West Virginia Will Be Challenged in Second Half of 2008 Schedule

I say TOSS-UP.  West Virginia will have to play near perfection to escape with their BCS bowl hopes intact.

Nov. 28 (Friday): Pittsburgh at Heinz Field

I was in attendance last year in Morgantown, rating great seats to witness the loss.  As we exited Milan Puskar and walked up the law school hill, we passed a launching pad of fireworks that were never ignited, much like the completely unimaginative play calling of Rich Rodriguez in what would turn out to be his final game for West Virginia.

Last year’s game has been overanalyzed, so I’ll keep it simple: WVU was playing in the national championship semi-finals—Pitt was playing in The Backyard Brawl. 

The Mountaineers, top to bottom, player to coach to fan, did not respect their hated rivals, looking at them as yet another rung on the ladder.

You can bet Bill Stewart will not make the same mistake.  However, this Pandora’s box is well opened and has released a fired-up Panther team personified by its crutch-throwing coach Dave Wannstedt.  In other words, get out of the way.

Pittsburgh has improved at every stage of the game since that cold day in Morgantown.  They will be rude hosts.  West Virginia will need a couple breaks of the game to survive this TOSS-UP.

Dec. 6: USF (South Florida) in Morgantown

If all the toss-ups go West Virginia’s way and USF wins out on its journey to Almost Heaven, this Big East title game will rival those of the other three conferences that do the championship thing. 

Ten starters return to a freewheeling offense led by quarterback Matt Grothe, who could meet Pat White here on their way to the Downtown Athletic Club if he stays reasonably healthy. 

Defensive end George Selvie and the linebacker corps have the ability to pinch in the spread as they did last season.

USF’s success in I-A/FBS play has performed wonders for a conference in desperate need of respect.  This Bulls-Mountaineers game, one that could be a Top 10 match-up, will be one of the more important games of the 2008 season and cannot be anything but a TOSS-UP. 

I’m not going to go so far as predicting the significance of this game with regard to the BCS Championship Game, but there will be enough interest to keep it on more than a few televisions in sports bars across the nation.

In Summary…

West Virginia will find a way to work through most of the toss-ups, but the hopes for 12-0 cannot be realistic.  The schedule is simply too difficult, even with Auburn and South Florida at home.

Still, as injuries and other surprises take effect, I’ll freshen it up with a prediction for that week’s game.

This should be an interesting season.

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