You’ll remember Tavon had “some sort of work” done to a finger on a hand last week. Well, Tavon broke the base of his right pinky and had to have surgery to insert screws. The thing is still swollen, but Austin reported experiencing no trouble whilst catching 11 passes for 122 yards against Maryland.
“I caught every ball thrown my way,” he said. “If they’d thrown me 100 more I would have caught 100 more.”
Oliver Luck’s Wednesday statement
“President Clements and I represented West Virginia University at last night’s BIG EAST meeting in New York. The group concluded the meeting with a strategy to recruit top level BCS-caliber institutions that match the league’s strong athletic and academic histories and traditions.
“As I stated before, WVU is an excellent flagship, land-grant University, with national-caliber athletic and academic programs. We are, and will remain, a national player in college athletics.
“The conference office will coordinate any further discussion on this issue.”
Oliver Luck’s Sunday statement
“There is no question that the landscape of college athletics is once again changing. West Virginia University has great tradition as the state’s flagship land-grant institution, and we will continue working to do what’s best for our University and its athletic teams. No matter how the college athletic landscape changes, there is no doubt WVU is and will remain a national player.”
I don’t know, maybe it’s unfair. Maybe it’s the fourth day of this nonsense and I’m losing it. Still, when and how the word “we” is and is not used …
(Also, I’d file this under “surprise” in that I’m surprised it came up at all, but I’m told there was a suggestion to raise the Big East exit fee at the meeting, but it wasn’t considered.)
Interesting point to consider this week: LSU is going to run and run and then run some more and WVU’s defense is going to have to play fast and physical to combat LSU’s size and style. These are big backs, big fullbacks and big linemen for the Tigers and anything less than the Mountaineers flying around and hitting people with force and frequency won’t cut it.
And then there are those two bogus (editorializing!) penalties against WVU in the Maryland game. Those unnecessary roughness calls are aimed to curb the aggression and the physicality, even if hits and habits like that will be necessary for the Mountaineers against LSU. It must be legal, of course, but it must be present.
Fortunately for WVU, neither of the College Park “offenders” are swayed by the penalties.
“If I had another opportunity to make the same play, I’d probably do the same thing again,” Goode said. “As a defense, you have to go out there and play with energy and want to make hard hits and want to make big plays.
“When you’re playing a team like LSU, if the same situation comes up, the best thing I can do is make the same play.”
… and nothing has changed. Seems strange to say after the dizzying series of events that began Saturday, but, really, what’s different?
The Pac-12 added a wrinkle last night by choosing to remain at 12. But for how long? If is is permanent, then the Big XII has been preserved. For now. Missouri’s interest in the SEC and vice versa remains of interest, but surely the Tigers remain. Or not? Texas and its Longhorn Network are still big-time issues and are probably what talked the Pac-12 out of expansion. Then again, maybe this is a timeout until that uneasiness, or that conflict, can be reconciled.
Which brings us to this: The Big East is still without Pitt and Syracuse and still no more likely to keep things together after Tuesday’s summit and announcement.
It’s great they all got together and did something and said something, but what happens if the Big Twhatever calls Rutgers? What if the ACC asks Rutgers and UConn? What if the SEC doesn’t get Missouri — Aside: What of Texas A&M? — and Mike “I can get to 16 teams in 15 minutes” Slive calls WVU? It seems like a real reach to believe those schools would prefer the Big East’s leftovers and its additions, whoever they may be.
What we don’t (yet) know is what may matter most: Did the Big East raise its exit fee? Was the 27-month exit period cemented … or extended? The exit period can be broken, but you’re probably going to court if you do breach the contract and the Big East will argue damages, which would then have to be paid on top of the exit fee. And legal fees. Bumping up the fee could deter that. Were the presidents silly enough to agree to that? Was the Big East silly enough not to insist on that? Basically, was anything signed to formally preserve the Big East? That’s potentially critical because the Big East meeting was breaking and the statement was being drafted before the Pac-12 changed the game and stuck with its 12 teams.
And that leads to this final point. The Big East and the Pac-12 have nothing against one another. They are seemingly the two conferences that have no issues or history with one another. They don’t ever bump into one another like all the others tend to do. And big names in one conference are friends with big names in other the other. Was there some communication between the two that makes this all make more sense? Or does no one trust anyone here?
Some say it was a curious call. Dana Holgorsen called it, so he says it was the right one. Whatever the case, WVU had a third-and-goal at the Maryland 4-yard line late in Saturday’s win and called for a corner fade to Stedman Bailey. Eu Smith’s throw instead hit the cornerback in the back and all Bailey could do was apply a bear hug to Cameron Chism and hope he could, by some sort of magic, secure the ball.
Incomplete pass, 21-yard field goal and some white-knuckle moments on Maryland’s ensuing drive. But look back at that, and some other goal line passes, and it seems Geno has a tough time with that throw.
“We knew we’d get single coverage and we told him to look,” Coach Dana Holgorsen said. “Stedman had an unbelievable release, but the throw was terrible. It’s a part of Geno’s game that has to get better.”
Strong words. Accurate words.
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Time for sign ideas …
Good stuff once again from the Texts from Game Day. I knew we had a good one when WVU was blowing out Maryland and touching on all the talking points — fast start, turnovers, running game, etc. — and then when infuriating factors came into play — flags, lull, comeback. A good mix of events and emotions is what makes this thing go. Overall, a pretty good recap of the 37-31 win two days later.
If only you could see just how lonely and how cold and how frostbit I’ve become. My back’s against the wall. When push comes to shove I just stand up and scream text them all. My edits are in [brackets].
(9:47 AM):
Worried that I’m not worried about today’s game.
(11:02 AM):
You think Marinatto is there to beg Luck to stay?
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Let’s contain the meltdown. Throw all your questions, comments and concerns here and I’ll be back later with what I gather. I can tell you right now the people I’ve talked to are deeply concerned and worried.
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9:42 am: Maryland arrives in style. Again, I don’t know what that means, but there it is.
10:09: It’s cool and a little breezy and we’ve had some rain drops, but the weather is supposed to hold up throughout the game.
10:12: WVU’s last non-conference road win against a BCS team was here against the Terrapins in 2007. Maryland, meanwhile, has won 27 of its last 31 non-conference road games and two of the losses have come to the Mountaineers.
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Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which has walked a puzzled dog past an empty, though noisy stadium. West Virginia is about to play its first road game of the season and has taken all the appropriate measures — which means, it hasn’t taken many measures.
One of the most overhyped elements to every season is preparing for hostile crowds. Teams do it all the time. There’s no trick. You pump in loud music and manufactured noise and have you players practice under auditory duress and hope they don’t give in to the emotion and the energy, which you can’t simulate. The Mountaineers, who have played two home games, have done it every Thursday. Yesterday, of course, was Thursday and for about two hours my little house one eight-minute walk from the stadium had its now customary serenade.
Now I do mention this for a reason. WVU has played two games and just hasn’t been very good at the start of either. Before the Marshall game, Dana Holgorsen jabbed his players by watching film from their 2010 game and noting the Thundering Herd wanted it more. And then the Mountaineers came out kind of flat. That then became a point of emphasis for practice in the second week as Holgorsen stressed WVU ought to want it more and had better give the opponent proper respect, even if the opponent was a FCS team like wee Norfolk State. Well, said Spartans led 12-10 at halftime and Holgorsen, as you could probably imagine, was flabbergasted.
Now you take that tendency on the road knowing full well a crowd grows throughout the game as long as its team is in the game. The only way to nix that, Holgorsen said, is to get a hot start. The Mountaineers have not had one yet and you’d probably be surprised to learn Holgorsen’s teams the past three years have not been habitual hot starters.
Holgorsen’s offense at Oklahoma State outscored teams 127-62 in the first quarter last season, but was tied twice and trailing twice entering the second quarter. In five road games, the Cowboys led twice, trailed twice and were tied once, but totaled just 44 points.
The story was similar in two seasons in charge of the offense at Houston. In 2009, the Cougars outscored teams 162-75 in the first quarter, but also trailed twice and were tied four times, all on the road. Houston also trailed 14-0 after the first quarter of the bowl game. A year before, the Cougars trailed six times at the end of the first quarter and only outscored teams 80-72. In five road games, they were tied three times, tied once and in the lead once.
“Our opening plays are normally plays we have success with against what we think well see,” said quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital, who was Holgorsen’s graduate assistant at Houston and Oklahoma State. “We look at the success rate of those plays go with those.
“Sometimes the other team brings out a different formation and then we have to take another look at how they play. That opening script, we try to get a feel for how a team plays. Sometimes you have to send some feelers out with how they’ll play certain things and then go from there.”
You know the cliche and Holgorsen’s success has been more about the finish than the start. Look at what’s happened the two games here even. The offense has built and surged and finished pretty strong — and even if the Marshall game ended early, there seemed to be a comforting consensus the Mountaineers were onto something.
What’s it mean tomorrow? Well, it would behoove WVU to be in the game from the beginning and to get past the noon start, but it’s also reassuring for them to know they’re in the game as long as a deficit does not get out of control. Behold the beauty of the passing offense.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t put yourself in position to be badgered.
Jeff in Akron said:
Sheik, and Mike, I took both of you at your word, just got back from Hibbett Sports with something I thought I would never buy, an Old Gold(yellow) hat. If it all goes bad from here on out, its on you two.
Just to keep tabs on who is new here and who are originals, or at least veterans, show of hands: Who knows why it’s funny Jeff went to Hibbet’s and not Dicks? I still laugh, Jeff. Good for you. (Answer can be found here.)
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