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

Friday Feedback

September 18, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which has game even when the team doesn’t. Some things for you to track on the off weekend:

  • Skyler Howard is one of 33 quarterbacks who has thrown a pass and hasn’t thrown an interception this season. (Stunning, if you ask me, that the Washington State QB leads the nation in attempts and hasn’t thrown a pick.)
  • WVU is one six teams that hasn’t turned the ball over — and one of four that has played twice. (Not stunning, if you ask me, that those six teams are 10-0.)
  • The Mountaineers are one of 15 teams that hasn’t allowed the opponent to convert a fourth down. WVU has faced five fourth downs, though, and only 15 teams have faced more. None of those 15 have held the opponent without a conversion.
  • Only Florida State’s opponents have committed fewer penalties than WVU’s. (A bit odd when you consider Georgia Southern’s offense could put players into position for some holding and chopping penalties — the Eagles always rank among the best in penalties per game — and that the coverage Liberty’s secondary employed could have drawn some flags. Both teams used reserves late in the game, too.)

The Mountaineers will do nothing to change their standing in those categories this season, but I wonder if three of those are worth tracking — the last one is not, because this is the year WVU’s luck changes and because WVU plays Baylor … and Texas Tech.

Howard could be among the last players to throw an interception. It’s conceivable the other five teams that haven’t turned the ball over turn it over this weekend or at least before the Mountaineers. And WVU’s going to have a good season if it either a) goes a chunk of the season without allowing a fourth down conversion or b) forces opponents into a lot of fourth down attempts or c) has a close-to-zero conversion percentage.

So, no, there’s no game this weekend, but we have something to watch in its stead.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, handle your affairs.

BobbyHeenan said:

Maybe I missed it, but the stat I think we’re interested in is red zone TD percentage – ie the % of time the team scores a TD when a drive starts in the red zone. Or alternatively, points per red zone possession. For instance, two field goals in the red zone is just about equivalent to a TD and a turnover on another two trips in the red zone.

Here are some stats from 2010 to 2012 that show some of that…

http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=college-football-study-best-worst-red-zone-offenses-over-last-3-years.

I suspect that our TD conversion rate is probably below average (7 for 13, ~54%). Based on that link above that would put us as one of the worst teams at converting for a TD when a drive starts in the red zone.

I suspect that our points per possession number is closer to average though, as we only have 1 turnover and Lambert has been consistent at converting FG’s there.

Right you are, Brain. You want 6 instead of 3, and you want to be in the end zone as often as possible when you’re in the red zone. Right now, WVU’s touchdown percentage is 53.85 and ranks No. 79. At the end of the 2014 season, that would have ranked No. 92 — or the same as juggernaut Vanderbilt. But consider this: Durante missed the slant on the blitz inside the 10 and later let a ball go through his hands on the goal line against Georgia Southern, Howard missed an open Devonte Mathis in the same game and Shelton Gibson dropped a touchdown on the goal line against Liberty. Those should have all been touchdowns. WVU kicked a feld goal each time. I get that. But getting more of those means the touchdown percentage is higher and healthier and we’re probably not discussing it with the same depth. Give them half of those misses. Now they’re 9-for-13, and 75 percent would be No. 27 today and would have finished No. 2 last season. 

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New tool for his trade

by Mike Casazza
O'Toole choose carefully

The F Double is coming, but it’ll have to wait until this afternoon. I have a few appointments to keep, and I didn’t finish before them.

As you can probably tell, I’ve been messing with the G&B and trying to perfect that piece. I looked into using gifs, and I like them no less than I like the YouTube clips, but it’s so time consuming. The beauty of the YouTube clips is you can upload as many as you want at once and edit them while they (quickly) upload. It’s a bit more time consuming to do the gifs because you have to load them individually — unless I’m missing something, in which case I ask for your advice.

Anyhow, this is a fun Nick O’Toole clip with the celebrations from his two punts downed inside the 5-yard line Saturday. The first mid-air meeting with Cody Clay made O’Toole think twice about the second.

And as you can probably tell, O’Toole has looked good punting so far this season, better, at least, than he did a season ago. There are a few explanations, but one is pretty significant across the entire roster.

“We’re using different balls,” he said. “I love the ones we’re using now. Last year, they were just harder balls to kick. We made the transition this camp to the ones we’re using now, and they fly so much better. They feel solid kicking them.”

WVU used Nike Vapor One footballs in each of O’Toole’s first two seasons, so that doesn’t explain the slip from his first year to the second, and the Mountaineers are again using Nike Vapor Ones this season. The name hasn’t changed, but the ball is indeed different.

O’Toole said the old ball felt like “two cones put together,” while the new ball is longer and has a larger sweet spot to greet his right foot.

“The shape is a little bit different,” said Dan Nehlen, the team’s equipment manager. “It looked more like an egg before. This one is fatter and more elongated. I think that’s the reason Nick likes it, obviously. He’s kicking it better.”

Nehlen raised his left hand to his head and tapped his temple with his index finger.

“Kickers, it’s right here with them,” Nehlen said. “Whatever works.”

7-6, 4-8, 7-6, 2-0

September 17, 2015 by Mike Casazza

I probably could have made a bigger occasion out of this. Maybe bought a cake or a piñata or at least ice. Nevertheless, WVU is off this week. There’s no game, and that means the win and loss columns won’t make room for a new digit. That’s not the occasion we’re marking. No, we stop and turn around to look back down the road we’ve been traveling for a while.

It’s been 40 games since the Mountaineers started a meme and also won the Orange Bowl over Clemson. WVU’s record? That’d be a tidy 20-20. Neither winning nor losing. Even. Conclusions waiting to be drawn. I find that fitting because as we pause and turn to look back, and then as we turn back around and fix our eyes on the path we’re about to take, I think a lot of people could go a lot of different ways with how they feel about the past, the present, the combination of both and how that mixture makes them feel about the future.

So let’s go back to where we were the morning of Jan. 5, 2012, when I asked amid the euphoria, “Where are you?” Times and products change, and maybe your feelings have, too. Where are you as Dana Holgorsen prepares for the 41st game with a lot of time and energy spent shaping and even reshaping his staff, his roster, his schemes and more?

No, this is not a Heisman post

by Mike Casazza

Pretty cool photo, though. And Skyler Howard is a pretty cool customer. We’ve been around enough teams and enough quarterbacks here to know when the offense is right and falling behind its leader. It was that way with three years for Pat White. It was like that last year with Clint Trickett. And it’s been like that at times in between, but not often. Those were either special players or special cases who commanded respect at their position.

It’s early, I know. And I suspect there are people reading this who are not yet convinced Howard can or will make it through the season. But there is a certain reverence teammates hold for Howard, not for what he does on the field but for how he handles things off of it. It’s an optimistic story with a shocking conclusion.

P.S.
No chat today.

The Good and the Bad of WVU v. Liberty

September 15, 2015 by Mike Casazza
danaq copy

Those are the words of Dana Holgorsen, not Saturday evening, but four days earlier during his weekly news conference. It was an interesting point I think was lost on or eluded some of the audience in the room or wherever they were watching or reading his words.

He’d been asked about young receivers Jovon Durante and Shelton Gibson and whether or not consistency was the next step. It’s a generic if not cliche concern after someone new does something new. It’s asked — a lot — with the intent of getting a simple reply in the affirmative.

Holgorsen is not a simple man. I mean, he prefers simplicity, famously I might add, but he’s not going to let you drag him down the alley you wish to walk. There’s more depth to him than there is to some of the questions he’s asked.

He did not offer the affirmative as his reply, and his reasoning was interesting. Neither Durante nor Gibson know or have done enough to be expected to do things consistently. They’re still figuring out how to actually do things and do them right, and a quarterback in a situation not unlike theirs is a central part of their existence, too. Each of those three needs more experience and improvements before they can be expected to be consistent.

His defense, on the other hand, ought to be counted on to be consistent, “because they are old. They are fifth-year seniors, and they are well-coached. They believe in the system, and they are confident.” Those players know and have done enough to attain consistency. They do things and do them right. It might be a year before the parts of his offense are expected to behave that way. His defense is already there, and that, in a manner of speaking, explains the 44-0 win against Georgia Southern.

What Holgorsen said, also in a manner of speaking, foreshadowed the 41-17 win against Liberty. Afterward, he said the defense was lethargic. Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said it was bleh. Neither was wrong, and Holgorsen was right that Tuesday to be concerned about subsequent Saturdays. Whatever this defense has been called, wherever the bar has been set, remember that bold praise and bolder predictions are also new. These conversations are the antithesis of what occurred previously. It’s a new pair of shoes. Looks good. Smells good. Feels a little funny for a while.

I don’t know that 44-0 was this group’s high point. There was a shutout last season, but it was followed by a really shaky day against Maryland. There was the Baylor win last year, and that was followed by a solid day and a defensive touchdown against Oklahoma State and a winning performance in a loss to TCU.

Of course, that defeat came about because of a defensive breakdown on the final drive. It haunted the team, and then Texas ran all over the Mountaineers in the first half of a win a week later. WVU regrouped and held Kansas State to 1 yard rushing, but the Wildcats won. Iowa State, ahem, Iowa State then ran for 175 and passed for 275 in a WVU win before the same defense spent weeks preparing for a Texas A&M offense that should have been familiar. The Liberty Bowl was probably the worst day the defense had last season.

You see the trend, and you now understand what Holgorsen was trying to say. This is a capable defense. It had a good day in the opener. But it was capable last season and had good days. It just wasn’t capable and good at the same time a bunch of times in a row. And it that dip happened again. There pass rush rush was not great. The secondary was passive. Good players missed tackles. Good players played out of character.

A good defense that can be great didn’t have a great day. Part of it is human nature. Again, success is new, and success when expected, which is exactly what happened in the opener, is new. Put them together and it can be dangerous. I think Liberty had a smart quarterback, some able running backs, a big offensive line that had a pretty good day and a set of sound receivers. That played a part in it all, but I think Holgorsen was onto something, too. Whatever went into the Georgia Southern performance and then happened within it is what this defense must replicate. The bad part is there was a drop from one week to the next. The good part is it didn’t cost the Mountaineers, who are 2-0 for the first time since starting 5-0 in 2013.

How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at he good and the bad of WVU v. Liberty.

Bad: Verve
This was a play that stood out to me. WVU was up 20-0, but the score was very misleading with missed field goals and missed opportunities that, honestly, could have had the Mountaineers trailing. I’ll get to that, but this is when you figured WVU would stand above its feet and get things right. Halftime came and went, and we’re sure there was a lecture involved. Nick O’Toole’s punt was downed at the 1-yard line, and the defense had a chance to get a stop and get the offense the ball in favorable position. How in the world does this play gain 12 yards? WVU has a 2-on-1 on the play side, and the blocker wins. The gold jerseys don’t get over there in a hurry or with the right intentions. At its best, the Mountaineers fly and flock to the ball, but that wasn’t there — remember Des Rice carrying Terrell Chestnut as the cornerback tried to strip the ball? That’s not a bad idea when someone is there to make the tackle as a teammate tries the strip. Chestnut had no backup. Again, out of character.

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Dana Holgorsen: Open week press conference

by Mike Casazza

He talks about Yodny! And the zone read. And cheeseburgers.

Monday news worth passing along

September 14, 2015 by Mike Casazza

WVU v. Maryland will kick off at 3 p.m. and be televised by Fox Sports 1. Randy Edsall — yes, still him — will have a new quarterback under center this week against USF. Depending on how that goes, there might be a different one come Sept. 26.

More alarming is this bit of bad news for Bob Huggins.

Texts from Liberty Game Day

by Mike Casazza

Perhaps it was out of respect for the opponent, but we made it through an entire edition without using brackets, and I’m not sure what the heck’s going on with this blog anymore. This is not to say the texts weren’t good or they lacked imagination or emotion. Indeed, they were fine again, and they hammered on a theme I’d like to cover here.

The red zone. Or as it’s called below, the dread zone. It’s the area from the opponent’s 20-yard line and in, which is two-thirds of what WVU call’s the scoring zone and you’ve dubbed the boring zone.

WVU has 24 offensive possessions this season that didn’t end with W.V. Crest taking a knee. Here’s a breakdown:

  • Seven punts
  • One turnover on downs
  • Touchdown passes of 52, 41 and 26 yards
  • 13 red zone possessions

So 13 out of 24 possessions have made it into the red zone. Only Cincinnati (14), Cal and Memphis (both 15) have more. Memphis has three more possessions, Cal six more and Cincinnati one more.

That’s pretty good. The offense is moving the ball. It’s getting into the red zone on the majority of its possessions. It’s getting points on 62.5 percent of its possessions. Do that for a season and watch what happens.

(We can agree Baylor had a pretty good offense last season, right? The Bears had 118 scores [100 touchdowns, 18 field goals … brackets!] in 195 possessions [scores + 47 punts + eight missed field goals + 13 turnovers +nine turnovers on downs]. That means the nation’s best offense scored points on 60.5 percent of its possessions.)

WVU has scored on 12 of the 13 red zone possessions, and let’s be honest with one another for a moment: It could be 13-for-13, but Dana Holgorsen was antsy early in the opener and wanted to keep going on fourth-and-1 at Georgia Southern’s 17. Josh Lambert makes 34-yard field goals with his left foot.

The concern is WVU has that turnover on downs — a 1-yard loss, no less — and has had to kick a FBS-high five red zone field goals. It’s real, no matter how Holgorsen chooses to treat it. But, man, there have been openings for some of Skyler Howard’s errant passes. He started the season 0-for-7 in the red zone, and that included three throws in the first half against Liberty Saturday. Then something changed, and Howard completed his next three red zone passes, two for touchdowns. A quick screen pass to Jovon Durante and the cheeky playaction pass to Eli Wellman were nuanced, and the 10-yard touchdown to Durante was an ordinary play that hadn’t connected earlier.

It got better.

But this is where I want to intercede for a moment and try hard not to insult anybody. Ready?

Who thought this offense was going to be gangbusters? I mean that. Who really thought this backfield, this offensive line and these receivers would either avoid obstacles altogether or conquer them consistently? Obstacles appear and complicate things, and in no way was this team engineered to immediately scheme and talent its way around everything.

You might take offense to Holgorsen taking offense to certain questions, and it’s easy to throw up counterpoints. It’s probably also be right. But this early in a season that started not long ago with a lot of questions on offense, including the quarterback’s accuracy, counterpunching is one of the few things that’s easy to do. It’s going to matter if we continue to talk about it, but only because we’re compelled to talk about it. If WVU crafts — continues to craft? — ways around obstacles, the discussions and the worries dwindle.

Has someone taken your faith? It’s real, the pain you feel. You trust, you must confess. Is someone getting the text, the text, the text, the text from you? [See above.]

9:59:
Ironically, I am driving through Lynchburg, Va., right now.

10:11:
Will always remember by stroll down Jerry Falwell Parkway.

12:05:
2562 days

12:18:
Last week, you had a wedding. This week, I have a 1 year olds birthday party. I really need to stop being friends with people who schedule stuff on Game Day.

2:00:
Not a fan of the white gold white look.

2:33:
I’ll admit that for a brief minute after the Benteke goal that I thought Lpool might equalize.   Then Skrtl had to defend with the ball on the ground…

2:34:
game over. He’d be great if the game were just headers.

3:07:
The pride of wv!

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Dana Holgorsen: Post game press conference

September 12, 2015 by Mike Casazza

WVU v. Liberty: A whole new ballgame

by Mike Casazza
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You are looking live at Mountaineer Field, site of today’s marching band practice and also a football game between West Virginia and Independence Liberty. They’ll begin at 3 p.m., and we’ll begin right now with an update about our modus operandi here.

For starters, we’ll actually have a live post today. That’s nice. But there’s an asterisk. I’m actually covering the game for tomorrow’s paper, which is new to me (save those Thursday night games with late kickoffs the past few seasons). In the past, when I worked for the paper that didn’t publish on Sundays and wonderfully freed me to spend less time on the every play coverage and give more attention to the big picture, we’d have a party here, and later I’d send a pretty generic game story for the web and layer in some quotes afterward. Now I have to do real newspaper work and generate an as-it-happened account of the game. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is a difference. You get to party, but I’ve got to drive later, so pardon me and my ginger ale, please.

Plus, I’m not interested in inverted pyramid, AP style content that tells you who won and what the statistics were, especially when everyone knows that when the game ends and oftentimes before that. Still, it’s something of a necessity and I’m going to try and do that with an angular approach.

What’s it mean? For today, less of me here and more of me on Twitter/Facebook; that’s the delivery system that moves the needle most. I can’t say for sure this will be the permanent model, and today’s game figures to be transparent enough that I might be able to stray from the path, but I do think what I’ll attempt today is going to be more of the rule than the exception for when the opposition is tougher (and the games are later). It’s a trial run, but practice makes … I forget the rest.

Look for me. I’m open in the post.

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