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

When Kay-Jay Harris was let out of the bottle

September 15, 2010 by Mike Casazza

I, for one, am glad this Maryland-WVU rivalry is back. Quality series, BCS conferences, typically even-matched teams, fun road trips and just enough feistiness between the teams, no doubt due to proximity and familiarity.

Many of the players know one another through high school or the recruiting circuit. A number of the coaches have gone against or with the others in games in the past, to say nothing of recruiting battles in the region.

You’ll remember a few years back this thing was humming and, for reasons like Scott McBrien’s transfer and the consequences, the tension was fervent. The Terps were also a pretty solid program, so much so that they were party to the Under Armour ad campaign.

If you don’t remember, trust that Kay-Jay Harris did.

In 2004, after West Virginia won a 19-16 overtime battle in Morgantown, running back Kay-Jay Harris entered the interview room and shouted, “We must protect this house!” a mocking salute to Maryland’s Under Armour commercial. “That was our slogan all week,” Harris said after the game. “Is Under Armour second-guessing why they didn’t come to Coach [Rich Rodriguez] to give him an endorsement deal?”

For as spirited as the rivalry has been, there has been a dearth of competitive games in recent years. In the last 15 meetings, only that 2004 game was decided by less than 10 points.

Chat tomorrow at 2 p.m.

by Mike Casazza

The bell will ring on Round Two tomorrow and I’m going with a new tack. You can go to the page now and submit questions that will be waiting in queue and, of course, you can follow along live.

I’m going to try to get as many individuals in as I can this time, as opposed to just going in order of submission. The “Hey, why did Person A get in six times and I didn’t get in once?” was a good complaint. I’ll strive for more balance and inclusion this time … but feel free to ask six questions again, too.

Also, some observers who didn’t follow live last week and then saw that awful post, where I thought I had provided the transcript, were under the impression there were glitches with the actual chat.

Erroneous!

It went very smooth. No issues, or none that I know of, at least.

Which leads to this: Any suggestions for this upcoming edition? I’m open to ideas.

Another consequence of the Hogan suspension

by Mike Casazza

Yes, it matters how the suspension reflects on player, coach and program. No, you can’t tell from looks, but it must bother Stewart, for he has a bond with Hogan through recruiting and then helping him through past issues. And who starts and who else plays at Hogan’s spot Saturday and beyond?

All good questions, just not the best. Who carries the sledge hammer onto the field Saturday? The Post-Gazette’s Colin Dunlap is on it.

Your Villanova talking points

by Mike Casazza

The Big East has invited Villanova, the defending FCS champion, to the conference’s football table. On the surface, it would make sense and it does preserve the very important basketball dynamic. The football side has its ninth team and members no longer have to schedule that always tricky 12th game/fifth non-conference game. That means, for most, a guaranteed seventh (eighth?) home game, more revenue generated from playing host and less money spent paying teams to come to campus.

In short, more money in everyone’s pockets.

Then again, Villanova would take a slice of everyone’s revenue sharing prize. And the Wildcats would have to spend, spend, spend to fund a a scholarship endowment that gets them from the FCS limit of 63 scholrships to the FBS limit of 85. Oh, and they’ll add to football facilities. And find a palce to play, which probably means paying rent somewhere. And … well, it’s not as simple and certain is it may appear.

Stewart press conference at 1 p.m.

September 14, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Brandon Hogan’s immediate future, with or without WVU, will be addressed. Follow it here. Meantime, any guesses are welcome, but my hunch is indefinite suspension, though with no guarantee the kid ever plays for the Mountaineers again. It could be a while before the legal process plays out and then Hogan must again endear himself to his teammates.

I do have two questions:

1) Is this a big moment for Stewart?
2) Should it be?

Not sure that makes perfect sense, but I do think a lot of people are going to form more definitive opinions about Stewart and his handle based on what he does today. Then again, I’m not entirely convinced a coach should be so strongly evaluated by what a player did after 3 a.m.

There’s a connection, certainly, and maybe it’s stronger when a player has been given the opportunities Hogan has, but I’m intrigued to see how strong people believe it should be.

There are no wrong answers, by the way.

As for the Hogan chain reaction …

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Eu-phoria? They blew it with the name change!

by Mike Casazza

Three emails from Friday night/Saturday morning.

Subject: I got a feeling!

It’s euphoric!

Subject: I can’t tell you how disapointed I am

…not to see the phrase “Eu-phoria” in a headline today.

Subject: [No subject]

The Legend Of Eu is born. Euphoria!

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Is this the end for Brandon Hogan?

September 13, 2010 by Mike Casazza

Serious and obvious question after Hogan was arrested and charged with driving under the influence Sunday morning.

The series has been extended

by Mike Casazza

WVU-Maryland, that is. A four-year contract begins Saturday and the schools alternate home games. That much we knew before the schools announced Monday another four-year contract will begin in 2014. Maryland, which has the home game in 2013, plays host in 2014 and in 2017, which means the Mountaineers get their back-to-back home games in 2015-16.

As it relates to the  other series … this means probably nothing toward that, apart from there being less room on the docket now.

9/25/10 WVU at LSU

by Mike Casazza

It’s a 9 pm kick on ESPN2.

Slow down, everybody … or hurry up. Mullen’s call

by Mike Casazza

One of the two is probably pretty concerning, but WVU is just two games into the season with a whole lot of time left to address and adjust — and trust that’s going to happen inside the Puskar Center. Still, many people want to change many things. And people. Already. Seems premature right now.

Abandoning one idea or person that was given time and attention from the beginning of camp to now not only wastes that time, but it compromises the upcoming time that a new idea or person must be introduced and improved. There may come a time to cut and go, but as far as major items are concerned, this is not it.

Remember, too, that there’s at least momentum emanating from Friday night’s conclusion. Perhaps the offensive line, for example, can keep that going. I don’t think it’s a reach to say no one over there is very happy with that group’s performance Friday, but they were OK at the end. (And did you know Don Barclay and Eric Jobe were pretty sick before and throughout the game?)

What’s tricky and probably a little dangerous, at least for the purpose of this space, is trying to approach any conclusions or definitive opinions after two games.

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