(I was down these past couple of days because I feared Texts From Game Day was done. Then I got an inspiring visit from an old friend and, well, it’s back in action. So bring your best texts to the table tonight and we’ll eat them up Monday morning. And in all seriousness, thank linds. She helped me pull this out of the fire.)
Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which would like to lay out some facts: Heading into the Syracuse game, WVU is 5-1 overall with a loss to LSU. It is the only ranked team in the Big East. It has the best defense and the best offense with the most explosive talent and the best quarterback on that side of the ball. And because of all of that, the Mountaineers are the early favorite to win the conference.
That was last year.
Everything I just stated is the same this year, including putting the crown atop the head of the Mountaineers before November. We were very wrong last year and after that game it started to seem like there were issues. It was almost a year ago when I wrote this.
The Mountaineers like to believe they can attack a defense in a variety of ways. Fast tempo, five receivers, shotgun, under center, two tight ends, I-formation, one running back, three tackles, two fullbacks. That faith in flexibility at least explains Mullen’s late-game philosophy, but there’s a certain audacity to think you can do eight things when you haven’t proven you can do one or two.
Is this not an issue?
“I see a lot of good we’re doing, I just don’t see consistency,” Stewart said. “That’s as calm and as honest as I can answer that question. Are we masters of any one particular thing? No. We’ve got to get better.”
The season is past the halfway point and, yes, there is plenty of football to be played. The Big East remains very open and, in reality, all Saturday’s loss did to WVU was make a 7-0 conference record unattainable. There was a notion WVU could do it and while the optimism seemed understandable, it was also without a logical base.
The offense is searching for something good, but is spread out widely when it needs a more narrow focus. WVU can’t reliably stay out of its own way, either, and now opponents seem more able than before to provide additional roadblocks.
Penalties and turnovers and a lack of blocking and protection on the offensive line preceded a bad day by the quarterback. The Mountaineers would stand around fire and expect not to sweat. Now, defenses are turning up the heat.
Aaaaaand that was about the time certain people stopped talking to me. You know, I read that whole column now and I wonder if it was that clear before it. Were we missing sighs? Hell, that’s a typo. I meant signs, but there must have been sighs, too. And then, because I’m a headcase, I wonder the same right now … but I honestly feel like this is very different. There’s a level of competence that just didn’t exist in the same abundance before. I say this because others say this, though not in the same words.
“I think we’ve got a lot of confidence going into this and we know what we can do,” Barclay said. “We’ve got great schemes if everyone buys into it and has confidence in it. Last year, I think we didn’t know if we were a spread team or a power team or kind of both, but this year, we’ve got an identity.”
Nevertheless, good test for WVU tonight. The offensive line will be tasked. The receivers can’t be “about average.” Syracuse will be better on defense than the ranking and the statistics suggest. Dana Holgorsen said Syracuse has played good offenses, which explains the statistics, but I counter with this: Isn’t his a good offense? I think the feet go in the wet cement tonight.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t fudge it.
Karl said:
The line is WVU -14. Thoughts?
It was 131/2 at kickoff last year.
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