The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which has a confession. There is, to me, nothing more worthy of the pomp and the circumstance than a season opener. So much optimism. So many unknowns. So much faith. So many possibilities. And no one’s wrong on the first day. Yet I’ll be in Hamilton, Va., for a wedding. It’s true. It’s true. The formidable Derek Redd will be running point in my stead all the way through Tuesday’s editions. Fear not, for I have TFGD covered, and everything from there will proceed as planned. You won’t notice a difference.

As I sit here at this moment, I’m with Dann White. Let’s just get to a game already. We’re previewed ad nauseam. We’ve (almost!) run out of players and assistants and parts of the team to feature and preview and contrast against the opponent (and I went with a parenthetical because, whoo, the story in Saturday’s preview edition is juicy [and I’ll use brackets within parenthesis to get familiar with brackets and because I have more to add, namely that I’m still getting used to this seven-days-a-week thing and how to manage the blog with it, because I was ordinarily done after our Thursday chat, but I have to go from here to my office to finish a story and then hit the road for a wedding and, whew, who knew?]).

{What a paragraph.}

Let’s not wait any longer. Onto the Feedback, and I only hope to live up to the Sheik’s standards. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t lack determination.

SheikYbuti said:

2015 TCU TFGD — a mango farming classic.

’twas.

Drew said:

Train fans 1
Clemson 33

Yes, the classics.

Not only does West Virginia’s offensive line coach have his five starters picked out — including a redshirt freshman left tackle who hasn’t flinched and a transfer at right guard who Crook shrewdly practiced in the spring — but he knows who the first sub will be Saturday and when it will happen.

In all, look for eight and maybe nine guys to play up front. This could be the new normal, or it could be the same old story where they talk about it and never do it, but on the verge of the 2015 season, Crook has things now where he wanted them to be a month ago and he knows it’s only the beginning of a season-long process.

“I would say I’m comfortable with where we’re at,” he said. “The next couple of days will tell us a few more things about who ends up where with the second unit. But I’m totally comfortable with where we are and the fact we have at least seven and possibly up to eight or nine guys to put out there.”

That’s a luxury Crook and his predecessor, Bill Bedenbaugh, didn’t have in coach Dana Holgorsen’s first four years. The Mountaineers have annually talked about using more players and getting starters breaks, but it hasn’t happened nearly as often as the coaches would have liked.

Every season it seemed there was a conversation late in the fall about worn down bodies, fatigued competitors and the need for backups to challenge and spell starters. This preseason chatter sounds the same, and Holgorsen understands it’s up to the coaches to make it different.

“You’ve got to just do it,” he said. “You have to resist the temptation of, ‘The continuity’s pretty good and we don’t want to mess with that.’ We’re going to rotate guys in, and we’re going to keep people as fresh as we possibly can.”

They’re also going to continue auditioning players for roles and playing time because this is all still new, not only in Holgorsen’s tenure but for this season.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and say that we’re the best offensive line unit in the world, but with the eight or nine guys, I feel more comfortable rotating people now than we have in the past,” Holgorsen said.