again, not a blueprint, and Virginia’s ways are tried, tested and proved. But ll of the WVU numbers above are from the start of last season up to tonight, when the Mountaineers enter the game 10th in scoring offense, first in scoring margin, 192nd (!) in fewest fouls per game and fifth in rebounding margin. We’re about to watch a styles clash and whichever team flexes most and pops the seams is likely to win, but there’s a chance here that what WVU does well can affect the Cavaliers.

Then again, this goes both ways, and Virginia’s sixth in scoring defense, second in assist-turnover ratio and first in fewest turnovers per game.

This might not be aesthetically pleasing, but I don’t think you need to shield your eyes at all.

Watch the post!

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“They want you to shoot jump shots.”

by Mike Casazza

Tonight’s the ultimate contrast of styles in the Jimmy V Classic, which has a quality doubleheader with WVU v. Virginia preceding Maryland v. UConn. The opener is all about tempo because the Mountaineers try to speed up offenses and the Cavaliers operate deliberately. WVU gets offense from defense, but Virginia’s offense is cautious and its defense oftentimes makes matters miserable for opposing offenses.

Las Vegas has the Cavaliers as a five-point favorite and sets the over/under at 133. So something like a 69-64 game, which feels about right, one way or the other. Neither team lets opponents get to 70, Virginia doesn’t go fast on offense and WVU, well, halfcourt success can be fleeting and is critical this evening.

The pack-line is a defense developed by former college basketball coach Dick Bennett, who is Tony’s father. Dick Bennett, 72, won 489 career games during stops at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin and Washington State.

Tony Bennett, 46, has borrowed those concepts during his 10-year career. Virginia is 60-11 the last two seasons with 30 overall wins and 16 Atlantic Coast Conference wins each season. The Cavaliers have won consecutive ACC regular-season titles.

The defense, as the name suggests, emphasizes a “pack” or “team” mentality. Only the player guarding the ball can step outside an invisible 16-foot arc that goes from baseline to baseline like the 3-point line.

“It’s a great defense,” Huggins said. “His dad had great success with it; Tony’s had great success with it. A lot of people have tried to copy it. They’re the masters. They’re the guys who do it best.”

Huggins, though, would prefer to play his way. His players need to make shots in order to get in their full-court pressure. They want to create possessions, not do what Virginia wants and limit them.

“They control the game with their offense,” Huggins said. “Their defense gets a lot of credit, and justifiably so, but when you keep taking time off the clock with your offense there’s not many possessions.

“You work a little harder on the offensive end to get shots and then you have to guard longer on the defensive end. It cuts down on the number of possessions, which is what they want. We, on the other hand, want more possessions.”

Texts from Kansas State Game Day

December 7, 2015 by Mike Casazza

WVU’s reward for Saturday’s loss is another bowl game in a baseball stadium and what amounts to a road game in Phoenix against Arizona State and some familiar faces.

The Mountaineers (7-5, 4-5 Big 12) will meet the Sun Devils (6-6, 4-5 Pac-12) at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a Major League Baseball team owned by WVU graduate and W.Va. native Ken Kendrick.

On the opposite sideline of West Virginia will be Arizona State head coach Todd Graham, a former Mountaineers assistant under Rich Rodriguez. Graham’s defensive coordinator is Keith Patterson, who held the same position under current WVU coach Dana Holgorsen before leaving to join Graham at Arizona State.

“There’s some connections, there’s some history,” Holgorsen said Sunday. “It makes competing against each other fun.”

WVU is one of seven Big 12 teams headed to a bowl game. Oklahoma is seeded No. 4 in the College Football Playoff and will face top-ranked Clemson in one semifinal. Oklahoma State will play Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, TCU meets Oregon in the Alamo Bowl, Baylor and North Carolina will tangle in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Texas Tech and LSU are set for the Texas Bowl and Kansas State will go against Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.

Arizona State finished in fourth place in the Pac-12’s South Division, with conference wins against UCLA, Colorado, Washington and Rodriguez’s Arizona team.

It will be a short trip for the Sun Devils, whose campus sits 12 miles from Chase Field. The Mountaineers will make a 2,077-mile cross-country trip for the program’s fourth bowl game in five seasons under Holgorsen.

“We’re used to playing on the road in some hostile environments,” Holgorsen said.

This all feels anticlimactic, and a fifth straight win really might have pushed the Mountaineers into the Russell Athletic Bowl against North Carolina. I’m interested to see what ticket sales are like for this one — and here’s where I remind you WVU isn’t responsible for unsold tickets anymore, which was not the case when it was a member of the Big East.

Anyhow, it could have all been avoided or it might not have mattered. We’ll never know. But what we do know is that’s a game that got away from the Mountaineers, who got a grip of things after Kansas State got loose and then let the Wildcats win in what really might have been the only way that was possible.

“I had a feeling if we didn’t get a touchback on that kickoff, he was going to take it to the house,” the cornerback said. “Maybe it was a sixth sense or something.”

And, man, did that drive the texters crazy. Crazy. Our regular-season finale, the penultimate edition of this season, is one of the prettiest Mountaineers mosaics yet. Fear not: This this part of the blog isn’t going anywhere for as long as they’ll have me. Got on a lucky one. Came in 18-to-1. I’ve got a feeling this year’s for me and you. So happy Christmas. I love you baby. I can see a better time when all our texts come through. My edits are in [brackets].

1:36:
Wtf is happening in Waco?!

1:46:
Oh hey, you’re on the air. Say hi.

3:15:
Hook em horns!

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Sunday buffet: Kansas State 24, WVU 23

December 6, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Among the many problems for West Virginia Saturday was that on the same day Kansas State prevailed while completing 10 passes, playing a half with a receiver at quarterback and averaging 3.2 yards per snap and 2 yards per run, the Mountaineers waited until it was too late to insist they were superior.

“This one hurts,” WVU running backs coach JaJuan Seider said. “We were the better team. There’s no sugar-coating that. I don’t care what anyone says. That’s my feeling on that. We should have won this game.”

Instead, Kansas State (6-6, 3-6 Big 12) closed the regular season with three straight wins and ended WVU’s four-game winning streak. The Mountaineers (7-5, 4-5) fell short of winning eight games for the first time since joining the Big 12 in 2012. It’s the third time in Dana Holgorsen’s five seasons WVU has finished the regular season 7-5 and the second time he’s been 4-5 in conference play.

An eighth win would have also earned Holgorsen a $75,000 bonus, but the Mountaineers instead lost after leading by 10 points at halftime.

Burns’ touchdown is the 101st non-offensive touchdown for the Wildcats since 1999, the highest total in the country. They’re 56-17 in the past 25 seasons when they score on special teams.

“This is what Kansas State does,” said Holgorsen, who with his team fell to 0-4 against the Wildcats in Big 12 play. “This is how they win games.”

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WVU v. Kansas State: Give me … something or other

December 5, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Soon.

A photo posted by @mikecasazza on

You are looking somewhat live at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. West Virginia and Kansas State will do battle in a bit, but we are keeping an eye on Baylor v. Texas and pondering the consequences.

All of my bowl conjecture this week included an assumed Bears win over the Longhorns. Naturally, Baylor lost its quarterback in the first half and doesn’t have a fourth QB, which means splendidly named Lynx Hawthorne took snaps and played poorly as the Bears trailed 20-0 at halftime.

Wrinkle!

Here’s some guesswork, if Texas finishes this: Oklahoma State to the Sugar Bowl, TCU to the Alamo, WVU to the Russell Athletic. That’s not a given, but if you’ve asked me how the Mountaineers could end up in the Russell Athletic, Texas and WVU have to win today, and then some arms have to be twisted so the Russell Athletic folks take 8-4 WVU with five straight wins over 9-3 Baylor with three losses in four games and a gigantic question mark over the quarterback position.

But that is by no means a given. The Bears could lose and go to Orlando, and then you and I are still left with the absurd Texas/Liberty/Cactus scenario that will involve many elements that have nothing to do with today’s outcome and could see WVU in the Liberty, which will be here today, or the Cactus.

Bowls remain ridiculous. I remain updating in the post.

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Travel day: Where everybody knows your name

December 4, 2015 by Mike Casazza
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I’ll be spending four of my next five nights in Manhattans, concluding with the Jimmy V Classic and West Virginia v. Virginia and commencing today with the prelude to WVU v. Kansas State. There are quite a few similarities between these two teams: Up and down seasons trending up, one offense chiseled to resemble the other and quarterback injury issues.

It was so bad for the Wildcats that at one point this season they were without four quarterbacks and had to use a receiver against Oklahoma State — and Kody Cook was good! He even got to use the mop when the Wildcats got destroyed by Oklahoma a while later.

It’s been smoother sailing for WVU, but Skyler Howard has had his health issues of late, and though he says he’s fine and getting better, he’s obviously been ailing, too. His condition might be improving, but this is something the Mountaineers, who are now in the habit of recruiting more quarterbacks than before, and their fans might want to get used to as they move forward with this offense.

“There’s no question we feel fortunate with it,” Holgorsen said. “It’s just part of the game. There’s nothing you can do about it. If you really want to get paranoid about it, then you won’t ever run the quarterback, but I don’t think teams are going to do that.”

Holgorsen’s had to alter his practices, though. Howard and his backup, William Crest, were both limited last week. WVU needed true freshman Chris Chuganov to work with the regulars so the offense could rehearse the right way for Iowa State.

Howard, meanwhile, watched from the side. When he was on his own, he did exercises to strengthen his hand and tighten his grip. He said he can put more into his throws now, and the time away from practice helped refresh his body, but he still needed to work out during the week.

“I feel like I need to run a little bit more,” he said. “When I’m not practicing, whatever I’ve been doing, when I’m not throwing, I’ve been running on the sideline.”

The legs are now that important to the quarterback in WVU’s offense.

“I think teams are going to continue to go down this route and recruit a throwing quarterback who’s used to doing things from the spread, but is also a running quarterback,” Holgorsen said. “A dual-threat quarterback makes it a lot easier to move the football. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

Your mission, should you chose to accept it: Make a prediction that includes a score and a sitcom theme, the latter in honor of K-State grads Kirstie Alley, Eric Stonestreet and, most importantly, Gordon Jump. (If you want to mix in an appliance, go crazy, folks.)

You’ll Never Talk Alone: S4E12

December 3, 2015 by Mike Casazza

The regular-season finale begins at 11 a.m. Join us then or slip your questions into the queue now. If neither is an option, get up to speed afterward and read the transcript at your leisure.

Live Blog You’ll Never Talk Alone: S4E12

The Good and the Bad of WVU v. Iowa State

December 2, 2015 by Mike Casazza
Gibson_MORAES

I had the view. I thought about Baylor, honestly. I glanced over and saw two of our players over there and nobody else. They only had one person back. I said, ‘OK, I’m going to try to cut this back instead of going straight.’ So I looked over, and I started looking straight again like I was running there to bring the DB over. Then I cut it back.”

Shelton Gibson on his 60-yard touchdown

Struggles are like snowflakes. They’re all different. Big or small, they go away. It nevertheless never fails to interest me to see coaches deal with them.

Players have their own way of treating them, and those are unique methods, to be sure, but a lot of it is based on simply acknowledging the issue and insisting it will go away. Coaches don’t ever seem to encounter something for the first time. They’ve seen it before, which means they can sometimes see it coming, and they oftentimes have a way to deal with it.

I’ve been intrigued all season — literally from the preseason to this past Saturday — to watch West Virginia handle Shelton Gibson’s, shall we say, hands. Dana Holgorsen more or less volunteered Gibson’s issue during preseason camp in August.

Then Gibson caught, like, everything early in the season and then mostly disappeared in November. He returned to form against Iowa State — six catches, 148 yards and a touchdown after one catch for not even enough for a first down the prior three games — and everyone wondered what got into him.

The response was again really interesting.

In between, nothing ever really changed. Not the way Gibson’s coaches or quarterbacks talked about him and apparently not the way they treated him. Think of all the change at outside receiver this season. Who’s been the constant presence? And who’s been the person who carries around a football he actually gave a name to? Gibson doesn’t need to be told when there’s a problem, much like he doesn’t need to be told he ought to hang onto passes that hit him in the hands. Holgorsen and receivers coach Lonnie Galloway didn’t waver or even give much ammo to the idea Gibson was in a funk, and both seemed unwavering in their belief he’d do again what he’d done before.

(Aisde: Consider this alongside the way Holgorsen and running backs coach JaJuan Seider goofed on Wendell Smallwood for not scoring touchdowns. Unusual but effective, too.)

I don’t know what it was about Saturday, but Gibson was great again. There was nobody faster on that field, and I think that’s probably been true for a few other games.

There’s a lot involved in a receiver’s big game, but we can agree Skyler Howard didn’t have his best day and the offensive line wasn’t extremely cooperative. Gibson still put up big numbers on a day when you could have understood if he hadn’t. Watch his route on this big gain: Double move. He feigns a play inside, which gets the corner to step in and fall fatally behind, and then he opens up a lot of room to the left for Howard’s throw up the rail. Tidy stuff (and clever, too, when you consider where Iowa State’s safeties hung out for most of the day).

But it wasn’t just the deep stuff — and sometimes it wasn’t the deep stuff at all, because he let some through his fingers and Howard threw too long on others — and Gibson was the only truly reliable receiver with the intermediate passing game. The 60-yard TD wasn’t a long throw. It was a great play because Gibson can make the difficult stuff look easy.

But the opposite is sometimes true, too.

Should he have run through it? That keeps him off the ground, right? If nothing else, he’s worth watching, and he’s trending back to being more than that. How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the Good and the Bad of WVU v. Iowa State.

Howard_MORAES

I see you. Speaking of …

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Dana Holgorsen: Kansas State week

December 1, 2015 by Mike Casazza

I think Dana wants this one.