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

One less Christmas card for Mr. Petteway to send

August 13, 2015 by Mike Casazza

By all indications, Shaq Petteway is in line for a solid season. He’s ultimately responsible for everything that follows — except for injuries, of course, and he’s been bitten before — but he’s put himself in this position by steering everything the right way before this. If he’s in the line for memories he’ll hang onto forever, understand it’s because he’s clinging to memories from the past.

Like, his surprising beef with former defensive coordinator Keith Patterson.

He was off to the side as Kwiatkoski and Barber, until his injury, flourished. The Mountaineers weren’t winning, though, and Petteway wasn’t happy. His frustrations mounted, and Petteway can point a finger at himself for some of what went wrong.

“I feel like I wasted some time, you know?” he said. “You can get complacent. Being young and when you’re struggling as a team, you fall into what everyone else is doing. If you’re struggling and you’re following guys who have bad habits, you pick up bad habits.”

That didn’t work with his superiors, and Petteway said he had a rough relationship with Keith Patterson, WVU’s linebackers coach in 2012-13 and the defensive coordinator in 2013.

“He tried to get me out of here,” Petteway said.

In their first year together, Petteway moved from safety to outside linebacker in Patterson’s 3-4. A year later, Petteway couldn’t play, and he said that continued a trend of things he could not do.

“I messed up at first, but then I felt like it was never good enough, that I was never going to get out of the hole with him,” Petteway said. “Once he left, you can see the progress I made. I’m a whole different person.”

Patterson left WVU for Arizona State after national signing day in 2014. He was replaced by Tony Gibson, who was on the staff in 2013 as the safeties coach. He promptly filled the linebackers vacancy. One of Gibson’s first and ultimately most significant maneuvers was to start over with Petteway.

“It motivated me,” Petteway said. “Honestly, when Gibby came to me, we had a 1-on-1 talk and he told me he believed in me. I took that to heart and played all out for him. I needed that.”

Dana Holgorsen: Aug. 13, 2015

by Mike Casazza

He nibbles around the corners for a few minutes, throws behind Rushel Shell and then drops the 12-to-6 curve at the end with a sizable development regarding W.V. Crest.

Ron Crook replies!

by Mike Casazza

“I don’t know what he’s talking about. I have a peanut allergy.”
— WVU offensive line coach Ron Crook

 

WVU moves to 2-oh jeez

by Mike Casazza

Another sunny day and another laugher in the Bahamas for WVU, which pummeled the Atlantis All-Stars. Again, that may or may not be a collection of the best employees at that particular establishment. They took one 3-pointer and 47 free throws and allowed 60 points in the paint.

This time, the score was a slightly more competitive 109-62. WVU forced 47 more turnovers, including another 34 steals. Those gaudy numbers are down from where they were in Monday’s win, but WVU’s assist-turnover ratio went south with 19 assists and 28 turnovers. It’s all part of a wonderful box score.

And for the second straight game, WVU played without Bob Huggins on the bench. Honest. Watch the videos from the first two games. The Mountaineers’ boss ran the 10 practices before the trip and led the the shootarounds on site. He talks to the team before the game, at halftime and afterward. He just chooses to watch from the stands for a different perspective as the rest of his staff runs the show. IF we’re being honest, the best parts of this trips are the practices before them and the down time during it.

This is not to say the distance Huggins maintained kept him from finding areas of concern.

“This wasn’t one of our better performances,” said coach Bob Huggins. “I think we missed six dunks in the first half and threw the ball around too much. I think the positive thing is that we played hard and continue to play through some things. We didn’t get a kind whistle and we learned to play through that. I think those things are helpful for us.”

WVU wraps up its respite with what should be a more competitive game tonight against the CTG Knights, who have beaten Youngstown State and given Georgia Tech fits as college teams pass through the island this summer.

 

Assistant coach interviews: Aug. 12, 2015

August 12, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Pop quiz: What running back is best at catching passes out of the backfield?

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A little bit of Big Monday

by Mike Casazza

I know, I have a hard time believing it, too, B. West Virginia, perhaps a preseason top-25 team and certainly no less than in the conversation, could find itself near the top of the Big 12’s preseason poll and at least figure prominently in crowning a regular-season champion. Yet the league’s television schedule, it would seem, is entertaining different plans.

WVU has but one Big Monday game, though it’s at home. This is surely disappointing. Exposure is something players enjoy and coaches sell to recruits. But the Saturday-Monday turnarounds can be brutal, especially late in the season, because of the travel the Mountaineers must submit themselves to.

(Aside: There is room for other not-so-big Monday games on other ESPN platforms. There were four such Mondays last season, and WVU was part of one at Texas Tech on ESPNU. That was a part of the Big 12’s desire to help WVU by combining two road games into one trip at the start of conference play and when the university is on a semester break. But that’s not happening this season — unless the Big 12 has a bad sense of humor. WVU plays at Virginia Tech Wednesday, Dec. 30. Kind of hard to ask WVU to go to Blacksburg, Va., on the 29th and either come back to campus and ring in the New Year and then travel again or to remain on the road and travel to the Lonestar State or Oklahoma or Kansas to knock out two games in one trip. Something would be possible the following weekend because WVU’s spring semester doesn’t begin until Jan. 11, but the Big 12 doesn’t list any Big Monday games that day. Come to think of it, long term, not having that scheduling convenience is a concern, no?)

So Saturday-Monday sequences are tough, and Kansas has four while Iowa State and Texas have three, that being the product of a exciting preseason expectations and an exciting new face on the sideline, respectively. Maybe WVU will like checking in under the radar in August and standing right in the middle of it in March.

Most interesting K.J. Myers and the Low Life

by Mike Casazza

https://twitter.com/LLCulture/status/620687814389202944

Confidently we continue to say as we said two years ago K.J. Myers is the most interesting man on the West Virginia football team. On the field, no, he has not done a whole lot to stay in the fray or to work his way into our conversations. Off the field? He’s been an All-American, and that’s why Dana Holgorsen went out of his way Monday to brag about the fifth-year receiver like never before.

For a guy that’s been here for as long as I have, (redshirt senior wide receiver) KJ (Myers) is a guy that I am proud of. He’s what a program guy is all about. He’s a hard worker, and a great teammate. He hasn’t allowed himself to get discouraged and leave or graduate and move on with life. He’s very motivated to make this a good year for him and a good year for us. I have been very proud of him.

Myers is not rare in that the light went off as he saw the end approaching. He’s rare in that he knows he was the problem and that it wasn’t the system or the staff or whatever surroundings he could point a finger at. He was, in his words, a liability and a hindrance. In the moment, he realized his destructive attitude could have taken down the team and buried all the teammates he grew to care for along the way.

Then it hit Myers, like a deep post in the end zone. He would turn around his life, he’d take his negativity and create something positive for himself and anyone else who cared to follow, by spotlighting an unfavorable element of our society and making it into something people would take inspiration from and admire.

And so it was that at his lowest point in 2013 Myers created the Low Life Culture, a way of living that’s delivered him to the cusp of being a contributor in 2015 and, more importantly, being a difference in the lives of so many others.

True to form, the same person who threw himself into an array of interests and crowds when he was younger as friends and strangers watched and wondered why, Myers decided to build his platform on a paradox.

Nobody wants to be called a lowlife, but Myers thrives when he’s moving against the grain.

“I spun it with the ‘lack of worries’ and made it positive so people would find interest in it when they’d see it, because lowlife has a negative meaning when you see it,” Myers said. “But my whole thing that’s always been big for me during my life is I hate being judged. I hate being stereotyped.

“I’m a man of many talents, honestly. Being an African-American male, you’re often prejudged or stereotyped, especially being a college football player. I was always into so many other things, I always loved doing so many other things and I hated being judged and hated being stereotyped. Low Life is really just about don’t judge a book by its cover. Lowlife has a negative meaning, but Low Life has a positive meaning the way I’m putting it out there.”

Just for kicks

by Mike Casazza

A few years ago at Hurricane High, there was something of a novelty act. The team had a really good kicker and punter, a small player with a big leg who happened to be a very good athlete, a sprinter on the track team who qualified for the state meet in the long jump.

Michael Molina made a calculated choice when in the spring of 2013 he decided to walk on at West Virginia. We’re in a time still when only choice kickers, punters and long snappers are getting scholarships. Molina wasn’t in line to get one, but he also knew there was a need.

Tyler Bitancurt was a senior and the Mountaineers had but one other kicker on scholarship. More and more now teams stockpile specialists, if even as walkons. Turns out the competition’s name was Josh Lambert, who’s only become one of Dana Holgorsen’s favorite players, even if he jokes about it, while setting a few NCAA records and nearly winning the Groza Award last year.

Well, then…

“Yeah,’’ Molina said. “Josh is pretty good.’’

It’s not that Molina isn’t. He arrived two summers ago as a 5-foot-8, 150-pound wisp of a kid who looked like he might have been someone’s brother or son who was tagging along and had been given a uniform to keep him quiet.

He’s since added 26 pounds of almost entirely muscle while working in Mike Joseph’s weight room. Sometimes when the ball is kicked during practice it requires a glance into the backfield to see that it’s not the 5-11, 215-pound Lambert who had sent the ball flying.

“I definitely have gotten a lot stronger,’’ Molina said. “I just listen to what Mike tells us to do and keep working hard. I know that it’s possible.’’

Molina might even find himself a regular job this fall. He and punter Nick O’Toole are fighting for the kickoff job that last year belonged to Molinari. But even if he doesn’t win that job, Molina will maintain an even keel.

“I’m having a lot of fun with all the guys around here, so I can’t complain,’’ Molina said. “I learn a lot from Josh. He’s one great kicker. I can’t complain. I’m having fun.’’

Prediction: Molina is your kickoff guy. The ball sounds different off his foot and goes where the coaches want it to go, whereas O’Toole, whose leg, to be fair, is conditioned for a totally different swing, doesn’t get quite the air and sometimes sprays it.

Player interviews: Aug. 11, 2015

August 11, 2015 by Mike Casazza

Update your programs! A new number for an old face, who, by the way, is having a very solid camp.

Redshirt junior running back Rushel Shell

On the differences between this year and last year
I’m more comfortable in the shotgun. I’m used to coming out of the A and B formation. I’m a lot more knowledgeable at blitz pickups. I think that is something that I focused on this offseason. I want be a back that can block, and I feel as if that is my biggest difference.

On the skill sets that are required playing two different types of formations
The I formation is when you lineup and dot the I, and then you run as fast as you can downhill. In the shotgun, you have to be more patient. You have to let your blocks develop, and let everyone do their job before you can do yours. I think that that is the biggest difference between the two schemes. The I formation is more of a big guy that runs hard, and the shotgun is more of a player that can cut it up field and be able to run people over at times too.

On the running game developing over the years at the collegiate and professional level
Yeah, I think that the game is changing a lot, especially with my position at running back. It’s something that everyone is going to have to adapt too, because that’s what it is at the next level, as well as at the collegiate level.

On if he is trying to adapt to the changes
Definitely. You have to be able to play in any formation in any type of offense or else you will get left behind.

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Tony Gibson needs two. Maybe.

by Mike Casazza

Dana Holgrosen said yesterday he’ll probably only use two true freshmen on offense this season, and if you’ve seen Jovon Durante run or if you’ve seen Gary Jennings in a uniform, you’d understand why those receivers are going to be in line for playing time. There’s also the fact that they, along with junior college transfer Ka’Raun White, are coming while a group of players like Lamar Parker and Ricky Rodgers aren’t progressing like players in their situation normally might and Devonte Mathis and Vernon Davis aren’t creating the sort of space you’d expect from veterans.

(It’s worth noting, however, that WVU signed nine players on offense in the recruiting class. Two are quarterbacks. Four are offensive linemen. One is a tight end. Even in extraordinary circumstances, it’s possible none of those kid would play. WVU is far from any sort of extraordinary circumstances, though one quarterback might be a backup this year, if even as a third.)

Defensively, there aren’t many needs, either.

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