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The Good and the Bad of WVU v. Kansas

November 19, 2013 by Mike Casazza
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Their sniper game was not on point this year like it was last year, and maybe that was an isolated incident last season or perhaps both realized it was a bad look and they didn’t need to wear it again. Whatever the case, absent that noise, I was compelled to look elsewhere and, though I’m not certain why, I truly started to think Kansas was going to win the game come Friday. (I have witnesses.)

Charlie Weis was on a mission with his message and WVU’s “I’ma let you finish, but Kansas is no joke” seemed genuine, which seemed unusual if you’d seen that team saunter through the season. The Mountaineers were carefully cautious about the Jayhawks and it seemed like Kansas was absolutely going to go with Montell Cozart and about 27 different run plays and, well, that started to sound like trouble.

The one thing I circled was the first quarter. WVU’s been terrible there, and this was the team’s first 11 a.m. CST start since joining the Big 12, whereas Kansas has been suspiciously competitive in the first half before collapsing in the second. At home, desperate for a win and putting a whole lot of stock into a game that, quietly, they’d been building toward with the way the offense and Cozart had been trending, the Jayhawks were more dangerous than they deserved to be.

And then they were terrific. Everything is relative, I know. Kansas wouldn’t have beaten Baylor or Oklahoma and I’m not sure it would have taken down TCU because, even in this lost season, TCU takes every play seriously. In the Mountaineers, the Jayhawks met their perfect foil. I’ll get into this in a little bit, but I have to think that game went about as well as it could have gone for Kansas, from WVU’s score at the start to the students ransacking the field at the finish. Honestly, it’s the sort of thing that can happen late in the season.

So why this picture? Well, Dana wears a damn clock on his wrist, and Weis just looks like he ate the canary. And no crow was served later. How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the good and the bad of WVU v. Kansas.

Good: Smack!
Oh, you’re burned, Mountaineers.

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Bad numbers for WVU

by Mike Casazza

These apply to the run defense, which despite what you’ve been told, isn’t all that good. And it hasn’t been all that good for about a year now.

And then there are these figures that speak to the nature of WVU’s roster this season. In short, the Mountaineers, whether by strategy or by circumstance, aren’t equipped to handle a 12-game season, to say nothing of the Big 12 this season.

The Good and the Bad is coming. Honest.

Texts From Kansas Game Day

November 18, 2013 by Mike Casazza

 

This might now be the week for you. For starters, I’m going to do the Good and the Bad. If you don’t want to read it, I get it, but there are a lot of people who do, so, yeah. That’ll be fun. And then there’s why you’re here today.

I don’t know if this is going to do you any good, now with what happened Saturday (True story: Almost got trampled. Head was not on a swivel. Wasn’t expecting fans to be going HAM when I got down to the field. Wasn’t prepared when they took the goalposts and the crowd instinctively hopped back and almost swallowed me whole. Almost.) but this is your handy work from Saturday’s forgettable and yet memorable afternoon.

We’ll go over things a lot in the next two weeks, I’m sure, but let’s just briefly discuss these two weeks. Apart from pride and ending with a win and winning for the seniors which, sure, do matter, WVU has almost nothing to play for — and I’m going to be honest with you … I’m not sure they matter all that much to this bunch based on what happened Saturday.

If this were 4-7 WVU against 1-9 Pitt, it would be different. Try as I might to make it seem this way, WVU v. Iowa State is not a rivalry and nothing short of a fistfight Nov. 30 or Paul Rhoads holding a 13-9 sign just because is going to change that.

So the Mountaineers will practice this week. And next week. There are seniors who know they’re done. There are underclassmen who, to put it lightly and also frankly, are right to look around and wonder what else might change. Dana Holgorsen’s got a lot of hard work to do in the next 13 days.

No safety or surprise, the end. I’ll never look into your eyes again. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and T.F.G.D. My edits are in [brackets].

12:12:
Hope Fatboy brought his pudding.

12:12:
Millard /dies

12:10:
Odds on trickett using this wind to star in his own trash novel cover shoot all game?

12:10:
Or childress. Dammit with thus confusing quarterback shuffle.

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WVU v. Kansas: Now DO hang on

November 16, 2013 by Mike Casazza
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Hey, it’s winds for a Big 12 road game! Look at those flags. The gusts are sustaining at around 30 mph and are pushing into the high 40s and the 50s, which is splendid. Dudes from Kansas were kicking 60 yard field goals with leg and this one fella decided to try a 70 yarder, because why not, and it went wide right, but had the leg.

But how about that mini ring of honor there? You can do worse than Gayle Sayers and John Riggins, but don’t sleep on Willie Pless. Don’t. The College Football Hall of Famer made 633 tackles in his career and took the CFL by storm, which, hey, did I mention 633 tackles?

And this is the last Big 12 football stadium I’ve been at, but I’ve been to the town once already for the basketball game last season. Sorry to tell you, but Kansas has football facilities that WVU does not. The stadium is a dump, don’t get me wrong, but it has potential. When you’re outside, you think of the Citrus Bowl, except you’re not worried about these friendly folks stealing your wallet. Inside is like a grown up Pony Lewis Field, but I have to think if the team is good and the games are fun, this would be a festive place to play.

And it’s going to be renovated one of these days.

Still, the football team has a nice headquarters and two terrific practice fields.

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Hickman and I are taking to the recliners for the fourth quarter.

Let’s blog.

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The Good and the Bad of WVU v. Texas

November 15, 2013 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Fr– wait, that’s not it.

Hey, a little later than usual, but here nevertheless, it’s the recap of the game played six nights ago. And what a night that was. I thought the night of the game that WVU wasn’t very good if WVU couldn’t win that game with ample opportunities to do so, but having listened to people talk about it and having watched it after listening to people talk about it, which usually happens in reverse, I kind of feel like Texas won a game either team could have and deserved to win.

And Texas is pretty good.

The truth is, the Mountaineers were really close a few times. I don’t mean one play here or there. I mean inches here or there. But you know what they say about inches.

Anyhow, it sounds hollow and Pop Warnerish to say, “Those guys play hard! They aren’t that far away!” but I think it can be applied, especially in a three-point loss in overtime to the Big 12’s co-first place team in which you scored 40 points and, again,  came close to making the needed plays to win the thing.

It didn’t happen, but nothing really changes. WVU was playing for bowl eligibility last week and it is again this week and two weeks from now, which means Charles Sims can keep the Sharpie tattoo someone applied last week as the Mountaineers tried to win two straight for the first time this season.

b2b

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

Good: Special teams
Goodness, that’s two weeks in a row. There’s no denying it, though. Mario Alford was good on kickoff returns. The coverage teams were solid. Jordan Thompson is suddenly a rebooted Vaughn Rivers. Josh Lambert is quite reliable. WVU even scored off special teams. That said, do we have to have a serious talk about Nick O’Toole? Because that 30-yard punt to set up the game-tying Texas drive was not insignificant.

Good: Snow puns!
I was immediately happy for Jewone Snow here, not knowing he’d be in line for a much larger role and much larger headlines by the time we were through with overtime. I was not happy about the inevitability of “Let it Snow!” or “It’s beginning to look a lot like an upset!” lines. Anyhow, I don’t think he’s ever done anything to lose his job. Remember, he started as a redshirt freshman and he looked like he was going to be the man in the middle. Labrums happen, especially when they’ve been a problem since your freshman year of high school. Herniated discs happen. It’s not like he was out of shape and pulling hammies or hurt in a pickup basketball game, or that he strung together missed assignments and missed tackles. Kid got hurt.

This was neat to see. You could almost tell it was coming, too. Texas shifted players from the offensive line to a rare two-man shield and they were spread out, not bunched up. There was room for someone to come right through the middle and hope the shield had their eyes outside. That’s exactly what JoeDeForest told Snow and that’s exactly what happened. The best part? Snow said he had to slow down and then look around and find the ball. That shouldn’t happen.

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You’ll Never Talk Alone: S2, E11

November 14, 2013 by Brad McElhinny

We’ve got plenty to discuss this morning, from basketball to football to the office of the president. Join the gang at 11 a.m. Here’s your mobile link.

If you need something to do before then, here’s this morning’s episode of Scoop & Score. We had to cut the opening because it was too hot for terrestrial radio. It begins instead with Jake Spavital and what he thinks about the game’s young minds, effective quarterback coaches and why there’s such movement among assistants every offseason.

Wednesday Walkthrough: Kansas

November 13, 2013 by Mike Casazza

So, yeah, sorry about yesterday’s nonsense. I explain it deep in the vlog, but needless to say there was supposed to be some content yesterday and I didn’t notice that it hadn’t published until it was too late. But as you can tell, the new Tier 4 video equipment arrived, though later than I planned. I’m still pushing for a Good and the Bad, though it’ll be Friday now.

As for this week, though unlikely, it’s indeed reality that Jake Heaps and Charlie Weis find themselves together. And though unlikely, it’s indeed reality that WVU is out more defenders. I’m not trying to be dramatic here: Do you recall something like this here before?

 

‘We called a run play. We threw it.’

November 11, 2013 by Mike Casazza

And so begins the deconstruction of WVU’s final possession against Texas. First-and-goal at the Longhorns 5-yard line and the Mountaineers run for a yard and then throw three incomplete passes.

But wouldn’t you know, something went wrong on all three.

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Texts From Texas Game Day

by Mike Casazza

Oh, man. Dana Holgorsen was at it again Saturday night, calling his outside passing game “disgusting” and many of the snaps from center “awful” following the 47-40 loss in overtime to Texas. There was a buffet of items to make him unnerved — The Good and the Bad will be late this week because the old equipment died and new stuff arrives tomorrow — and there really isn’t a solid reason to believe the Mountaineers are certain to go 2-0 the rest of the way to make a bowl game.

Now, are wins at Kansas and at home against Iowa State likely? The numbers suggest that, and the Mountaineers weren’t incapable Saturday night despite a few obstacles. They again, this is a wildly uneven WVU team that, let’s be honest with one another, could very well be The One to lose to Kansas or the one that’s undone by Paul Rhoads Inspiration. You don’t really know what to get from WVU and, good or bad, you don’t know how long it’ll last. And that’s why amid the many quotes and words Saturday night, this one stood out best to me because it just feels like the manifestation of frustrations that must be hard to accept and clearly are hard to explain.

“Offensively we put our defense in really bad situations in the first half and the opening half of the second half,” WVU Coach Dana Holgorsen said. “With that said, we did a good job of holding them to about 16 points and then offensively we did a better job of executing, we punted, we didn’t turn the ball over and that’s when we started playing awful defense.

“I don’t know — you guys figure that one out. I guess we got to put our defense in horrible situations for them to keep them out of the end zone.”

Back later with some other stuff, including what went wrong and why it happened at the end of the game. Seems like quite a few of you have questions about that. Code of the streets, owners who creep. Slow when you sleep, holding the heat.
Put holes in your jeep, respect the streets. It’s the T.F.G.D. My edits are in brackets.

6:28:
something absurdly pleasurable to see a visiting pep band in cowboy hats.

6:34:
WVU can’t play [song bird] football tonight

6:49:
Do the circle

6:57:
Wonder if Wooderson cruised the Blue Lot in Melba Toast today with Mitch & Randall Pink….

7:00:
Omen! I think teams that try to show how tough they are in the cold weather by going short sleeves, etc. usually get their asses kicked.

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WVU v. Texas: Plenty on the line tonight!

November 9, 2013 by Mike Casazza
pleaseno

 
Interesting foreword to tonight’s game: WVU’s entire team wore Bob Huggins Cardigans for the Mountaineer Mantrip. Such solidarity surely impressed the postseason folks at the game this evening. (The Medal of Honor Bowl is an all-star game, in case you’re curious.)

With Kansas State going all Kansas State late in the season and today walloping Texas Tech, the Wildcats and their fervent fan base must be appealing to both. And then there’s WVU, which can really help itself, in so many ways, by beating Texas. Order of finish, or that the Wildcats beat the Mountaineers, doesn’t really matter. It’s about matchups and momentum.

Then again, it would behoove WVU to make itself eligible and that’s one step closer with a win tonight. Then again, the Mountaineers have Kansas and Iowa State next and, whew, those teams are really something this season.

Sounds like WVU will be about as close to full strength as it can be at this stage of the season. Dontrill Hyman is supposed to play and supposedly did things in practice this week, and that’s important because he can play the run and he can make sure the Mountaineers have big lines to go against the run. WVU would rather not use Noble Nwachukwu against the run and would prefer to have Kyle Rose and Will Clarke on the ends together as opposed to backing up one another.

And finally, Texas heard and talked a lot this week about the trip to Morgantown, the atmosphere at Mountaineer Field and the weather. For the love of all things holy, it’s, like 53 degrees outside and I’ve been colder in Texas I promise you … but many of the Longhorns decided to go topless for their pregame routine. No one who works for or who covers UT and who was available for a quick quiz has seem them do that before.

Macho, macho men!

brrr

 

The fully clothed Mountaineers have gold lids atop blue jerseys and pants.

I’m wearing a clever navy blue sweater (sadly, not argyle) and a red Jacobs & Roberts tie and I’m ready to blog.

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