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

Decoding Bill Stewart

October 20, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Bill Stewart gets a lot of grief for the sometimes meandering manner of his press conferences. Sometimes we get confused trying to follow along and sort sense from nonsense. Quite often, there’s a good point lost in translation. 

Fortunately, there’s value in Decoding Bill Stewart. This week, WVU’s head coach is asked about what’s made his defense so effective of late. Stewart talks of shoestrings and Wicksy, but also of the value of speed, experience and even depth as they relate to the Mountaineers and what they do so well on the defensive side of the ball.

From Tuesday’s press conference

Question: “Coach, your defense is ranked nationally in many categories1 and among the tops in country2. What is it about that defense that’s coming together so well now?”

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Huggins grabs headlines

October 19, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Three recruits have pledged since Monday, the same day Jonnie West showed up at practice again. Plenty to write and talk about, yes?

Excuses or explanations? Devine’s toe, WVU’s game plan and the run game

by Mike Casazza

Believe it or not — and by now, you’re probably more inclined to believe it than not — but West Virginia is No. 7 in the Big East in rushing.

There are eight Big East teams.

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Regarding Casey Mitchell

by Mike Casazza

I’m going to have to assume, based on tweets from Kevin Jones and John Flowers, that Jonnie West is back with the basketball team. (It feels very strange to be getting news this way, but if they open the window …)

Many have assumed his return means Casey Mitchell is no more and his suspension was a precursor to dismissal. One isn’t linked with the other and Mitchell remains with the team.

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How a comic book will help Carey’s attendance

October 18, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Mike Carey says he’s done complaining talking about attendance at women’s basketball games.

“Every time I say something, a lot of people come up and say I cry about it all the time,” he said last week. “I guess I’m a crybaby about attendance.”

In his position, there are more and less noble things to cry about, I suppose, but he’s done with that spilled milk. There comes a point where you can only do and say so much — and he and his marketing team have pretty much reached that line.

Or not.

This season, which is shaping up to be maybe the best ever at the school, has a wild card. With unprecedented preseason buzz, a roster returning in tact and so many televised games, along comes an extremely fortuitious grant from the NCAA to generate awareness and increase attendance for women’s basketball.

The grant money is devoted to the design, production and distribution of the comic book, which will go to students in grades eight and under statewide as well as other youth and community groups. WVU and Starbridge will also develop an associated interactive website. The plan is to reveal both in conjunction with the start of the season early next month.

In addition to fostering awareness and popularity for the women’s team, each comic book will be good for a ticket voucher later in the season.

“The comic book initiative is the newest, biggest thing and it’ll be seen on the most widespread basis,” said Matt Wells, WVU’s director of sports marketing. “It has huge potential, I think, to take the grass roots, the elementary schools, the 4-H programs we had in place, and take it to a whole new level. We can take 10,000 comic books and put them in the hands of kids across the state.”

Luck upset by where visiting baseball teams dress

by Mike Casazza

Once again, a small item that’s part of a larger topic. WVU’s athletic director, Oliver Luck, seems a little embarrassed about the accommodations for baseball opponents.

“I think we need to expand a little bit,” said Luck, who later in the day – prior to the WVU-South Florida kickoff at Mountaineer Field – met with attending Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. “We need to make sure the entire Coliseum complex is what we need.

“By that, I mean we need to think right now of what we’re going to need 10, 20, 25 years from now.”

Luck said WVU “needs to look at suites and club seats for the 14,000-seat Coliseum.” He also is concerned about a lack of parking at the Coliseum, and wants some Olympic sports facilities enhanced.

“For example, we don’t have a visiting team locker room in baseball,” Luck said. “The visiting team has to dress at the hotel. That shouldn’t be at West Virginia.”

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‘Twenty points, we win. It’s in the book. Book it.’

by Mike Casazza

So says Jock Sanders, who you’d think would want to rack up points as much as anyone else, but who instead thinks the offense will flourish with WVU’s statistically-stout defense. This is pretty special stuff: No. 5 in total defense, No. 3 in scoring defense, No. 4 in run defense, No. 11 in pass defense. No. 11 in sacks. Sacks! 

I know, not the greatest competition, but you can only play who you play and the defense has thus far played its part.

And that part, more and more now, is about giving the offense a little levity and liberation knowing it won’t need to win shootouts or match scores again and again. The offense is instead charged with being effectively efficient — no turnovers, move the ball, control the clock and score some points — to give the defense the best change to win the game.

“We score 20, 21 points, I already know it’s a victory in the books,” said receiver Jock Sanders.

That’s about as bold as a hook-and-lateral in the red zone, but that’s the Mountaineers. What you might have considered to be conservative in Thursday’s 20-6 victory against USF was instead calculated and defined by the defense.

“We call plays based upon how they’re playing,” Mullen said.

“There are times we’ve got to score a bunch – not often – but when you get out there and they’re doing a really good job, you don’t want to give the opponent a short field and you want to eat clock. In the second half, we got that sense and what you saw, I attribute that directly to a defense playing its rear end off.”

Keith Tandy gets a prize

by Mike Casazza

Ten tackles, a forced fumble and an interception will do this for you.

Brief explanation of the hook-and-lateral

by Mike Casazza

We haven’t touched on this, apart from a brief give-and-go during the in-game post. I think any football fan is opinionated and intrigued about trick plays and, if nothing else, Jeff Mullen has given plenty in that arena.

He’s explained to me in the past his trick play philosophy — in involves field position, momentum, proximity to a turnover and likelihood a defense will take the bait for one play and fall for the trick play — and it was pretty much satisfied by the conditions preceding the hook-and-lateral Thursday.

Except field position. You generally see tricks between the 40-yard lines and the exceptions would be things like double reverses that can fit anywhere or tackle-eligibles that work near the goal line.

But a hook-and-lateral at the opponent’s 7? Allow Jeff Mullen to explain. (No link. Can’t find it online and the office had serious, serious web issues Thursday and Friday):

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Friday Feedback

October 15, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which sits back and lets the pieces fall into place this weekend.

West Virginia did its part last night with a sufficient victory against USF — not your father’s USF, I must say — and when everyone wakes up Sunday morning the picutre, just two weekends into the Big East season, might have some color.

Cincinnati is at Louisville tonight in a game I’ll be keeping an eye on on ESPN. Is Cincinnati the second horse in the race? Is Loisville the darkhorse? Is the Bearcats’ OL no longer a turnstyle? Is the Cardinals’ offense legit? Then tomorrow you have Pitt at Syracuse. Will the Panthers leave the dome a .500 club or at 2-4 with a loss in the Big East opener? Can the Orange — the Orange! — possibly start 5-1? And then what might be if WVU and Syracuse are both 5-1 on ESPN2 next week? Ben Schwartzwalder would be proud!

Things just might take shape, at least preliminarily, in a hurry. And for WVU’s concern, there is no better defense in the Big East. This year, without a truly frightening offense that might force the Mountaineers to engage in a shootout, that looks like the ultimate weapon. To that, the Mountaineers absolutely saw this coming.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, watch what you say.  

Karl said:

Very interesting results in the Big East this week. Who saw Syracuse winning a road game at South Florida? And Louisville beating Memphis 56-0? I know Memphis is terrible, but considering how the past few seasons went, Louisville scoring 56 on or shutting out anyone is news. For the league’s sake, it’s great to see these two programs playing competitive football again.

Indeed and I think Syracuse’s was more shocking. Yeah, 56 points is a lot — and for a first-year coach, no less — and Louisville hasn’t been confused with a juggernaut on either side of the ball in the past few seasons, but the Cardinals had actually played a very decent schedule, including at Arkansas State. Syracuse’s schedule was very weak and a game on the road at USF, a team it’d never beaten and rarely been competitive with, seemed like a sure loss. Defense and running did the trick, so much so that Bill Stewart was in his office at 6:30 a.m. Thursday going over the Syracuse-USF game one last time to take from it whatever he could. Speaks a lot about what’s going on, I think. 

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