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

Reunited!

August 22, 2012 by Mike Casazza

JackBo invited me onto his Marshall sports show at 4 p.m. today. Follow the shenanigans here.

Beilein v. Gansey: Who you got?

by Mike Casazza

Aside from being immensely proud of both these guys, what they’ve done and how they’ve done it, I’m also equally entertained by the idea that somewhere in their daily thoughts they’re still competing with one another and trying to be the better one that day. So how about this Monday for the former, and perhaps forever, roommates, teammates and best buds?

Patrick Beilein, already in charge of his own college basketball program, lands Noah Cottrill. Just picture Cottrill, under control, running the floor and hoisting 3s in that offense in that league. You have to score against the teams in that league, and while a Beilein offense isn’t necessarily engineered to do that, Cottrill can certainly help … if a lot of very big ifs are conquered.

That said, I’ve spoken to a few people the last few days and weeks and months, people who knew him both then and now, and the typical report is that he’s in a good place and determined to get it right. I know, I know, you’ve heard that before, but Pat and Noah have a pretty good relationship, and I’m sure Pat made this offer and the circumstances attached crystal clear.

Fighting out of the other corner, Mike Gansey, the new director of developmental league operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s as big as it sounds, particularly for a young team that’s going to rely on the D-League a good bit here in the future. This is a pretty significant personnel position for someone who’s been in the front office world for inside of a year now. It’s obviously grooming grounds and proving grounds for larger roles later in his career — and Mike’s basketball intuition made him who and what he is as much as his vertical and his hustle.

Plus, who couldn’t trust his eye for talent?

Behold the Pre-Snap Read

by Mike Casazza

Really and truly, one of the smartest and most written capably college football blogs available, Pre-Snap Read checks in today by ranking WV No. 12 in its all-encompassing preseason list of teams. Neutral, removed from the situation, yet well-informed, the Read says WVU can be great, but might instead be just very good.

Why I think West Virginia could win 11 games and the conference title is due to this offense, which stands out even in a league dominated by top-notch offensive attacks. Why I don’t think that the Mountaineers will sneak past Texas and Oklahoma is because of the question marks on defense, though this won’t come into play against a good portion of the teams on this schedule; in many games, the Mountaineers will simply score and score until time runs out.

The defense is a worry. The personnel is a concern; the coaching moves are a concern; the philosophical alternations are a concern. As highly as I think of Holgorsen, Smith and this offense – and I think the world of the entire group – I have a hard time getting behind West Virginia as anything more than a contender for an at-large B.C.S. bid when there are issues still unresolved on the defensive side of the ball. Address those, win the Big 12. Win the Big 12, play for a national title, perhaps. For now, based on the information at hand – I still need to actually see this defense play a down – West Virginia is a 10-win team that will end the year within one game of the Big 12 champion.

I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friends. Drop the tomatoes. Instead, take a bow. We made it! The one and only.

In case you were wondering

Where do West Virginia fans congregate? Message board chatter can be found at WVSports.com, Blue Gold News and The Mountaineer Nation. More coverage can be found at We Must Ignite This Couch, The Smoking Musket and the Web site of the Charleston Daily Mail.

The education of Nana Kyeremeh

by Mike Casazza

For the linguists, that’s NAN-uh KY-rum and this is the guy who, for a long time, WVU looked to run out onto the field as a second-string cornerback.

This segues quite nicely for me. Bad play, good play. Out of control, under control. Daron Roberts never more than a step away to apply his teaching points.

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Erik Slaughter makes me look like a fool

August 21, 2012 by Mike Casazza

Headline, August 14: D-line is still hardest spot to recruit

Headline, August 21: WVU lands four-star DL

Whoops!

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The devil indeed is in the details

by Mike Casazza

Surely you know the Big 12 Conference is going to be very different. New venues, new opponents, new style of play. Certainly it’s the offenses that moves most mouths, and for good reason with so many teams in possession of so many distinctive and defining characteristics.

Talk all you want, but it remains difficult to picture how or why this league is so hard until we actually see and experience a game. Or nine. Yet Joe DeForest, the defensive coordinator who came to WVU from Oklahoma State and the Big 12, offered up one detail that, though small, helps illustrate the big picture.

It sounds diabolical. It is all that and more.

“It’s definitely on purpose,” DeForest said, “and it’s smart.”

Depth chart reactions

by Mike Casazza

What you saw yesterday didn’t change overnight, but it’s going to change between now and Sept. 1. Where? It would seem receiver, defensive line and the secondary are most ripe for change. Too many guys repping at those positions not to see some movement. But on Aug. 20, when WVU had to put something on paper, people were put in places.

I didn’t mention the special teams stuff above, but that seems pretty interesting to me. It would appear Josh Lambert is bound to redshirt, even though the Mountaineers worked him pretty hard at kicker, punter and kickoff. I don’t think that’s the case, though. With Tyler Bitancurt and Corey Smith both in their senior seasons, my guess is WVU wants to get Lambert some seasoning. Should Smith wobble on punting or kickoffs, Lambert could play — but that, I think, has to be fairly early in the season.

And the return men? I wouldn’t take the depth chart as gospel. For starters, WVU has myriad options available. I mean, how do you not let Jordan Thompson return kicks. He has that Noel Devine “I’m a defender running down the field to make the tackle and I can’t find the return man” quality.

Plus, Tavon AND Stedman on kickoffs? That seems a little risky, but WVU also isn’t locking itself into those two when Thompson and Brodrick Jenkins and maybe others (Travares Copeland) are good at it. As for punt returns, I haven’t seen Tavon do anything in that realm, so I can’t say he’s better than ever, which he says is the case. I’ll believe him for now, but the first time one bounces and rolls and people gasp, how short is that leash? I don’t know. Just asking …

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Depth chart for start of practice tomorrow

August 20, 2012 by Mike Casazza

Can’t want to see what this looks like in 12 days …

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That’s it! Miramar High is ridiculous

by Mike Casazza

Noted WVU supporter Miramar High has in the past few years given the Mountaineers Josh Taylor, Geno Smith, Stedman Bailey and Ivan McCartney. Would you believe that two more freshmen are suddenly in position to perhaps make an impact in 2012?

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Cecil Level now on scholarship

by Mike Casazza

New to the blog? Pardon the rest of us for casually pumping our fists this morning. Cecil Level is on scholarship, mostly because he’s gone from special teams steamroller to capable cornerback. Congrats to him on the next step of his story.