West Virginia University ended the 2007 season with a bang, and rolled the Oklahoma Sooners to a 48-28 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Many critics have questioned the upcoming season as a rebuilding year or a down year due to a few of the following reasons.
One, WVU has a new head coach Bill Stewart. He is a down-to-earth great guy and is an ideal father figure. But that doesn't mean he knows the game of football. He has been a very reliable assistant in the past, and has the opportunity before to be a head coach at VMI but had an under .500 overall record.
Not only is he a questionable head coach, but can he recruit? The Mountaineers are not in trouble talent-wise for the next two years or so but the future after that is up in the air. Former coach Rich Rodriguez and Recruiting Coordinator Tony Gibson had the recruiting edge in Florida and built a program for getting great athletes in the past, can Stewart continue that though?
Two, WVU lost seven defensive starters to graduation. They had one of the premier defenses in the nation last year with the 3-3-5 set, but after you lose two of the three lineman up front, two linebackers, and three defensive backs it could take a year or so to rebuild that defense back up to its old self.
Three, Rich Rodriguez and Calvin Magee installed the spread offense as the face of the program. Everyone in the nation is aware of the abilities of quarterback Patrick White and the spread offense has been the most appropriate for his success. What new offense will Bill Stewart run for Patrick White & Co.?
They have been in the same style and spread for three years and now he wants to change and make Pat learn a new offense for his senior season? That is risking a lot and could definitely determine a successful season's outcome.
These decisions are on the shoulders of Bill Stewart now and only he can determine the season West Virginia will have in 2008. I truly believe he will figure it out and learn from mistakes this time around, and WVU will overcome all the critics and controversy and win the Big East crown once again. The talent this year that West Virginia returns is too much on offense and the defense will not be as good but will hold their own and continue to get better all year.
Attention all BCS Bowls, save a spot for the Mountaineers in January!
Comments (24) Add a comment »
from about 1 month ago
i doubt very seriously that wvu will be back in a bcs bowl... I never heard about stewart changing the offense. He just says he wants to pass more,,,, we heard that last three years. and it didn't happen. Bill Stewarts head coaching gig at vmi was a pure diaster. Not only did he not win, he also had a discrimination issue what there. I am still wondering about the staff he has assembled. None have been or offered a head coaching job on the collegiate level.. So , are they as great and Bill wants us to believe. Leftover talent will help bill, but he failed to land a running back that can back up Devine, if in fact , he stays eligible , and healthy. Kearns is a huge question. Will he even qualify? Bill will probably be around three years, and then the alumni will run him off. His down home ah sucks attitude will work as long as he has RR's talent around, and then, wow, i don't know.I just hope it works out for bill and wvu, we don't need to regress to subpar seasons the Nehlen was content with... let's go eers.
from about 1 month ago
White, Slaton, and Noel Devine will comprise the second best(to Clemson's thunder-and-lightening) back field in the nation. Depending on how other teams in the Big East such as L'ville and UConn perform, WVU should have a shot at a great record and may be in the consideration for a bowl game.
from about 1 month ago
Slaton is going pro i thought?
from about 1 month ago
steve slaton is going to the NFL Draft
from about 1 month ago
It sure appears Tom doesn't have his facts straight. I always love how people pretend to know anything about a program.
Terence Kerns (4 star prospect) 225 lb back w/ 4.3 speed...will qualify. Both him and Jock Sanders both will be great additions to the backfield. Oh...and in case you missed those games where Slaton was injured...happened frequently in some of the bigger games (S. Florida / Oklahoma / G. Tech) it was Pat White that took over w/no RB. They have plenty of talent that can run the ball...probably more now than when they had just White/Slaton.
As far as Marcus' comments about future commits. Have you not seen the for '09 start? (Thanks to Doc Holliday / Stewart & Co.) Tajh Boyd (#120) and Logan Heastie (#22 on rivals) commitments, both 4-star recruits, are just the beginning of a great '09 recruitment class. In reference to Stewart's coaching days at VMI...name one coach that has had a great season there in the past 10 years? It's predominantly a military school...nothing like a AF/Navy/Army team...
WV will win the Big East again this year and should again, unless significant injuries effect them, will be back in a BCS game.
from about 1 month ago
The Big East is such a weak conference from 2 to 8, WVU should once again have a good chance to roll through the conference schedule.
from about 1 month ago
Jeff,
Are you kidding me you are a Buckeye fan and are talking about a conference? Get real buddy, go back to a Buckeye page where your arguments mean something.
from about 1 month ago
That's exactly what I'm saying. The Big East is a weak football conference. Even weaker than the Big Ten in recent years. West Virginia is good. The rest of the conference is garbage.
Ohio State will win three more national titles before WVU ever appears in a national title game, though.
from about 1 month ago
I live in West Virginia, and I received my bachelor's degree from WVU. I would put my education and my intelligence up against you any day of the week. You are such a moron.
from about 1 month ago
Just let everyone keep saying what they want about West Virginia, they have done it for years and it hasn't hurt us yet, it just makes us stronger. I think our football AND basketball program has done enough in the last few years to shut these big mouths up. You do notice how there is no Oklahoma fans talking shit any longer nor are they any Duke fans raising hell. It always seems to be the Ohio State fans that always talk shit. They have a great program but that's not enough for them, they feel like they have to trash talk WV and bring us down as people to make themselves look even better than what they already are. Get over it Buckeyes you will never win another NC sorry. I know WV never has but we are fine with that status.
from about 1 month ago
ryan you got some issues dude. someone's trying to say west virginias gonna be good and you get all pissy. take some midol and enjoy your teams success.
from about 1 month ago
Rod, nice try but this proves that you are a LOSER!
Everyone knows that when you make an anonymous comment and then log back in that it will for some reason post it back under your name.
WOW...you totally got busted now your comments are not creditable. Only a Buckeye would do this.
And to respond to your comment, I wasn't getting pissy about the article it is great. I was getting pissy at people like your boyfriend Jeff, you know the one that you guys follow each other around and help one anothers comments because no on else sees your points as logic. He was talking trash about the Big East so I have the right to point out the Little 10 to him.
QUIT POSTING AS ANONYMOUS...YOU GOT BUSTED AND THEN TRIED TO LIE YOUR WAY OUT OF IT. COPY AND PASTE ISSUE'S HAHA NICE TRY! BUT US MOUNTAINEERS ARE SMARTER THAN THAT!
from about 1 month ago
Dude, you've accused both me and Jeff of doing this before. First it was making fake profiles, now this? Get a new story. Also, the word is "credible", not "creditable".
from about 1 month ago
Ryan, how soon we forget.
There were at least two occasions when an "anonymous" comment has been posted on one of your own articles, and then immediately duplicated by yourself.
The first time, you used the believable excuse: "I agreed with Anonymous so much that I figured I'd cut and paste his response so everyone could read it twice! That's how great his comment was!"
The second time you blamed it on your "cousin" posting on your computer anonymously - and then claimed that it double-posted when you logged in. This excuse would've been somewhat believable if you hadn't already been caught doing it previously.
When you were called out on it, you denied it and gave some really flimsy excuses. Now those comments have mysteriously disappeared. Why have the comments deleted if you've got nothing to hide?
How unusual.....
Be careful when calling out others.
from about 1 month ago
Nice try for a cover up guys.
See I told ya you 2 are queers who follow each other around and try to help each others comments ouit by commenting after each other.
NOW THAT IS "CUTE", as you like to say.
from about 1 month ago
By the way Professor Rod....THE WORD IS "creditable". You 2 keep making yourselves look like douche bags.
Definitions of creditable on the Web:
* worthy of often limited commendation; "the student's effort on the essay--though not outstanding--was creditable"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
* praiseworthy, as in: He did a creditable job in winning us that contract.
www.business-words.com/dictionary/C_2.html
from about 1 month ago
Rod, i love how you wrote to the Web Master to get your anonymous comment taking off so you wouldn't look so bad now. Great work, great work!
from about 1 month ago
Sorry for the copy and paste issue there, Anonymous hit it on the head. Best of luck to WVU this season. They will have a strong team and we will see them in a BCS bowl. Never is a long time for never winning another title, though.
from about 1 month ago
For real man. I mean, WVU has some really cute bowl wins to boast about. Not multiple national titles like Ohio State, but you know...some cute wins. You should just enjoy them. Every program can't be on Ohio State's level. Just accept the fact that your team dominates a barely-BCS conference and that Ohio State dominates them across the board in all facets of life.
There's nothing wrong with being beneath Ohio State. It's quite common, actually.
from about 1 month ago
QUOTE: I mean, WVU has some really cute bowl wins to boast about. Not multiple national titles like Ohio State, but you know...some cute wins
wow...you really are bad at this aren't you. Didn't Ohio State lose their NC games the last 2 years? Yeah, I thought so. So, how can you talk about WV beating Oklahoma and Georgia as OK wins. You are so crazy man. How biased can you and the Buckeye nation be?
from about 1 month ago
The Georgia & Oklahoma wins are arguably WVU's best wins ever. And that's, you know...cute.
But I mean....they're just bowl wins. They aren't national championships. Ohio State has multiple national championships to boast of.
So like I said...there's nothing wrong with being far, FAR beneath a program like Ohio State - your little bowl wins are cute. Really, they are. But I mean....they're just bowl wins.
Cute little program you've got over there in West Virginia. Real cute.
from about 1 month ago
At least WVU was winning its bowl games, while Ohio State was getting embarassed.
I would rather my team beat Oklahoma than lose (badly) to LSU or Florida, any day.
Ohio State's recent bowl past is either losing or playing teams like Oklahoma State or Kansas State in a bowl game.
Not much to really speak of since the 2002 season, and now I think we all know that Miami wasn't that much of a challenge.
from about 1 month ago
Alright Rod and Jeff, I'm ready to quit the arguing, you guys are fans like I am and besides your coach made a remark I can only respect him for ever about...
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/SPORTS06/80403082/1048/SPORTS
way to go Jim, beat those Wolverines.
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