The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

I’m not stumping for a contract extension. In fact, I don’t expect one and I don’t blame the boss for needing to see more before he puts his hands in the wet cement.

I’m weird, but I regularly rank WVU’s 12 opponents. Youngstown State has always been No. 12. Missouri and BYU have been no better than No. 8 and Kansas State no better than No. 6 — and it’s been a while for that. So, in my extraordinarily irrelevant polling, the last eight games feature, at present, the six toughest opponents (and two of the three worst). That’s, at the minimum, different.

But with enhanced opposition comes enhanced opportunity, so I’m also not saying an extension can’t or won’t come in the future. You could convince me a scenario exists in which an extension comes before the end of the regular season — and wouldn’t that be helpful for recruiting when WVU is playing on the first weekend in December and six other Big 12 teams and many other geographical rivals are on the road?

We can put our heads in the sand and choose not to track or deal with this topic, but we can also acknowledge some realities.

The Mountaineers didn’t overwhelm their first four opponents. The offense can’t turn yards into points. The defense hasn’t found much footing. The upcoming schedule — with no open weekends — is really hard. But is it as hard as last October? And is WVU the same team now as it was then? Nine wins in 10 games. Close wins as opposed to close losses. A quarterback who’s settled in and, by the way, much better at home, which is a nice convenience with the toughest remaining games happening at Mountaineer Field. But is that enough to reverse his history against the top of the Big 12?

There’s plenty to consider and debate, but agree on this: The future starts now for Shane Lyons, for Dana Holgorsen and for their football program.

🎶 Hello from the outside. At least I can say that I’ve tried. 🎶

Watching it live, it felt a bit like UConn 2010. It felt like this was the game, these were the players and those were the errors that were going to send this whole deal in a new direction and maybe never change course. West Virginia’s offense was too fast and had too much skill for the opponent. The defense was stymieing — that word never looks right and yet never sounds wrong — a pretty basic offense. A win was right there, if only the Mountaineers could wake up and take it.

But there were just enough gaffes and guffaws to sketch and then color in the idea it wouldn’t happen. I mean, this was really close to ending differently Saturday.

If Matt McCrane makes the field goal, who knows what WVU’s offense does? It had time with which to work, but who kicks a field goal for the Mountaineers? If Byron Pringle catches this pass — and he definitely should have, if only to reward Jesse Ertz for a proper check and probably his best throw of the game — do the Mountaineers have the same response to a 20-3 deficit as they did to a 13-0 deficit? If McCrane connects and/or if Pringle catches the pass, how large do little moments loom?

For example, how big is this?

It’s Good WVU. Tempo. Haste between plays. Justin Crawford is tackled, and Skyler Howard snaps the ball 13 seconds later. Kansas State isn’t set. Look at the safety above Shelton Gibson. He can’t help. Howard knows it and throws it. And he whiffs, but he’s hit this before. Why not Saturday? Was it one of those days?

We’ve seen Howard make plenty of deep throws, but overall he wasn’t as accurate or efficient early — the second quarter, in particular — and that, combined with the defensive ends turnstiling his tackles, certainly shook his confidence later.

Marcus Simms is the receiver at the bottom of the screen, and he may have gotten away with a false start, but the safety near him steps forward, because K-State respected the run. But that’s going to give Simms and Howard a chance. The television view is not conducive, but the cornerback plays soft, and the second safety plays shallow enough in the middle of the field that Simms has room to run a good route and get open deep in the middle of the field.

Listen to the crowd … and then listen to the fan the parabolic mic captures at 0:17.

So there’s ample incentive to worry by the time Adam Pankey jumps on fourth-and-2 at the 15-yard line or when Rushel Shell loses a fumble inside the 5 or when Howard takes a knee trying to sneak across the goal line.

But ultimately, none of it mattered.

Well, that might not be wholly true. Appearances do matter, and while a comeback is noble and the Mountaineers impressed with their valor, they did outgain K-State 422-286 and win by a point. The Mountaineers are No. 20 in total offense. They are No. 67 in scoring offense. All 19 teams above them in total offense are above them in scoring offense. East Carolina is No. 65, Louisiana Tech is No. 43. The other 17 are in the top 40. Points per game remains the most important stat, whether for the offense or the defense.

You do have to commend the defense for shutting the Wildcats down in the second half and for, I guess, causing Charles Jones to trip on the late second-and-10 and for pressuring Ertz on third-and-12 to set up the eventual missed field goal. And Howard and his cohorts did indeed make plays on the money drive. Ka’Raun White, who bobbled a catch that became an interception in the first quarter, made not one but two big plays on the drive. (Side Good: The Brothers White! Kyzir had his best game, and Ka’Raun was very valuable. Those two catches were significant, and so, too, was the fourth-down conversion in the red zone at the end of the third quarter. He got hit just when he caught it, just like he did on the interception and on the third-and-8 catch. WVU scored touchdowns on both possessions … and WVU only scored two touchdowns. Neither happens without him.)

The game-winner was the splendid intersection of preparation and execution. It’s a scramble drill, and the Mountaineers do rehearse this, but it was still something else to see it happen and to witness the reaction. You could sense surprise and relief at once.

That’s a much better look at it all, though. We’ll spend more time on Durante and how he had his best day in college to help the Mountaineers move to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Big 12. How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the Good and the Bad of WVU v. Kansas State.

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

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

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