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

When J.T. Thomas went to sleep

October 1, 2009 by Mike Casazza

It’s impossible to watch a West Virginia game this season and not take note of the high level at which J.T. Thomas (III) is playing this season. He leads the team in tackles, tackles for a loss and pass break-ups and has to be elbow-deep in some sort of espionage.

How else do we explain the repeated incidents in which we find him in the opponent’s backfield?

Granted, he’s on the field a lot. The junior with good genes starts at weak side linebacker and doesn’t leave the field on third down. He usually slides over to the strong side and has been playing the middle with Reed Williams out.

In short, every game has the potential to be a big game when you play the way he plays, but he’s had this Colorado game on his mind for a while now. Thomas lasted all of two snaps in last year’s game before getting buffaloed by fullback Maurice Cantrell.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate.

The film had another secret, too. Thomas figured it must have been a big hit to have that big of an effect.

“The thing that surprised me the most was I get into head-on collisions all the time with fullbacks and linemen,” he said. “Watching the film, it was more like a love tap and I was asleep. I couldn’t understand how that happened.”

We’re working on it

September 30, 2009 by Mike Casazza

And when I say we, I mean someone else who is significantly more qualified. I’m hoping the bad breaks will be fixed. Apparently it’s a matter of re-uploading things. Meanwhile, I don’t want to create any more work than what is already being done so I’m going to press pause and wait until we’re back on track. Apologies.

Mike Locksley knuckles up

September 29, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Once upon a time, WVU had a rather small problem of preparing for a BCS game without a head coach, but with a whole lot of distractions. True story.

I think that’s what kind of established this little vehicle here because there was nonstop news and nastiness and this was a way to take a different look at things. A slanted look, of course, but a needed one all the same.

Personally, my favorite episode was the “A.D. for a Day” exercise in which you suggested coaching candidates and I weeded through the arguments before hiring one. It was fantastic and we ultimately picked Mike Locksley, the hotshot offensive coordinator from Illinois who was also credited with a great deal of previous success at Maryland and Florida.

People eventually jumped on board, but Locksley was never a serious candidate. I/We got a lot of comments and compliments on that post, but I was privately told by separate people there were concerns about Locksley’s makeup.

Well, Mike Locksley is having a tough time at the University of New Mexico. He hasn’t really given our fine work a black eye — he gave it a fat lip. Literally.

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That thing he said? He never said it.

by Mike Casazza

Should Colorado beat WVU Thursday night, it needs only to go 8-1 the rest of the way to win 10 games and fulfill Coach Dan Hawkins’ preseason guarantee of a 10-win season. That’d be a pretty neat story bec — What’s that? Taken out of context? Get out of here!

“The thing is, I never made that statement. Somebody put something on the Internet and everybody runs with it. When I talked about the expectation of excellence, what I talked about was the expectation of winning 10 games. But what came out was I guaranteed it and promised it. I didn’t say ’10 wins, no excuses.’ But why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

“But what I was talking about was having that expectation of excellence, having that expectation. ? I just don’t know how you go out and just be mediocre. I don’t know how to do that. I would say this – that since the day I came here, they said, ‘How long do you think it will take [to win]?’ I said, ‘Hey, I would be disappointed if we aren’t back in the thick of it next year.’ I would be. I’m just not a guy who believes in low standards and low expectations. I never have been that way, ever.”

Ride shotgun with Jeff Mullen

by Mike Casazza

Or is it Pistol? I’m not sure. Irregardless, his is a job some 60,000 people think they can do, when, in reality, it’s a responsibility most people do not entirely understand. It’s quick and tense and those two are intensified in a no-huddle attack.

But you likely knew that. Did you know play-calling is an open conversation that can involve six other people besides Jeff Mullen? Can you believe WVU’s offensive coordinator rarely gets to see the play he calls? Would you have guessed play-calling is less play-by-play and more series-by-series? Are you impressed Mullen relies solely on mechanical pencils? Do you feel better knowing the Mountaineers never rarely wing it and what happens in the game was planned days before?

No matter what WVU encounters, be it a key third-and-short, a red-zone possession or a time for a trick play, it’s something the staff has already discussed. The game has been played out on paper before it even starts.

Mullen just has to put it all in the right order.

“You’ve got to trust kids and your plan and hope your kids trust the plan,” he said. “You’ve just got to. Of course, every now and then you look back and say, ‘Man, I could have put them in a better situation,’ but that’s being an armchair quarterback.

“At the end of the day, the hard part is the week of (leading up to the game), in my opinion. That’s a lot harder than game day. Game day you’re just nervous because you want your kids to execute.”

Housekeeping

by Mike Casazza

Today’s going to be a little unusual. The blog is scheduled for cosmetic surgery today and will be under from noon to 4 p.m., which, I realize, is the hot part of the day here. I’ve been advised not to post anything in that time, so I’ll get it all out of the way beforehand with a few items to digest and discuss.

Additionally, the people behind the change here are committed to fixing all the glitches involved with getting to the blog. I’ve received emails from many of you in the past about busted links in ads. We think those have been fixed, but if you ever see one, please email me to let me know and I’ll pass it along so it gets fixed for good.

Noel would like to plead the fifth

September 28, 2009 by Mike Casazza

He was pressed and prodded and even asked why he’s been on the sideline the first play of the last two games, but Noel Devine would not take the bait.

“It has nothing to do with me,” he said. “I trust their play calling and whenever I get the ball I’m going to make the most of it. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”

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The one about soccer

by Mike Casazza

The neat thing about soccer is that, by and large, we don’t quite get it. For some reason, that’s always been intimidating to people I know who don’t watch the game. I think it should be accommodating.

There’s a Seinfeld episode where George is interviewing kids for a scholarship through his dead fiancee Susan’s foundation. George asks one impressive applicant about his favorite chess player and the kid mumbles something unintelligible. George doesn’t know any better and simply plays along as if the kid had named someone real.

Soccer is like that. It’s easy to play along in the stands. There’s really only one rule — offsides — and you can quickly find yourself participating even though you may not know what’s happening. You mutter about an offsides call or demand a yellow card. Next thing you know, a daisy-cutter from 30 yards out is skipping just past the woodwork and you’re yelling, “Ambitious!”

My wife and I went to a WVU game a few weeks back and she bemoaned the way “misplaced kicks” were hurting the Mountaineers. I laughed and when I was about to explain there was no such thing, I realized I was very wrong. There are misplaced kicks.

My point? I fear people are missing out on WVU’s men’s team because they just don’t get it. Simply said, these kids are fun.

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Syracuse surging toward No. 1?

by Mike Casazza

The feisty Orange have a two-game winning streak for the first time since 2006 after a –ahem — come-from-behind 41-24 victory against so-so Maine of the FCS. Syracuse is now 2-2 without a bad performance among the four games … though Saturday’s wasn’t a great one.

“We haven’t won a lot of games, so I’m going to enjoy this,” Big Doug told the gathered media afterwards. “Hey, we won a game. It’s hard to win a football game. You guys should know that. You’ve seen what’s gone on here the past four years.”

What’s it mean for our power rankings? Not a thing because it was a pretty good weekend for the league.

1) Cincinnati (4-1, LW No. 1): Here’s an idea! If Cincinnati doesn’t have the ball, it makes it hard for Cincinnati to score. Fresno State, which is now somehow 1-3, owned time of possession and really pressed The UC. Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard still connected twice for touchdowns and the defense did just enough to make 28 points stand. That’s becoming a theme which has to be noticed now by the rest of the conference. The Bearcats are in the AP top 10 for the first time ever. Up next: 10/3 at Miami, Ohio.

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Friday Feedback

September 25, 2009 by Mike Casazza

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which has all its luggage, thanks to a kind and anonymous couple from Charleston, S.C., I think. I rarely ever check my bags anymore because my luck was once so obviously bad I learned not to. There was a string of maybe four or five flights in a row when my bag just never showed up.

I was young in the game back then and didn’t realize how easier my life could have been with a carry-on and how I could still pack all the stuff I needed. So combine that with the cost now required to check a bag and it seemed smarter to take all my luggage on the plane. Wouldn’t you know it, I haven’t lost a bag since the O’Reilly All-College Classic back in 2005 … and I only checked one then because I was headed to a family function the day after the game and needed some more clothing than usual.

So I’m in Atlanta Sunday and admittedly cloudy because Jarrett Brown slept more than I did Saturday night. I’m on the concourse shuttle at 2 p.m. for my 3:50 flight. We stop at concourses A, B, C, and D. I’m leaving from Gates D21 and when we arrive at the D stop I go to grab my bag … which is not there. That triggered a frantic recovery effort which was improbably complicated because lost and found at the country’s busiest airport is closed on Sunday.

I had to go to all six concourses — T, A, B, C, D and E — and fill out reports in case the white courtesy phone called. Never happened even though I was in Atlanta until 6:20 p.m. We were supposed to leave Charlotte at 7:50 and got there just in time … to see it was delayed two hours. We left at 9:55 p.m., which was about an hour after I was supposed to be in Morgantown, and landed around 11:30. I’m usually worn down by traveling by January. This is unprecedented. The only positive was Atlanta calling me Monday morning and saying a couple had turned my bag in with a note I never got explaining how they accidentally took my bag … as well as theirs. I can live with that.

Speaking of, when was the last time WVU’s first loss of the season was met with such, ummm, indifference? Is it 2005? Maybe 2003? The Mountaineers have been national title contenders, or at the least hopefuls, for several seasons in a row and that first loss was just devastating because it seemed to ruin everything. This year? Not so much. Why, I even think fans have been pretty rational. Wasn’t a great outcome or a bad effort and people realize things could and maybe should be better. Sometimes you just have to be water.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be careful how you ask for sugar.

Jim said:

I’m curious to know why Jared Brown was throwing off his back foot so much during the Auburn game? Could that have been the reason for so many picks? He has to use his body & not just his arm. On another note, at one point in the game, after taking a hit he was shown shaking his head like he got his bell rung. Then after getting in the huddle, he was shown once again shaking his head. Knocked goofy or a concussion? Maybe there were things at work during the second half that we didn’t know about and maybe the coaches/trainers didn’t notice either. can you follow up on this?

Honest opinion? He makes those throws because he can. I thought he got hit pretty good during one of Auburn’s interception returns and then again in the third quarter. I noted he looked a little weird on the sideline, but I never noticed it in the game. Yesterday he told us Auburn threw a new defense at him in the third quarter that he wasn’t expecting to see. Maybe that was the confusion?

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