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WVU v. Miami: The Russell Athletic Bowl

December 28, 2016 by Mike Casazza
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You are looking live at Camping World Stadium, site of today’s Russell Athletic Bowl between No. 14 West Virginia and Miami. It’s a pretty good coup for the bowl itself. Miami is Miami, or The U, if you must, and it will always have cache and especially in Florida. But the Hurricanes were very good at different times this season — first early and now late — and reached the top 10 after a 4-0 start.

The Mountaineers give the bowl some significance, too. They have 10 wins, after all, and they, too, were in the top 10. That brings me to an interesting point about the life WVU now lives. Consider WVU’s past 10-win seasons and where they finished:

2011: Orange Bowl
2007: Fiesta Bowl
2006: Gator Bowl
2005: Sugar Bowl
1993: Sugar Bowl
1988: Fiesta Bowl
1969: Peach Bowl
1922: East-West Christmas Classic

The opponents? No. 14 Clemson, No. 3 Oklahoma, Florida State, No. 8 Georgia, No. 8 Florida, No. 1 Notre Dame, South Carolina and Gonzaga. Let’s disregard the 1969 and 1922 games. Is this game the … worst? … of the lot? Ten wins got WVU into the third Big 12 bowl. Different world, this one. (Aside: Speaking of WVU and the Wishbone, the 1969 game was Jim Carlen’s famous Wishbone surprise.)

We’ve diced and devoured this one for a while now. What do you say we get into the fun stuff? And by that, I mean wait for the midfield melee before kickoff! Because as I type this …

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Those who don’t learn from history …

by Mike Casazza

How many things can we say are the same today as they were almost 11 years ago? The changes happen faster and more regularly in sports, and it seems to be especially true for college football. But in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, West Virginia played Georgia. The Bulldogs were coached by Mark Richt. He coaches Miami, which takes on the Mountaineers in today’s Russell Athletic Bowl. Georgia’s leading rusher? Thomas Brown. He’s now Miami’s offensive coordinator.

“What’s crazy is if you throw on the old Georgia film and you throw on this film, it’s very similar,” WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said.

And so it was the preparations for today’s game began with the teams scurrying for copies of the 2006 Sugar Bowl.

“We’ve changed a little bit on offense, but we are similar in some areas from back in the day,” said Brown, who replaced JaJuan Seider as Marshall’s running backs coach when Seider left the Thundering Herd for WVU in 2013. “I look at their defense and there are definitely some similarities that I remember. There’s definitely the same versatility as before.”

 

 

The benefit of not-so-great expectations

by Mike Casazza

The ACC’s preseason poll was exquisite. Six teams got first-place votes … in the Coastal Division. Three received at least a vote in the Atlantic. Miami was picked to finish second behind North Carolina in the Coastal. The 191 voting members of the media did a pretty good job, because the final standings aren’t too far off. But Miami, which is deeply talented, as well as very young, did finish in second place in the division. We’re about one offseason away from folks breathlessly reporting “Miami. Is. Back.” We might be there already if the Hurricanes had beaten Notre Dame this season!

But the eventuality is one reason Mark Richt is back at his alma mater.

“I think everybody wants to be great,” said Richt, who spent the previous 15 years in charge at Georgia. “I think a lot of guys came to Miami because of the football tradition that has been established there. It’s part of the reason why I’m back. I’m back partially because it’s my alma mater, but more than that, it’s a team and a place that history has proven that you can be great there.

“So, it means a lot to us, and we want to be who we are. We’re not trying to be somebody from the past, but I think what we are striving for is excellence in everything we do. If we do that in all areas as coaches, players, administrators and everybody, then we’ll be as prominent as we have been in the past.”

The Mountaineers and their head coach, who were picked seventh in the preseason poll and finished with the second-best Big 12 record and today stand on the cusp of an 11-win season, sound similarly inspired.

Marvin Gross had a few big days, would like another

by Mike Casazza

 

Marvin Gross is going to play today, and he’s going to be expected to rattle Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya and run with receivers and tight ends and tackle running backs. He’s a spur safety, and as you know, as the spur goes, so goes West Virginia’s 3-3-5. We suspect Kyzir White will play and maybe even start, but it was just five days ago when coach Dana Holgorsen said White was still healing and would play with the broken hand in a protective encasing.

Gross seems capable, though, because his first start in the regular-season finale against Baylor turned into the first time a WVU player ever had two sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.

But the really big days for Gross? They came back in the simmer of 2013 and put him on a curvy path toward this game.

“What a lot of people fail to realize is when they made me sit down my first year because I wasn’t good enough to play, Marvin played,” Benton remembered. “He’s the reason why I sat down. The last two days of camp, Marvin came out and had 10 sacks. I had to redshirt. He played.”

Ten sacks!

“I’m completely serious,” Benton said.

Handshakes and hearty well-wishes only, please

by Mike Casazza
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A simple goodwill mission to a storybook resort for sick children featured a brief though tense standoff between Miami and West Virginia players Monday. A day later, organizers at a kickoff luncheon at a nearby resort had to coordinate the way the two teams entered the ballroom so they wouldn’t cross paths. They play today, and both coaches believe the histrionics will continue.

“Anytime you get two football teams together, there are going to be some things,” WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said Tuesday at a news conference at Rosen Shingle Creek resort. “So it’s going to get chippy. That’s just the way it is. Pregame is going to get chippy. I am going to guarantee you that. I think both teams understand that and are going to behave themselves and not do anything illegal. But trash talk, that pretty much happens every single game, so it is not surprising to me.”

Seider not even shaken, never mind stirred

by Mike Casazza

https://twitter.com/harleyxvi/status/813809291274633217

Well, so much for that. Mike Harley, who may or may not have said he was going to accept the college scholarship offer from the winner of today’s Russell Athletic Bowl, is sticking with West Virginia. I don’t believe the Mountaineers were ever really concerned about the game being the deciding factor, or about losing Harley. The length and the strength of the relationship trumped all the other variables here.

That said, WVU v. Miami matters in the hallways of some schools and the living rooms of some homes in south Florida. The Mountaineers being here in Orlando this week helps sustain a certain visibility on the entire state. That’s important these days.

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WVU trying to sustain the underdog role

December 27, 2016 by Mike Casazza

… the line’s down to 2 points tomorrow, but West Virginia’s coach doesn’t think anyone thinks his team will win. Take this, as an example: Holgorsen was asked about why teams — including his teams and WVU’s teams through the years — gnerally score more during bowl games.

I guess when you have more time to prepare. You get creative. We have been working on a lot of wishbone stuff. You get some more time to be able to come up with some new ideas, some new plays. I guess that’s all I can pinpoint.

Miami is so good on defense. I don’t know if we will get a first down, let alone score a bunch of points. I guess with more time to prepare you come up with some different things, some creative things. Hopefully, that holds true and we will be able to score a few points.

He was kidding. About the wishbone. I think.

One Miami streak will end tomorrow

by Mike Casazza

A 4-0 start, an 0-4 dip and four straight wins took Miami into tomorrow’s Russell Athletic Bowl. But the Hurricanes, believe it or not, haven’t won a bowl since beating Nevada in the MPComputers Bowl in 2006. They’ve lost six in a row, not that that eases Dana Holgorsen’s mind.

It’s real to Mark Richt

by Mike Casazza

Today’s comments at the Russell Athletic Bowl press conference — and this is Adrian Colbert — ought to sound a touch familiar. Last week, Miami coach Mark Richt confessed he does not approve of players skipping bowl games to focus on the draft.

“Football is the greatest team sport there is, and I think until the season is over, you should be with your team, really and truly,” he said. “You can take out whether I want a guy to stay to help us win and all that. Football is the greatest game. It’s the greatest game because it’s a team game. Everybody is counting on each other.”

Teammates for all three players, as well as the head coaches at Stanford and LSU, have publicly supported the running backs. Jim Grobe, Baylor’s acting coach who benched Linwood for a poor attitude this season, pointed out the Bears have two capable replacements.

However, Richt isn’t convinced of the sincerity of the support.

“I bet their teammates are like, ‘I understand. I understand.’ Maybe face to face,” Richt said. “But I bet you when they lay their head on the pillow, they’re like, ‘Why is that guy doing that? We’re a team. We paid the price together.’ It’s sad.”

So David Njoku is a problem

by Mike Casazza

I saw this live and couldn’t believe it. It’s not a spectacular play. I’ve seen a bunch of highlights when Miami runs this bootleg when with the ball on the right hash and in second-and-long spots. And surely we’ve seen enough players flip over the goal line now. But there was something about this player and this flip.

It’s not a quarterback or a running back or a receiver. It’s a tight end, and as you can see, he’s large. He’s David Njoku, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound sophomore who’s been a problem for a lot of teams this season.

“He’s a bad matchup that not a lot of people can play,” Gibson said. “We haven’t seen one like him in a long, long time. He’s a freak.”

Njoku’s first five touchdowns were red zone scores, and that’s where the 14th-ranked Mountaineers (10-2) have to pay attention to Njoku and his quarterback, Brad Kaaya. Five of Kaaya’s 14 red zone touchdown passes and seven of his 24 completions went to Njoku.

“He was a national champion high jumper in high school,” said Miami tight ends coach Todd Hartley. “He’s 245 or 250 pounds and he high jumps 7 feet. When you’ve got a guy who’s 6-4 and can high jump like that, you throw the ball to him and let him go up and get it. It’s not rocket science.”

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