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4:45: Welcome one and all. Back and better than some other time when things weren’t quite as good as they are now. You are looking live at the theme for the night: South Florida, the Evil Empire.
West Virginia is 1-2 here all-time, garnished the already-earned BCS invite in 2005, embarrassed itself with the Yankees caps thing and then had a near-BCS buster loss in 2007 and lost timidly in 2009 when Bill Stewart did not throw anyone under the bus … and then promptly threw Keith Tandy under the bus.
And now the Mountaineers need a win tonight and a Cincinnati win at home Saturday to get to the BCS — and certainly this part of the equation is the hardest.
Leading the Bulls on parade, it appears, will be B.J. Daniels. He’s officially a gametime decision, but word is he’ll start barring anything unexpected. Obviously, he’s a threat with his legs, but the Mountaineers were confidently convinced that if he played he wouldn’t run often and risk injury.
At stake for USF — and, by association, for WVU — is bowl eligibility. The Bulls can get it and the Mountaineers can block it.
Off to the stadium. Texts from Game Day is on. See you in a bit, but be warned: I’ll be on deadline tonight and probably limit my commentary, especially in the second half. Entertain yourselves, as can.
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There’s a big reason Stedman Bailey, despite a modest three receptions for 80 yards, was named West Virginia’s offensive champion for his performance against Pitt. The biggest reason? He was pretty darn efficient.
“We only threw the ball to him three times,” quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital said. “That’s the kind of impact he has for us.”
One of Bailey’s receptions was a 63-yard touchdown, when he shoved a defender away from an attempted tackle. It cut Pitt’s lead to 14-7 in the second quarter. He had few other openings the rest of the way, and finished with fewer than 100 yards for just the fourth time this season.
“They put two guys over Stedman the entire game,” Spavital said. “They had a guy underneath and a guy on top of him. We needed the other outside receivers to step up and make plays. At times they did and at times they didn’t.”
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The man circled is not Jorge Wright, but the umpire Friday night, Richard Feeney, who actually did make the right call when he threw his penalty flag at Wright for the illegal block. Even Wright admitted as much.
“He said he slipped,” Holgorsen said. “It’s a penalty. You can’t deliberately try to take their knees out. You can go low, but you can’t go below the waist. He shot down low and said he did it. He made a mistake.”
Holgorsen wasn’t so convinced when he was briefed on the sideline by the linesman, Kavin McGrath. He explained the call to Holgorsen and Holgorsen replied — and I’m paraphrasing — that he hadn’t seen that called in 15 football years. Well, it’s happening more and more this season and in this league.
I was pretty surprised when it was called Friday and then when it came up in a conversation with Someone some time after. The reply to me made it make more sense: It’s become a point of emphasis because USF has been doing it this season — and, presumably, opponents have expressed their disapproval to the Big East to the point the officials have been instructed to watch for it. Something to keep an eye on tomorrow night.
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As Akron Coach Keith Dambrot sees things, his team was at a disadvantage against a Bob Huggins team playing Bob Huggins defense because the Zips were without suspended point guard Alex Abreu — and then Jabarie Hinds happened.
“We have some offensive issues with our point guard out so we expected that the pressure was going to bother us, which it did, but we hung around defensively,” Coach Keith Dambrot said. “But in a 3 minute, 40 second stretch, we went from 24-18 and shooting a free throw to getting blown out of the gym.”
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Not sure if this is a big deal of if you can’t make a big enough deal out of it, but Curtis Feigt, who kind of saved the game Friday night, who will make his first career start Thursday at right tackle against one of the best defensive lines in the country, was with the scout team up until the day WVU started preparing for Cincinnati.
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That kangaroo is what the University of Akron uses for its mascot, but only because a zip — short for zipper — would not be cool.
You should know, though, that the zipper you’re thinking of — the on on your slacks or coats — is not today what it was back then. The zipper was a pair of rubber overshoes you wore in rain or snow when you wanted to keep your feet dry. Akron being the rubber capital of the world, Akron being where zippers were popularized, the connection was made and Akron became the Zippers.
That beat out a list of possibilities, including the Golden Blue Devils, Hillbillies, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks and Cheveliers.
Then the button fly went out of style and the zipper took its place and Akron had a perception problem to address. The school shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Three years later, Zippy the Kangaroo became the official mascot and people were not happy with the explanation that the kangaroo had the speed, agility, power and “undying determination” that all student-athletes should strive to exhibit.
It remains one of the most usual college mascots going … and is one of eight female mascots in college sports. I dare you to name the others.
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There’s something to be said about where Butch Jones might be mentally Thursday night and then Saturday afternoon. Whatever West Virginia’s Mountaineers do Thursday night in Tampa sets the mood for Cincinnati v. Syracuse as well as the Jones Family Bank Account.
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WVU’s late-season changes continue as Dana Holgorsen said Monday his team will have new starters at right tackle and right guard — and I hope you appreciate how unusual that is from Dana. He just doesn’t say stuff like this at the beginning of the week, yet he said Curtis Feigt and Quinton Spain will start at USF, which is No. 2 nationally in sacks and tackles for a loss.
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Two things not mentioned in the Texts from Pitt Game Day:
1) In the Backyard Brawl, there was a (Curtis) Feigt on the field.
2) Jeff Casteel had a whale of a week.
For various reasons, WVU’s defensive coordinator was rolling off the lips of many last week. Was it that the performance this season has thus far checked in under the level many have come to expect? Was it that the performance this season has rekindled heated debates about the 3-3-5? Was it The Product being stocked at Arizona? Was it the premature and unfair (even if they might be accurate) predictions Casteel would land there … and solely because he once worked with Rodriguez?
I don’t know, and I suppose the explanations are unique. I just happen to think Casteel was discussed and deliberated more last week than at any time since Rodriguez went to Michigan — and maybe even longer than that. Then his defense went out and performed exceptionally for three quarters. Not perfect. Not without help from the opposition. Overall, though, it was a solid, improved and winning performance.
Pitt’s first drive went 71 yards for a touchdown. The third went 52 yards for a touchdown. Of the final 13, not one went more than 23 yards and the two field goals came on short fields after turnovers on Pitt punts.
There haven’t been a lot of those games this season. Don’t look now, but that’s twice in two weeks the WVU defense has done about all it could do to contribute to a win. Again, not dominant, but darned effective. Don’t get me wrong. This is not last season … but this is not last season, either. The talent and the depth is just not there. It’s not close. Yet one thing I’ve always, always said about Casteel is his defenses typically get better throughout the season and are playing their best at the end.
And the sign of a really good team is when one part picks up the other. The offense has helped the defense often this season. Now the defense is helping the offense. In the first nine games, the Mountaineers allowed 27.44 points per game. Against Syracuse, Rutgers and Louisville, the Mountaineers gave up 49, 31 and 38 — and, yes, some of that was special teams, but the point remains. In the first nine games, the offense was averaging 38.22 points per game. In the past two games, WVU has scored 24 and 21 and allowed 21 and 20. The Mountaineers have won both and are now a win Thursday at USF and a Cincinnati win Saturday at home against Connecticut away from getting to the BCS.
Surfing the avenue. Mad at you, where I used to battle crews back when Antoinette had that attitude. Cover me I’m going in, walls closing in got us busting off these pistols. My readers got issues again. Same song, armed with the mega bomb. Text you out the frame and then I’m gone. My edits are in [brackets].
6:59:
Wtf is the mtneer wearing on his head?
7:06:
From Graham in the locker room: “What separates us is character and class” Lets see if that comes into play tonight
7:08:
Best uniform combo for WVU – hands down!
7:15:
Illegal block on the defense guess the refs want to eat [it] too.
