Bleacher Report - Articles by Frank Ahrens

Cincy 24, WVU 21: Two Calls Doom Mountaineers

Frank Ahrens — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:20:44 -0500

By now, everyone's hashed out the two bad calls that cost West Virginia a chance to upset a Top five team at its home field and stay in the chase for the Big East Title:

—The Cincy fumble at the goal line that was reversed and turned into a touchdown.

—WVU's call on 3rd-and-9 when it was driving in the fourth quarter for a tying touchdown.

The first call is 50-50. The ball certainly didn't break the plane of the goal line, but it may have touched it. I don't know if depressing but not puncturing the meniscus of the goal line counts as a touchdown, but I was never good at fluid dynamics. Evidently, the Big East refereeing crew was.

The second call, even though Coach Stewart defended it, is really indefensible. Not the call—a running play on third-and-long, especially if you've already made up your mind to go for it on third down. Not the specific call—a power run off-tackle. What is indefensible is running it with your 175-pound slot receiver/scatback, Jock Sanders, and not your bruising 225-pound fullback, Ryan Clarke, who had been punishing the Cincinnati defense all game. That's the problem.

Despite the loss, WVU played probably its best game of the season in all three phases. The defense held Cincy to its lowest point total of the season, which is impressive.

The offense recorded more first downs than Cincy and moved the ball throughout the game. The special teams did not give up another 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Mardy Gilyard, as it did last season, so that's progress.

What's inexplicable is that the kickoff team was flagged twice in a row for the same penalty—lining up with only three men on one side of the kicker, BECAUSE they were told to by the special teams coach, Bill Stewart. He said after the game that his "hand was caught in the cookie jar" because he told the team to intentionally break the rules. It ultimately didn't matter in the game but it looked stupid on television.

The real problem with this game—and with this team at this point in the season—is that it has been so determined to mix up the run and the pass and diversify the offense, that it no longer has an identity. More importantly, it no longer has one thing it does exceptionally well, and that's a problem.

Is it a running team? If so, is it a power or speed running team? We've seen both, but neither is consistent, thanks to the spotty play of the offensive line.

Is it a passing team? Well, it seemed like it until the deep ball went away after the Marshall game. Allow me to deviate a bit here and reserve my worst vitriol of Wes Lyons.

ESPN this week noted he was one of the league's biggest disappointments this year and that could not be said better. He would not have been a disappointment—Mountaineer fans have become accustomed to Lyons being the most invisible 6'8" guy on the field—had the coaching staff not touted him coming out of spring and summer practice.

This will be Lyons' breakout year, the coaches enthused. He's a game-changer. He has a special rapport with quarterback Jarrett Brown. No one can cover him in the slot. Blah, blah, blah. And, just as autumn has come once again, Lyons has disappeared in the offense. He is so uninvolved in the offense, that I have expect him to be caught listening to music or reading a book on the sideline. Or even lined up at wide receiver.

I don't know if he doesn't run good routes, I don't know if he can't run fast enough to separate, all I know is that every time he's show in closeup on TV, he has that blank-eyed, I-couldn't-care-less look on his face. Why Stewart is allowing Lyons to keep a scholarship from a more deserving, harder-working player who actually wants to play football, I will never understand.

Another problem with this team that I've discussed before is its habit of recruiting "athletes" and then finding out where to play them. The team currently has three former quarterbacks playing out of position and starting: B. Hogan at one cornerback, Keith Tandy at the other and Bradley Starks at wide receiver.

Hogan's wild inconsistency will not be belabored here. Nor will Tandy's embarrassment in the South Florida game. Starks has shown flashes, but he is still learning wide receiver so he's not a consistent threat. WVU needs to start recruiting top players at their position instead of losing at least a year—and some games—training them to play new positions.

There are only two regular games left in this season, which is turning out to be a transitional season, just like last season. Next year, Stewart and his staff will have their players playing: Eugene Smith at quarterback, Ryan Clarke and probably Shawne Alston at running back if Noel Devine goes to the NFL, Logan Heastie at wide receiver, Tavon Austin at slot or running back and so on. Maybe that's when we have to judge Stewart and his staff, and accept a nine-win transitional season last year and hopefully better than a seven- or eight-win season this year.

West Virginia-Louisville Recap: LEV (Low Entertainment Value)

Frank Ahrens — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:08:02 -0500

I had to apologize to my girlfriend after WVU's 17-9 victory over Louisville on Saturday for dragging her to a sporting event that had such LEV (Low Entertainment Value).

Having seen WVU's thrilling victories over Auburn and North Carolina last year and some vigor in every home game this year, she knows from excitement. And Saturday wasn't it.

That said, it's a Big East victory. And I don't know—honestly, I don't—what it means for WVU's crucial Friday night game against seemingly unstoppable No. 4 Cincinnati.

My best guess: WVU has a puncher's chance against Cincy, but that's it. If you take away the worst from Saturday's lethargic win over Louisville (which didn't, by the way, look as bad on TV or TiVo yesterday), you will realize that WVU has a series of problems that need to be corrected:

WVU's offensive line is a mess, being unable to open holes for running backs or protect quarterbacks.

Their star running back is hobbling on a bad ankle and hip.

Their starting quarterback has a sprained ankle and hasn't looked right since suffering a concussion against Marshall.

Their receivers have developed a case of the drops and the defensive line is so banged-up, Coach Stewart is probably FedEx-ing a plane ticket from Hawaii for Tevita Finau, NCAA sanctions be damned.

If you look at the positives from Saturday's win, you may have come away with the following:

Their kickoff coverage was responsible for only three points, giving up a big return just before halftime.

Tyler Bitancurt continued his remarkable season making people forget Pat Whatisname (he's 8-for-9 on field goals).

Jock Sanders (pictured) still knows how to play tailback.

Tavon Austin has now scored a touchdown running, receiving and returning a kickof.

Eu. Smith came in for one play and completed a pass under pressure and despite having to play 251-pound rush end Julian Miller at nose guard for the second half, WVU held Louisville without a touchdown, the first Big East team to do that this season.

(By the way: What has *happened* to Louisville? They look like a car that's been tuned and nitro'd to win a handful of races and then burn out, incapable of being fixed. What did Bobby Petrino *do* to them?)

Yes, Cincy's 711 yards of total offense Saturday against UConn under the guidance of a backup quarterback is impressive and daunting. Watching Cincy, they are the depiction of the well-oiled machine: Coach Brian Kelly has a sophisticated passing attack, the team has bought in, everyone knows where they need to be all the time, they don't drop passes and they don't fumble the ball. Literally. None so far this season.

The offense is a series of no-huddle, indefensible seven-yard passes, until it hits a 20-yard pass or the quarterback runs 75 yards for a touchdown. So good luck defending that.

That said, Cincy gave up 45 points to a UConn team that has no explosive weapons. What it has is a big, pounding offensive line that WVU nevertheless held to producing only 24 points.

If—and that's a big IF—WVU's offensive line performs better against Cincy than against Louisville, WVU will be able to move the ball on Cincy's defense.

The main reason that's a big IF? Josh Jenkins. The sophomore offensive guard had a terrible day against Louisville, responsible for an false start penalty and at least one Jarrett Brown sack, in which Jenkins was inexcusably backed by one defensive lineman —he was not double teamed—straight into Brown. Jenkins looks confused and weak. I don't know if it's technique, or what, but he's in trouble.

But will WVU be able to stop Cincy's offense? I'm obviously pessimistic because of WVU's cornerbacks, whose troubles have been well-documented here and seen by fans so far this season. The safeties, I'm not so worried about. But Cincy doesn't need long, over-the-top passes to move downfield. Seven-yard outs will do just fine.

The offense is built on three-stop drops, which makes it hard to bring pressure on the quarterback, and even harder if you have an injured defensive line. (Though it was good to see Scooter Berry back on Saturday and presumably back on Friday night.)

The season is down to this: WVU must beat Cincy, Pitt and Rutgers to win the Big East title and get the BCS bowl. The team's offensive body of work since the Marshall game is not impressive.

WVU must be able to revive its big-play offense on Friday night or else face the prospect of a third-tier bowl game.

USF 30, WVU 19: What IS it About Those Guys?

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:46:13 -0500

Many, many thoughts about this tough loss. Most bad, but first a couple of sun-came-up-the-next-morning, not-so-bad ones:

If WVU wins out, it still wins the Big East title.

There were no new serious injuries.

Umm, that's it. Now onto the bad thoughts:

I think I speak for every Mountaineer fan when I ask: WHAT IS IT ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA? They're almost impossible to be beat, and nearly bullet-proof in Tampa. Clearly, this team is somehow inside WVU's head. Is it their fast players? Is it Raymond James Stadium? I can't, for the life of me, believe Jim Leavitt is a brilliant tactician. WHAT IS IT?
How is it that WVU could just walk down the field on the first drives of each half, and then not again? The first drive, especially, was effortless.
Wes Lyons officially joins the list of Worst Mountaineer Football Players Ever, which includes Perlo Bastien, John Talley, and Mike Timko. When Lyons let the pass go through his hands—which would have converted 4th-and-28—he had his customary blank-eyed, "Oh, we're losing? I had something to do with it? Whatever. Can I come back to the bench now?" look. Why does he even play football? He sure doesn't seem like he likes it, or cares what happens.
If I'm recalling correctly, this game at South Florida essentially ended the same way the last game at South Florida ended: With an incomplete pass on fourth down. This one, a good pass right through the hands of Lyons, that one, a bad pass at the feet of Dorrell Jalloh.
Wasn't South Florida the worst run defense in the Big East? Huh.
Coach Stewart has spent all his time as head coach remaking the offense so it couldn't get stuffed by South Florida. He remade it, and it worked—up until it faced South Florida.
The pass defense is getting worse, not better. Stewart himself said the receiver that kept beating Keith Tandy, "is better than him". I don't fault Tandy. He was a high school quarterback, not a cornerback, which is the hardest position to play on defense. I hope this will end WVU's experiments with recruiting quarterbacks, and trying to turn them into cornerbacks. The success this far has been mixed at best. Tandy is a flop, Nate Sowers is a flop and B. Hogan is, to put it kindly, inconsistent. You need to recruit cornerbacks to play cornerback.
The Mountaineers had another red-zone turnover.
I know the offensive line was facing the two best rush ends in the Big East, but the staff made no adjustments (two tight ends? blocking backs left in?) to help the offensive line, which was overmatched on pass protection, and run blocking.
Reed Williams' career as an every-down player is, sadly, over, Stewart said during his Sunday conference call. He can play some downs, but thanks to his extensive injuries—foot, knee; his surgically repaired shoulders are acting up again—he has been sadly reduced to a role-player. And after what he's given to this team—literally, his body—I feel bad for him. Oh, and by the way, Scooter Berry? Thanks for popping off to the cops. Nice one. Really helps the team.
Saturday can't get her fast enough for anyone—fans, players, you name it. How WVU handles cellar-dwelling Louisville will tell us something about this team.
Finally: This team is still 6-2. It has a chance for a very good season. Not a great chance, admittedly, especially after seeing what Cincinnati and Pitt did to South Florida, and watching Cincy's backup quarterback make Syracuse look silly on Saturday, but a chance nonetheless.

West Virginia 28, UConn 24: Noel Devine to the Rescue

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:54:40 -0400

One thing is clear from Saturday's 28-24 WVU victory over a heroic UConn team: It's better to have Noel Devine than to not have Noel Devine.

WVU won on Saturday because of three plays:

1) Tavon Austin's electrifying 98-yard game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown;

2) Devine's 62-yard run to set up Tyler Urban's touchdown catch; and

3) Devine's 56-yard touchdown run to win the game.

I figured the game was over once UConn's Marcus Easley eluded the entire WVU defensive backfield for an 88-yard touchdown catch and run, and not because it put UConn ahead. I figured it was over because it put UConn back on defense.

Emotion is useless—in fact, it can be counter-productive—on offense, which relies on execution and discipline. Defense, alternatively, relies on emotion, will, and aggression.

Playing for their fallen teammate, the Huskies had WVU right where they wanted it.

But Devine changed that when he swooped around the sealed tight left end of UConn's defensive line and tight-roped his way to the winning touchdown.

Here it's important to stop and note something: Everyone talks about Devine's exceptional speed and quickness, and both are true. But Devine cracked off both long runs against UConn because of his beastly strength.

During the first run, he simply sloughed a defender off his back to continue the run. During the second, he endured a shove that would have pushed a lesser man out of bounds. But not Devine. That's what's truly impressive about him.

Other notes on the game:

- Give WVU's staff credit for throwing out the game plan at halftime against a constantly blitzing UConn offense, which WVU did not anticipate because it was so out of character. It was a good call by UConn coach Randy Edsall to use his team's raw emotion to blitz, blitz, and blitz, making life miserable for Devine and quarterback Jarrett Brown in the first half.

But in the second half, Coach Stewart and his staff solved the math puzzle. They went to a double tight end formation and ran I-formation football to get more bodies against UConn—and it worked.

- Should you be concerned about WVU's defense giving up 378 yards of passing and two touchdowns? Probably.

But also note that the defense got three interceptions, including the final one by nose tackle Chris Nield, after the UConn quarterback's arm was hit while throwing by the always-around-the-ball safety Sidney Glover (who, for my money, is the best guy in the secondary).

That said, WVU seemed incapable of covering or anticipating the UConn crossing routes, which burned the Mountaineers all day. Further, UConn was able to neutralize WVU's pass rush by using three-step drops.

UConn has a very disciplined passing attack, like Cincinnati's. What WVU will face on Friday night against South Florida appears to be a backyard, run-around-'til-someone's-open-or-I'll-take-off passing attack, which poses its own challenges.

- It's hard to tell because the Huskies were playing with so much emotion, but this looked like the best UConn team WVU has ever faced. That's good for the Big East. The team still lacks depth, but that will come.

- Brown played an unspectacular but well-managed game. He threw the touchdown to Urban and an interception over the middle you could see in slow-motion a mile away.

Also, the TV replay showed that he caused his own fumble, which he recovered—by knocking the ball out of his hand with his knee! It must be that Brown feels he cannot run when he holds the ball high and tight, as Pat White did and as Brown has been told repeatedly to do.

Another thing you could see coming a mile away: Kent Richardson's fumble at the end of his fine interception return. Sigh. His fumble would have cost WVU the game, as it was followed almost immediately by Easley's 88-yard TD. But Devine bailed out Richardson, so he should send Devine flowers. Or, you know, something appropriate for heterosexual teammates. Maybe a big hug.

WVU-Marshall: Mountaineers Can Win With Geno Smith

Frank Ahrens — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:53:55 -0400

After watching Saturday's WVU-Marshall game again on TiVo after seeing it live, I was struck by a number of things:

I feel much better about WVU's first-half defense than I did during the game, when I told my date, "I have to go outside and throw up now."

The Herd's sole touchdown was kept alive by a face mask penalty that I didn't see and the quarterback's touchdown run came on a broken play.

Speaking of the officiating crew, I usually don't complain about refs because I know it's a tough job and you're in the middle of the action trying to make the right call, but this crew seemed sub-standard both live and on TV.

Also, I don't normally bust on announcers but the ESPN team of John Sanders and former Florida State quarterback Danny Kannell?

Not so good.

I know that to most people, Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, and Tavon Austin are all the same size, but they are wearing different uniform numbers so you should be able to tell them apart if you're calling the game.

I don't know how many times I heard Sanders say, "...excuse me, Noel Devine/Jock Sanders/Tavon Austin."

Another good one from Sanders: "...a couple of linebackers doing work on the defensive side of the ball." Where else would linebackers do their work, John?

Kannell's beauty came after Marshall threw a long incomplete pass, which prompted him to say that it's not important to complete long passes, just keep throwing them.

Also—Kannell is not the sole sinner on this, but he contributed—announcers need to stop referring to defensive coordinators calls as "dialing up" blitzes. Thank you.

Now, on to the football:

Geno Smith is even more impressive on tape. The true freshman looked calm in the pocket and clearly has the arm to make all the throws, as they say. Once the WVU coaches let him use the whole playbook, he did. Most impressive was his fourth-down pass to Sanders.

Fourth and 10, Coach Stewart decides to go for it (!), Smith escapes a sack attempt, bumps into his own lineman while going through his progression and, according to the coaches after the game, found Sanders on his third read, completing the pass and getting the first down.

His touchdown to Alric Arnett was, as one beat writer put it, either going to be a touchdown or an incomplete pass. It turned out to be the former, thanks to Arnett's terrific hands and Smith's pinpoint placement of the pass.

It's worth noting that Smith had to scoop the shotgun snap off his laces before straightening to throw the pass.

(I digress: There has not been one fumbled center-quarterback exchange or one shotgun snap over the quarterback's head for WVU this season. This is noteworthy but made more so by the fact that the center is redshirt freshman Joey Madsen, who became the starting center about five minutes before the season began.)

I really, really hope Jarrett Brown quickly recovers from his concussion but not because I'm afraid of Smith starting. The Mountaineers can win with Smith; that was shown on Sunday.

And I think they can beat UConn on Saturday at home with Smith. But I'd rather see Brown under or behind center when the Mountaineers go to South Florida on Oct. 30. I also hope for Brown's sake that the concussion is minor because I'd love to see him have a long, fruitful, and lucrative NFL career, which I believe he will have.

The light, as they say, has clearly gone on for safety Robert Sands. Though he was an impressive 6-foot-5 presence in the defensive secondary last year with a pterodactyl's wingspan, he made few plays of consequence.

This year, with a year under his belt, he's looking smarter and much more active in the secondary. He already has three interceptions this year, the third of which came against Marshall.

Terrific game for middle linebacker Reed Williams, who must lead the nation in the following statistical category: breaking-up-passes-intended-for-tight-ends-by-reaching-around-them-from-behind.

And I must be fair here, as I've spent most of the season banging on him:

B. Hogan had a nice game. He had a key fumble recovery, which stopped Marshall inside the 10-yard line, and an interception to thwart another drive and set up WVU's first score of the game. Hogan also had a 16-yard punt return, showing his return game has really improved since his early season fumble on a punt.

One last thing: WVU announcer Tony Caridi and others have urged WVU fans to give a standing ovation to the UConn Huskies when they run onto Mountaineer Field on Saturday to honor slain UConn cornerback Jasper Howard.

I endorse this activity. I will stand and applaud the Huskies and urge all fans in attendance to do the same. And then I will cheer for the Mountaineers to beat UConn for the Big East victory.

WVU, Pitt, and USF-Cincy Winner Lead Big East Title Race

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:48:49 -0400

At nearly the halfway point in the season, there are three teams that look like viable contenders for the Big East championship and the automatic berth in a BCS bowl: West Virginia, Pitt, and the winner of Thursday night's Cincinnati-South Florida game.

None of the four teams has a Big East loss. After Thursday, one will.

And though one conference loss doesn't disqualify a team from the crown, it certainly puts them in fourth place in the chase. Here is a look at the four teams, how the rest of their seasons shape up, and which has the easiest and hardest route to the title.

Start with the undefeated teams, in alphabetical order:

Cincinnati

The Bearcats are 5-0 and 1-0 in the Big East. The remainder of their conference schedule looks like this: at South Florida, Louisville, at Syracuse, UConn, WVU, at Pitt. This is a tough conference schedule.

The Bearcats get two quality opponents at home in WVU and UConn but must play South Florida and Pitt on the road. Cincy is No. 1 in the Big East in scoring offense, passing offense, and total offense, second in scoring defense, and fifth in total defense.

Cincy has looked the most consistently impressive on offense, certainly, but also on defense. The Bearcats have a dangerous wide receiver and return man in Mardy Gilyard and a Heisman Trophy dark horse in quarterback Tony Pike. Cincy is the highest-ranked Big East team, at No. 8 this week.

South Florida

The Bulls are also 5-0 and 1-0 in the Big East. The rest of their Big East schedule looks like this: Cincy, at Pitt, WVU, at Rutgers, Louisville, at UConn.

Playing Rutgers and UConn on the road is easier than playing South Florida and Pitt on the road, as Cincy must. Getting Cincy and WVU at home is a scheduling gift for the Bulls.

USF is second in scoring offense and third in total offense, and is not surprisingly first in scoring and total defense. (They are allowing 9.4 points per game.)

The Bulls have their typical fast and aggressive defense, led by all-American rush end George Selvie.

Quarterback B.J. Daniels has stepped in well for out-for-the-season Matt Grothe. Daniels looked terrific in his first start, against a fading-fast Florida State, and looked...okay against Syracuse.

South Florida is ranked 21st nationally.

Pitt

The Panthers are 4-1 but already are 2-0 in conference. The rest of their Big East slate: at Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, at WVU, Cincy. Pitt has the easiest remaining conference schedule of any of the four teams, having to travel only once to play a quality opponent, West Virginia.

This gives Pitt the inside edge at least in scheduling among the four teams.

Pitt is third in scoring offense and fourth in total offense. The Panthers are fifth in scoring defense and second-from-last in total defense. Pitt has quality tailbacks, and booed-by-his-own-fans quarterback Bill Stull is getting better as the season progresses.

That said, only a UConn fourth-quarter collapse allowed Pitt to win that game and they looked pretty porous in a loss to North Carolina State. Pitt is unranked.

West Virginia

The Mountaineers are 4-1 and 1-0 in conference. The rest of the conference schedule: UConn, at South Florida, Louisville, at Cincy, Pitt, at Rutgers. The Mountaineers must face possibly the two best teams on the road in South Florida and Cincy and catch only quality opponent Pitt at home.

This is the toughest remaining schedule of any of the four teams. WVU is fourth in Big East scoring offense, second in total offense, and predictably, first in rushing offense.

The Mountaineers are sixth in scoring defense and fourth in total defense.

Running back Noel Devine is leading the conference in rushing and quarterback Jarrett Brown is second in the league in passing. Were it not for six turnovers in the Auburn game, WVU would be undefeated. WVU is unranked.

So, let's form two rankings, and here we get subjective. The first will rank each team's remaining schedule from easiest to hardest. The second will rank each team's overall quality from best to worst.

Adding the two rankings, the team with the smallest number should end up winning the title.

Remaining schedule, from easiest to hardest:
1. Pitt
2. South Florida
3. Cincinnati
4. WVU

Overall quality, from best to worst:
1. Cincinnati
2. South Florida
3. WVU
4. Pitt

Totals:
Cincinnati: 4
South Florida: 4
Pitt: 5
WVU: 7

Interestingly, this ranking puts at the top the two teams that will face each other this Thursday, which makes it something of an elimination game.

Both teams have but one tough road game left after Thursday, at Pitt, which will give Pitt a say in the league championship. I went back and forth on whether WVU or South Florida should be ranked third in overall quality, but the Big East stats fall South Florida's way, so they get the nod.

For WVU fans, there is this silver lining: Because the Mountaineers have the toughest Big East schedule remaining, if they win out—and let me make this clear, they are capable of doing just that if they continue to limit turnovers—then the computers and human polls will love them.

But it's a lot of brush to cut through to get there.

WVU 34, Syracuse 13: A Cleaner, More Dominating Victory

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:59:52 -0400

The Mountaineers showed what they can be in the first half of Saturday's victory at Syracuse: Unstoppable on offense, and dominating on defense. In the second half, the Mountaineers put it on cruise control, and could have had one more touchdown had they not—wait for it—coughed up a fumble, this one by fullback Ryan Clarke. But that was WVU's only lost fumble. Things bounced so well for the Mountaineers that their first fumble—by backup lineman, Josh Taylor, after picking off an inexplicable pass by quarterback Greg Paulus—was recovered by one of their own, linebacker Pat Lazear, who showed why he was a high school football, advancing it 50 yards to set up WVU's first score.

Granted, all this came against Syracuse, which is one of the two worst teams in the Big East. But, they won't be for long. I'm no Dan Hawkins, but mark this down: Syracuse will win seven, or eight games next season. Coach Doug Marrone has them going in the right direction. They're playing with much more enthusiasm this year than last, but don't have the athletes yet that they need to compete in the league. But, they will. And Syracuse's improvement in coming years is a good thing for the league as a whole.

And here's a head-snapper: This season marks the first that WVU has opened with five straight games in which it scored at least 30 years. No, none of those high-powered Pat White/Steve Slaton teams accomplished that. So all you Jeff Mullen haters can take that to the bank.

Back to Saturday's game.

Syracuse, a solid run defense, did a good job keeping Noel Devine in check, if you can call 91 yards and a touchdown "in check." Still, Devine's longest run was only 15 yards, and Syracuse did a good job of shutting down the Mountaineers' big plays. Brandon Hogan returned a punt for 49 yards, but WVU's longest play from scrimmage was a pretty 33-yard pass play from Jarrett Brown to H-back Will Johnson.

But Syracuse couldn't stop WVU's drives, and couldn't stop WVU's medium-range passing game. Brown tested the secondary deep a couple of times, but the Orange secondary had that covered. They couldn't stop the short outs in the flat, or 15-yard passes across the middle. Brown completed passes to nine different receivers. Jock Sanders caught nine passes. Brown was an impressive 22 for 30, for 244 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.

On defense, WVU held Syracuse to 222 yards total offense, and only 72 yards rushing. They made Paulus so ineffective, he was benched in the second half for backup Ryan Nassib, who ended up throwing two touchdown passes, and probably will end up starting by the end of the season. Paulus is a nice story, but he's not a Division One quarterback, not after so much time away from the game.

WVU held Syracuse receiver Mike Williams, probably the best wideout in the league, to only one catch for five yards in the first half. In the second half, he got behind the secondary for a pretty 50-yard touchdown, but that's going to happen with Williams.

Areas where WVU still needs improvement

Yes, kickoff returns. Syracuse averaged 28 yards per kickoff return, with a long of 44. Imagine that's Mardy Gilyard of Cincinnati returning kickoffs.

Closing the deal. WVU's second-half drives went like this: fumble, punt, punt, punt, rushing touchdown, punt, turnover on downs, end of game. WVU should have had at least one more touchdown in this game.

All told, however, this game was the first this season when WVU showed what it can do if it keeps it (relatively) clean. WVU also had only four penalties for 26 yards.

At nearly the halfway point in this season (boy, it hurts to write that), WVU is 4-1, and looks like it's getting the mistakes ironed out.

WVU 35, Colorado 24: More Quick-Strike TDs, but More Turnovers

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:58:19 -0400

Four games into a season, a football team starts to develop its identity. The identity of the Mountaineers: turnover-prone, explosive offense, suspect pass defense.

WVU lost four fumbles in the first half of Thursday night's nationally televised ESPN game vs. the Buffaloes, though it's worth noting the offense had no turnovers in the second half.

(Wide receiver Bradley Starks, who lost a fumble in the first half, dropped the handoff on a reverse in the second half but recovered the fumble.)

Where the six turnovers in the Auburn game led directly to the loss, Colorado was able to convert WVU's four turnovers into only three points.

The Mountaineers are now so fumble-prone, the *defense* is coughing it up. Linebacker J.T. Thomas (who, by the way, is having an outstanding season) intercepted Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, but then fumbled when he was tackled.

The conventional wisdom is that WVU can't commit that many turnovers and hope to hang with the three toughest teams left on its schedule, in the following order: Cincinnati, which is now ranked in the Top 10; South Florida, ranked in the Top 25; and Pitt, which is unranked.

That may be true, but then again it may not. No team has been able to stop WVU's offense yet. Six turnovers in a game (as at Auburn) is an aberration. That almost never happens. I can't imagine it happening again this season.

Further, if WVU fans think it's only their team turning the ball over, then they didn't see the first half of the Pitt-Louisville game or the first five minutes of the Syracuse-South Florida game, in which the two teams exchanged the ball four times, which Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus going on to throw five interceptions.

That brings us to WVU's offense. The first two plays of WVU's first possession Thursday night illustrated perfectly the pick-your-poison nature of the offense.

On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Jarrett Brown overthrew wide receiver Alric Arnett, who was open by 10 yards, having easily run behind the Colorado secondary.

No matter.

On the next play, Brown handed to running back Noel Devine, who knifed into the line, made one cut, then outran the secondary for a 77-yard touchdown run. He ended up with 220 yards on the night, with a 10-yards-per-carry average.

The play I found most impressive was the long throw-and-run touchdown pass to Starks. The Buffaloes were showing a corner blitz on Brown, who looked over at Starks and saw he was in single coverage.

Starks said after the game that he signaled Brown to throw him the ball. As soon as the ball was snapped, Brown threw it to Starks in the right flat, getting rid of the ball before the cornerback could get to him.

Starks caught the ball, put on inside move on the safety, then ran around him to the right and beat him to the end zone for a touchdown.

On TV, ESPN's Chris Fowler called the Buffaloes secondary "outmanned." Analyst Craig James said it looked like a "track meet" at the snap, watching the WVU receivers run downfield.

Brown also overthrew a ridiculously wide-open Tavon Austin on a fly pattern later in the game. It wasn't Brown's sharpest night, but he still managed to go 12-for-19 for 148 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, though he had one fumble.

Which brings us to the last point: the WVU secondary; specifically the cornerbacks. They are my biggest concern about this team, not the turnovers.

When WVU's linebackers are forced to defend the pass, they do great. Reed Williams had three pass deflections Thursday night and Thomas had the interception. The safeties I'm fine with, too. Both Robert Sands and Sidney Glover had interceptions.

It's cornerbacks Keith Tandy and specifically Brandon Hogan I'm worried about.

Hogan got beat for another touchdown against Colorado on a double-move by the receiver. Hogan bit on the fake, stumbled and was able to make up the distance with his speed.

But then he played the receiver instead of the ball...again. Hogan seems incapable of believing that once a ball is in the air, it's as much his ball as the receivers.

Hogan is quick and can break on come-back and under routes, but if I were an opposing coach, I'd throw deep against him all day. Worth noting: It was a fourth-down touchdown Hogan got beat on.

On the other side, Tandy got burned for a touchdown with three seconds left in the game.

The prevent-playing defense gave up 73 yards in 1:57 on that final drive and left Tandy alone on the outside edge for the corner. But I haven't seen the big-play ability from Tandy.

Speaking of which, true freshman cornerback Pat Miller almost got an interception in the fourth quarter by breaking quickly on an underneath route.

I know that playing cornerback is exceptionally difficult and it's almost impossible for a true freshman not to get embarrassed repeatedly, but it is worth noting that Miller has been playing cornerback longer than Hogan, who was only switched to the position last season.

Also, I realize that Hawkins threw the ball 54 times and if that happens, you're going to give up some completions. Part of that is credit to the WVU rushing defense, which gave up only 100 yards on the ground. WVU is tied for 13th nationally in rushing defense.

On passing defense, it's another story. WVU is ranked 94th of 120 Division I teams in pass defense, allowing 244 yards per game.

That's trouble, especially with Cincinnati's airshow coming up later in the season (the Bearcats are averaging 330 yards through the air, sixth best in the country).

Coach Stewart said in a conference call on Sunday that he was going to concentrate on cleaning up the turnovers in practice this week.

Instead, he and cornerbacks coach Dave Lockwood ought to spend their time on Hogan and Tandy. And whoever may soon take their places.

It's Time For The Miami Dolphins To Play Pat White

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:47:34 -0400

The Miami Dolphins are 0-3.

Starting quarterback Chad Pennington has a dislocated throwing shoulder. The team is averaging an anemic 14 points per game. And yet, one of the team's best play-makers languishes on the sidelines, third-string quarterback Pat White.

True, White is a rookie and did not play in a pro-style system at West Virginia. True, he is smallish by NFL quarterback standards. True, he does not have an overpowering arm.
But here is what is also true: He is among the fastest players on the Dolphins. He is an accurate passer. He is a smart player. And he ran a system at West Virginia that looks like it's the only hope for a moribund Dolphins' offense.

Pennington is a game-managing quarterback. He is accurate, heady and steady. But he is immobile and cannot throw the home-run ball.

Backup Chad Henne has the big arm, but is even less mobile and has little experience.

That leaves White.

The Dolphins' best player on offense is clearly running back Ronnie Brown, who often runs the Wildcat offense, taking a direct snap and running with it; while carrying just the whiff of a threat of passing it.

It would be wrong to call wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. a bust, but he certainly has not lived up to his high draft status. He is the only receiver the Dolphins have who is a deep threat, thanks to his speed, but that hardly matters when he can't hold onto the ball. He could be a play-maker, but he is working his way out of that status each week with each dropped pass.

That leaves only White as an effectively explosive player; a running quarterback who is a threat to score a touchdown each time he gets the ball; and a passing quarterback who completed more than 60 percent of his passes in college.

The Dolphins have no offense besides Brown running with the ball. Head coach Tony Sparano must find a way to get his two best play-makers- Brown and White- on the field at the same time.

The obvious answer: the spread offense.

As others have correctly noted, White does not run the Wildcat; did not in college and is not meant to at Miami. He runs the spread offense. His version is the zone-read-spread-option.

Lined up in the shotgun with a running back at his side (Steve Slaton and Noel Devine at West Virginia; Brown at Miami), White takes the snap, reads the defensive end, and either hands the ball to the running back or keeps it himself; or he runs a pass play.

The advantage of the Wildcat is that it gives the running back, who takes the direct snap, one more blocker. The advantage of the zone-read-spread-option is that the defense does not typically assign a player to the quarterback. This leaves White on his own with the ball. And, as we saw in college, that spelled trouble for West Virginia opponents.

The Dolphins can either hope that Pennington gets healthy for Sunday's game, or substitute another immobile quarterback, who though he has a big arm, has no serious down-field threats, and expect to post another 14 points or so.

Or, they can put White behind center, on the same field with Brown, and watch what happens.

At 0-3, in the same division with the New England Patriots and the suddenly excellent New York Jets, the Dolphins are in little danger of challenging for the division title. This is a chance to turn a disastrous season into a salvageable, entertaining one.

Mountains Still to Climb: Evaluating West Virginia at the Quarter-Mile Mark

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:56:52 -0400

An off-week is an appropriate time to evaluate how West Virginia is doing this year compared to last year. Let's get right to it, comparing the stats through the first three games of 2008 versus the first three games of 2009:

2008 record: 1-2. WVU opened with a victory over I-AA Villanova, then was humiliated at East Carolina. In the third game, WVU quickly fell behind at Colorado, then spent the rest of the game catching up, eventually losing in overtime.
2009 record: 2-1. WVU opened with a victory over I-AA Liberty, then followed with a revenge victory over East Carolina. In the third game, WVU ran out to a 14-0 lead at Auburn, only to eventually lose thanks to turnovers.

2008 points scored: WVU averaged 21.6 points scored per game.
2009 points scored: WVU has averaged 32.6 points scored per game.

2008 points allowed: WVU gave up an average of 19.6 points per game.
2009 points allowed: WVU has given up an average of 27 points per game.

2008 total offense: WVU averaged 319 yards per game.
2009 total offense: WVU is averaging 485 yards per game.

2008 rushing yards: WVU averaged 213 rushing yards per game.
2009 rushing yards: WVU is averaging 192 rushing yards per game.

2008 passing yards: WVU averaged 107 passing yards per game.
2009 passing yards: WVU is averaging 293 passing yards per game.

2008 total defense: WVU yielded an average of 383 yards per game.
2009 total defense: WVU is yielding an average of 312 yards per game.

2008 kickoff return yards allowed: WVU allowed an average of 24 yards per return.
2009 kickoff return yards allowed: WVU is allowing an average of 18 yards per return.

What can we ascertain from these figures? First, WVU's offense is much more explosive and productive so far this year than last year. It's not scoring as many points as it should, given its yardage. It was thwarted in the game against Liberty by being unable to score touchdowns, having to settle for field goals. Mistakes in the East Carolina and Auburn game prevented other touchdowns.

Also, we can easily see that WVU's passing attack is much improved over last year, while the rushing attack is only slightly diminished. Both add up to a bigger, more balanced offense this season than last. Detractors of offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen have been quieter through games of this season than the first three games of last season, but they haven't been silenced. (i.e. the two middle screens against Auburn.)

Overall, the news about the offense is good.

The news about the defense is not as good as I'd like it to be. They're giving up too many points. You can say it's because of the turnovers; that the offense is giving the other teams the ball too deep in West Virginia's territory. But WVU is giving up passing touchdowns; specifically, Brandon Hogan is. He needs to start turning to look for the ball at the end of passing routes, not keep looking at his receiver as he catches a touchdown pass.

The news about the kickoff returns is good, and I think it's because WVU is using directional kickoffs. That is to say, they're kicking off not toward the middle of the field, but toward one sideline, and using the sideline as as 12th defender. Whether it's that or new personnel, it's working.

I expect WVU to overwhelm Colorado with offense on Thursday. The Buffaloes are playing poorly this year and WVU has had an extra week to prepare and get healthy. WVU fans should feel good about the infrastructure of this offense. If it can reduce mistakes—if quarterback Jarrett Brown can channel Good Brett Favre and not Bad Brett Favre—this will be a fun team to watch.

Auburn 41, WVU 30: Mistakes Thwart Offense

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:51:16 -0400

I'll say this about West Virginia's offense: it doesn't do anything small.

Six turnovers, 509 yards of total offense.

A 71-yard Noel Devine touchdown run, an interception returned by a defensive lineman for the game-clinching touchdown.

As many have written, if WVU can get out of its own way, it could really be something special.

That being said, Auburn's defense had something to say about Saturday night's non-conference loss. You don't get five interceptions by being lucky.

Auburn made halftime adjustments to put pressure on Jarrett Brown, forcing him to throw before he was ready, and Auburn's defensive backs apparently shut down WVU's long passing game after Brown's long opening-drive pass to Bradley Starks that set up WVU's first touchdown.

And before we get into a breakdown of this game, let me say that I remain optimistic about this team, especially the offense. It's high-powered, it's balanced, and it's explosive.

Let's proceed, starting with the focus of the loss:

Jarrett Brown: My theory is that Brown got overconfident from two big games against two inferior opponents. That, combined with over-confidence in his big arm and accuracy—Coach Bill Stewart has said as much—led him to believe that he is Superman, capable of making any play, at any point on the field.

After making that throw to Starks—rolling to his right, heaving it with pinpoint accuracy 58 yards—there's no way he could think anything otherwise.

Brown was pressured in the second half like he was not in the first half. It looked like some of the receivers broke off routes as well.

And Brown got injured, hurting his left shoulder, late in the game. Stewart said on Sunday that Brown is "fine" but, frankly, I don't believe anything Stewart says about injuries anymore.

He said on Friday, "Reed's going to play," of injured middle linebacker Reed Williams, and "I'll be surprised if both don't play," including injuring defensive tackle Scooter Berry. Neither played.

Noel Devine: Great to see Devine have a breakout game with one of his long signature runs. He ran better north-south than laterally, a play that Auburn consistently shut down. He's going to have a great season.

Jock Sanders: Not to make light of a serious issue, but Sanders' DUI is the best thing ever to have happened to his career. He was able to miss the entire spring practice and it hurt him not one bit. Through three games, Sanders has 29 catches for 309 yards and one touchdown. During all of last season, Sanders had 53 catches for 462 yards and seven touchdowns.

Brandon Hogan: With each passing game, I keep waiting to be sold on this super-athlete as a cover cornerback. With each passing game, so to speak, I keep thinking: Still not sold. He was beaten for two touchdown passes against Auburn and was looking at his receiver, not back toward the ball. Further, he hasn't broken a punt return yet. Not impressed.

Najee Goode, Ovid Goldbourne, and Josh Taylor: These three took turns subbing for the injured Berry and Williams. The subs were not the reason WVU lost this game. Goldbourne had an interception that should have been the game-changer.

In the second quarter, with WVU leading 21-10, Goldbourne intercepted a pass, giving WVU possession deep in Auburn's territory at the 19-yard-line. Two plays later, Brown threw his first interception. Had WVU scored a touchdown on that possession, the Mountaineers would have been up 28-10, making it a three-score game. I think that would have put it away for West Virginia. Goode had two tackles and Taylor had a sack.

Kickoffs: WVU seems to have solved the kickoff-coverage problem. Auburn averaged only 17 yards per kickoff return with a long return of 21 yards. WVU, by contrast, averaged 27 yards per return, with a long of 44 yards. WVU has found a returner in backup running back Mark Rodgers.

Looking forward, the bye week comes at a good time. The next game is Oct. 1 at home, a Thursday-night ESPN tilt versus Colorado. Hopefully by that time, Williams and Berry will be better and ready to play, though we won't know it until they're on the field, the way Stewart evades on injuries.

After that: At Syracuse, home versus Marshall, and home versus UConn before going to USF. WVU will be favored in the first three games and possibly over the Bulls, given that they'll be without their starting quarterback, Matt Grothe, who is now out for the season with a torn ACL.

Then: Home versus Louisville, at Cincinnati, home against Pitt, then the season concludes at Rutgers.

Cincy and Pitt are doubtless the two toughest tests left on the schedule. Especially the "at" part of "Cincinnati." They are impressive.

So Mountaineer fans should not despair, even in the wake of five interceptions.

WVU 35, East Carolina 20: Offense Rolls Despite Miscues

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:10:46 -0400

Don't get too caught up in the mistakes made by West Virginia on Saturday during its 35-20 payback victory over East Carolina—the penalties, the fumbles, the strange calls by the refs. All those things can be fixed. If WVU couldn't move the ball or stop East Carolina from moving the ball, those are things that couldn't be fixed.

Instead, WVU moved the ball at will against the Pirates, when the Mountaineers got out of their own way. East Carolina could do nothing to stop WVU's deep passing game other than wave at the receivers on the way by. Bradley Starks, Alric Arnett, Tavon Austin all burned the Pirates' secondary for deep balls.

On the other side, WVU's defense dominated the Pirates, registering four sacks and an interception and holding ECU to only 237 yards of total offense.

Thanks to WVU miscues, ECU's scoring drives covered 31, 26, 23 and 18 yards. In truth, the score should have been something closer to the score of the 2007 WVU-ECU game: 48-7.

Jarrett Brown was even more impressive than he was in the opening win against Liberty. He threw four touchdowns and only one interception and that one came on another deep ball to Jock Sanders that Brown simply threw a split-second too late. So that was one touchdown left on the table.

The other came near ECU's end zone when Brown rolled left and prepared to throw the ball to a wide-open fullback in the end zone, only to have the ball mysteriously pop out of his hand as he cocked his throwing arm. ECU recovered. So there was another touchdown left on the table.

Explaining the fumble after the game, Coach Stewart revealed that Brown "sweats so profusely." TMI, coach! Probably, Brown is now thinking, "Thanks coach. Why not tell everyone about my athlete's foot, too?"

The most surprising to me touchdown pass came on a 58-yard post pattern to Austin. I didn't think that was the quick slotback's game. I thought he was a reverse-and-bubble-screen guy, but apparently he has breakaway speed, too.

On defense, linebacker J.T. Thomas seemed everywhere and I'm still not completely sold on cornerback Brandon Hogan. I know he's got skills and speed but, honestly, the only reason he didn't get beaten for a touchdown was because the receiver stepped out of the back of the end zone.

The only troubling things to come from Saturday's game were injuries to starting defensive tackle Scooter Berry (shoulder) and middle linebacker Reed Williams (foot sprain). On Sunday, Stewart said both injuries looked better than they did right after the game on Saturday and he listed both as day-to-day.

I'd say Williams is as indispensable as any man on the defense but Najee Goode subbed for him most of the game and played well, registering a sack and a near-interception. And backup linebacker Ovid Gouldboure got a sack, as well. I'm very happy with our linebacking corps.

The defense looked fast and unpredictable and menacing, with plenty of blitzes, and made life miserable for ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney all day.

The WVU offense was diverse, passing-wise, as Brown threw passes to six receivers (Sanders led the way with nine catches for a career-high 99 yards).

Interestingly, slot receiver Wes Lyons did not have a catch despite playing most of the game. He pulled a hamstring on the first play of the Liberty game leaning over to catch a pass and Stewart pulled him. Now, he disappears during the entire ECU game. Everyone said he had a terrific spring and fall camp but he simply refused to show it during actual games. Frankly, I don't know what his problem is. It's like he doesn't really want to play.

One more thing: I was very glad Noel Devine scored a touchdown. He deserved it after crunching out 80 hard-earned yards on the day. His longest run was a pretty 31-yard cutback but most were short and punishing.

The offensive line so far is doing a good job of pass-blocking—aided as it is by Brown's elusiveness. But it must learn to run-block. A back as fast and skilled as Devine is should be getting 150 yards a game, not 80. The offensive line owes Devine more.

On Saturday, WVU travels to Auburn to finish its home-and-home series. Auburn has suddenly found an offense against lesser opponents under new coach Gene Chizik, rolling up 589 yards against Mississippi State on Saturday. On the other hand, Auburn's defense gave up nearly 300 yards and 24 points.

So this could shape up as a shootout on The Plains. If that's the case, I like WVU's gunslinger.

Five WVU Freshmen To Watch: No. 1, WR/RB Tavon Austin

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:19:50 -0400

It's probably safe to say that Tavon Austin, a former Poet of Dunbar High in Baltimore, is West Virginia's most-decorated recruit since Noel Devine.

Devine-sized and Devine-quick, Austin was the two-time Maryland offensive player of the year as a running back.

Austin got into WVU's first game last Saturday against Liberty to little effect. He rushed one time for four yards on a reverse, caught one pass for four yards and returned one kickoff for 14 yards, after muffing the catch. Coach Stewart likes to say, we assumed hyperbolically, that freshmen "don't know which way to run." That was not hyperbole for Austin, but the truth

No matter, though. Once you see his high school video below, you'll see what he's capable of. Our take on high school highlights has always been: In order to succeed at the big-time college football level, running backs need to be far superior to their high school opposition.

If a high school running back looks only pretty good on his video, he'll never be more than a practice player in college. Devine looked spectacular on his video; so does Austin.

Austin's calling card:

Quickness and elusiveness. Though his top-end speed is plenty fast, it's his lateral moves and acceleration that, to quote Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail sports writer Mike Casazza, are almost "ghost like."

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats:

5' 9", 164 pounds. Yes, you read that right. One-hundred-sixty-four pounds. That's why he won't be a running back at WVU. He could, however, make an excellent shifty slot back. As for his high school stats, this is the only one you need to know: As a senior, he averaged more than 12 yards per carry. A first-down each time he touched the ball. He also was recruited by Penn State, Nebraska, Virginia, Illinois, South Carolina, Rutgers and Boston College.

The plan:

Getting Austin enough play-making touches during the course of the game to make him an additional legitimate weapon, alongside Devine and Jock Sanders.

Where you'll see Austin on the field:

Slot receiver, where he'll catch passes and run reverses, and returning kickoffs.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBjUKd0lOEE

Three thoughts:

a) The first punt return is electrifying.

b) The way he plays with the pursuing would-be tackler at about the 2:30 mark is terrifying.

c) A lot of showboating.

WVU-Liberty: No Blowout but No Panic, 33-20

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:41:37 -0400

The first thing you need to take from West Virginia's 33-20 victory on Saturday over FCS opponent Liberty, is that Liberty, at its level, is no joke.

The Flames had something like eight starters who played D-1, including former South Carolina quarterback Tommy Beecher and his favorite target Mike Brown, who could not only play for WVU, he could start for WVU.

That's part of the reason it's no surprise this wasn't a 52-7 blowout; the kind we saw opening the 2006, 2007, and even 2008 season, when WVU scored 48 on Villanova.

The other part of the reason is—those days are over.

WVU's zone-read, spread-option offense, featuring probably the nation's two most skilled players at that scheme—Pat White and Steve Slaton—was a revelation in college football and had three clean years before defenses figured it out.

Again, that was a moment in time.

All that being said, here are the good things to take from Saturday's victory:

•Jarrett Brown (pictured) is as good as promised. He looks comfortable in the pocket, knows the offense inside and out, has a strong and accurate arm, and can see the whole field. Plus, he's not a lot slower than White, nor is he less elusive, which you saw several times as he shook free from tackles.

He's stronger than White, and seemingly brushed off a number of tackles. He's smart—his touchdown run was his call at the line. Brown spread around the passes to seven receivers and seemed in complete control of the offense.

•Noel Devine topped 100 yards rushing and, more importantly, scored a touchdown. Despite his nearly 1,300 yards rushing last season, Devine scored only four touchdowns. He's already one-fourth of the way there.

•WVU has found a place kicker. Redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancourt was four-for-four on field goals, including a 45-yarder, and perfect on three PAT attempts.

•Jock Sanders looked not at all rusty from his offseason suspension. He caught eight catches for 95 yards, including a nice, diving fingertip grab of a deep post pass from Brown.

•WVU converted two 3rd-and-shorts with a big running back! Ryan Clarke may be the answer. Can it be?

Now, here are the bad things:

•In the first half, the kickoff-return coverage was, again, terrible. As though Coach Stewart—also the special teams coach—didn't spend any time on it all. Granted, Liberty return man Brown is a good one, but so is Cincinnati's Marty Gilyard and any number of other Big East opponents.

In the second half, Stewart made wholesale changes, bringing in freshmen offensive players, such as running backs Shawne Alston and Jordan Roberts, and starting fullback Ryan Clarke.

This unit cost WVU at least one win last season. It will need to perform to its second half level.

•I know Devine averaged about six yards per carry and Brown was not sacked, but I was not impressed by the offensive line. Until Devine's touchdown run in the fourth quarter, it seemed he was getting all of his yards on cutbacks after initially running into a blown-up offensive line.

After the game, Brown graciously said that his offensive line allowed no sacks. That's a nice thing to say, but in truth, Brown was not sacked because of Brown.

He was nearly sacked three times on one play before eluding rushers on his own. I know this is an inexperienced line that was recently shuffled and is starting a freshman at center. That said, the center—Joey Madsen—was perfect on his shotgun snaps, something that was not true of his predecessors, Eric Jobe and Mike Dent.

•I'm not as worried about the defense as others seem to be, but I was distressed to see Brandon Hogan get burned on a double-move by a wide receiver that resulted in an incompletion only because the pass rush pressured Beecher. Also, as Stewart said after the game, he was "puzzled" that his defense didn't know Brown was going to keep getting the ball when it was clear to everyone else in the stadium.

All that being said, I emerge reasonably optimistic from this game.

Heralded freshman Tavon Austin was a non-factor in his handful of appearances because he clearly did not know where to run. But when he figures it out, he will be another weapon, as will freshmen receivers J.D. Woods and Logan Heastie.

Further, I am cheered by the fact that East Carolina, next week's opponent, barely held on to beat FCS foe Appalachian State—which was playing without star quarterback Amanti Edwards—and the Pirates' sixth-year(!) quarterback Patrick Pinkney looked far from sharp.

Five WVU Freshmen to Watch: No. 2, WR Logan Heastie

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:05:57 -0400

The first thing you need to know about true freshman Logan Heastie is that his last name is pronounced "HAY-stee." (While we're at it, fellow wide receiver Alric Arnett goes by "ALE-rick" and as far as we know, former wide receiver Dorrel Jalloh is still "Ja-LAW.")

The second thing to know is that he was meant to be a passing pair with high school teammate Tajh Boyd for years at WVU. I even saw "Boyd to Heastie" t-shirts at Mountaineer Field last year. But Boyd flaked out even after being told he was the only quarterback WVU was recruiting in his year and ended up at Clemson, where he'll redshirt this year.

But Heastie, his own man, stayed true to his commitment to WVU. And with him, WVU got another one of something that it hasn't had in a long time but seems now to be recently stockpiling: Receivers over six feet tall.

Heastie's calling card:

Rather than size and speed, which he has, maturity. Heastie knew from an early age he wanted to play at a big-time college program and then go on to the NFL. So instead of blowing off school, as so many young men with the same dream do, he doubled down, graduating early so he could get to WVU and get to work.

He enrolled in January, which enabled him to go through spring practice, which gives him a leg up on other freshmen receivers. After watching college football for 20 years, I have found that talent goes a long way but brains and level-headedness goes even further.

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats:

6'2", 194 pounds. The Virginian finished with 58 receptions for 886 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior. As a junior, caught 58 passes for 1,068 yards, an average of 21.4 yards per catch, and 17 touchdowns. Runs a 4.3-second 40-yard dash. Five-star recruit, for whatever that's worth.

The plan:

Getting Heastie in to the regular wide-receiver rotation as early as possible. He had a catch in the spring game.

Where you'll see Heastie on the field:

Backing up Arnett at one wide receiver position.

Video:

Okay, all you've got to do is watch the first clip on this to see what he does to the defensive back after catching the ball.

2009 WVU Preview: Special Teams

Frank Ahrens — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:30:05 -0400

There's no point in talking about WVU's 2009 special teams without mentioning the most important moment of WVU's 2008 special teams: The game-opening, 102-yard-kickoff-return-for-a-touchdown by Cincinnati that was the deciding factor in the 26-23 overtime loss, eventually costing WVU a share of the Big East title and a trip to another BCS bowl game.

That play was emblematic of WVU's atrocious kickoff return coverage last year. WVU was unfairly criticized for poor overall special teams play last year when it was actually the kickoff return team that did all the damage and ended the season ranked last in the NCAA.

They were horrible in every way.

They were slow, leaving truck-sized alleys for returners to saunter through and they refused to tackle. Coach Stewart said in the off-season, he—remember, he's the special-teams coach—sought advice from other teams about how to better cover on kickoffs.

His solution seems to be hang time. So he's been searching for that in a replacement for graduated kicker Pat McAfee, who kicked off, kicked field goals and punted.

The answer appears to have been found be in the foot of transfer Josh Lider.

Lider, a junior, left Div. II Western Washington University when it dropped football after last season and seems to have more of a big leg rather than an accurate one. He was only 10-of-15 on field goals in his last season in Washington and 33-of-37 on PATs (Who misses four PATs in a season?).

Speaking of the kickoff coverage team, Stewart said some freshman offensive players—such as promising running back Shawne Alston—will be on the squad, so as not to wear out the starting linebackers and safeties that normally populate the unit.

Field goals this year will be handled by redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancourt, a Washington Post All-Met selection during his high school career. He is known as an accurate kicker, but has never kicked under the pressure of Big East football.

Taking on the punting duties will be the team's hard-luck story, Scott Kozlowski. Fans will remember him from the 2006 loss at Louisville, when Kozlowski punted to the wrong side of the field and his kick was returned for a touchdown.

That didn't cost WVU the game—Steve Slaton fumbles did.

But Kozlowski got in Rich Rodriguez's doghouse—the former coach tried to run him off, Kozlowski now says—and has set foot on a football field only once since and then only because McAfee was hurt.

Kozlowski resisted the temptation to transfer and now the job is his. Before his benching, Kozlowski was among the national leaders in punting average. So there should be few worries here.

One rule change of note this year: If a punter runs from his spot after catching the snap to punt rugby-style, as WVU frequently does, roughing and running-into the kicker penalties no longer apply.

Lastly, returning kickoffs for WVU in '09 will be job of running back Noel Devine (above) and true freshman Tavon Austin while handling punt return duties will be cornerback Brandon Hogan.

Five WVU Freshmen To Watch: No. 3, CBs Broderick Jenkins and Pat Miller

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:12:07 -0400

It's not unusual for a skilled offensive player to get playing time as true freshman. Running back Noel Devine did it, as did running back/slot Jock Sanders. Sometimes a wide receiver will get in the mix. If a freshman makes a mistake on offense, it's usually a missed hole or a dropped pass. No big deal.

On defense, it's rarer, if only for the potential of game-changing mistakes. And it's almost unheard-of in the defensive secondary, where one misstep can lead to a touchdown for the other team.

All of which goes to show how highly the West Virginia coaching staff thinks of true freshmen cornerbacks Broderick Jenkins and Pat Miller, both of whom will be in the rotation at cornerback this season.

Jenkins's calling card: Versatility. In high school in Fort Myers, Fla., Jenkins played corner, receiver and kick returner. At WVU, he will concentrate on cornerback.

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats: 5'10", 175 pounds, runs a 4.5 40. In his senior year, he made 48 tackles, had four interceptions and nine pass breakups on defense, and caught 12 passes for 431 yards, rushed 13 times for 128 yards, had 392 yards in kick returns and scored eight touchdowns.

The plan: Getting Jenkins into the mix right away, possibly as early as the opener against Liberty.

Where you'll see Jenkins on the field: Fifth-string behind starting cornerback Brandon Hogan. But don't expect that to last.

Video: Sorry. Couldn't find any that didn't require a subscription.

Miller's calling card: In high school in Hoover, Ala., Miller was something of a celebrity. He appeared in MTV's reality series, "Two a Days," set in Hoover.

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats: 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, runs a 4.45 40. As a senior, had 64 tackles, four tackles for loss, four pass breakups, one forced fumble and a team-leading five interceptions

The plan: Same as Jenkins.

Where you'll see Miller on the field: Fourth-string behind starting cornerback Keith Tandy. See Jenkins, above.

Video: Sorry, same deal.

2009 WVU Preview: Defensive Backs

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:56:28 -0400

WVU's defensive backfield will be counted on as it has rarely been before during the 2009 season; defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel has promised more blitzing, putting his defensive backs in more one-on-one situations.

The good news is, the defensive backfield in WVU's unusual 3-3-5 odd-stack defense is experienced.

The starting cornerbacks will be junior Brandon Hogan on one side and redshirt sophomore Keith Tandy (seen hanging onto Hakeem Nicks's leg, above) on the other.

In many ways, Hogan has been an answer in search of a problem since arriving at WVU two years ago. He was a dual-threat quarterback in high school and his senior season numbers look like typos: 2,539 yards passing (32 TDs) and 1,735 yards rushing (26 TDs).

Shortly after coming to WVU, Hogan was switched to slot receiver and saw limited action. Last year, in a move that looked like a disaster at the beginning (East Carolina) but proved smart as the year wore on (UConn), Hogan was switched to cornerback and seems to have found his home (perhaps even his ticket to the NFL).

As a corner last year, Hogan proved fast, tough and opportunistic, with three interceptions. I am reasonably certain that this is the year he will successfully jump a corner route and return an interception for a touchdown.

At the same time, he is enigmatic. He came through a highly troubled high school career and, though he has stayed clean at WVU, he is described by some as emotionally fragile.

During last year's Meineke Car Care Bowl game, he became a natural mystery. He was a late scratch from the game for "personal reasons" and the team came out carrying his jersey, as if in memoriam.

In post-game interviews, the WVU players, though not disclosing what was wrong with Hogan, expressed concerns for him as though he was suffering from a medical or mental illness of grave proportion.

During the offseason, Hogan showed up back at his old high school to talk with the kids, but would not elaborate on his bowl absence. The same was true during the spring practice and the WVU beat reporters have simply resigned themselves to writing that Hogan missed the bowl game because of an undisclosed reason.

If they know what happened to Hogan, they are following Coach Stewart's wishes—indeed, demands—and not saying.

My thinking on this was that players are not publicly elected figures, so they deserve some privacy. And Hogan clearly engenders the love and protection of his teammates.

But those very same teammates elevated Hogan's bowl game absence to a notable and newsworthy level, essentially flying it in the faces of the fans and media; and then Stewart, athletic director Ed Pastilong, and the rest of the team officials have refused to say what happened to Hogan. I believe they should.

Rant over. Back to the preview.

On the other side is Tandy. Like Hogan, he was a high school quarterback.

Tandy, an engineering major, has described himself as a "technician." Technically speaking, the last we saw of Tandy was being dragged into the end zone on the back of North Carolina receiver Nicks in the Car Care Bowl, as Tandy was thrust into a starting role he wasn't ready for because of...Hogan's undisclosed absence.

The backup corners on one side are senior Kent Richardson and redshirt sophomore juco transfer Brantwon Bowser, who apparently made the greatest recovery in human history from a devastating knee injury requiring surgery last spring.

This was according to head coach Bill Stewart, who later said that Bowser didn't. (Aside: I don't know if Stewart is purposefully obfuscatory or only partially informed, but for a guy who professes to shoot straight, he doesn't all the time.)

On the other side, the backup corners are redshirt junior Eddie Davis, a former running back who was converted to slot back who was converted to cornerback; and senior special teams regular Guesly Dervil.

The backup cornerbacks to keep your eyes on, however, are two true freshmen: Floridan Broderick Jenkins, who played multiple positions in high school; and Alabaman Pat Miller. Neither looks like freshmen, says a person who has seen them practice. Both are expected to pass up a redshirt and compete for playing time this season.

The safeties are junior Sidney Glover, sophomore Robert Sands and senior Franchot "Boogie" Allen.

Glover is the biggest playmaker of the three but has had trouble staying healthy. That being said, I like him. He is a big hitter—so far, he has gotten the only clean hit on slippery freshman receiver Tavon Austin in August camp—and finds a way to get to the ball.

Sands has the most potential of the three. At 6'5" with flowing dreadlocks, Sands reminds me of the alien in "Predator." WVU coaches hope he can turn into more of a predator in the secondary.

He earned a starting job last season. but came up with few memorable plays. He will be used this season (along with 6'8" wide receiver Wes Lyons) to try to block opponents' field goal attempts.

(You just watch: the constantly injured Lyons, finally healthy and coming off a terrific spring in which he won the starting slot receiver position, will be injured trying to block a field goal in the Liberty game.)

Allen is a yeoman senior, ready to make the most of his last year. He has spent time largely as a backup and on special teams, though he did earn some spot starting duty last season.

Behind them are redshirt sophomore Eain Smith and redshirt senior Nate Sowers (who also started life as a quarterback, then was switched to receiver before settling in the secondary).

Casteel and Stewart have lauded the blitz in spring and fall practices and promised to bring many more this year from many angles.

In West Virginia's defense, which doesn't feature a traditional rush end of the kind found in the 4-3 defense, the blitzes come from the linebackers, the safeties and even the corners.

Such blitzes helped WVU beat Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, as corners lined up opposite Sooner wide receivers, only to race past them and toward quarterback Sam Bradford for the sack.

This maneuver requires the cornerback to quickly get to the quarterback and the safety to pick up the wide receiver in case the cornerback fails in his task.

If WVU is to do more of this this season, its cornerbacks and safeties will be responsible for more one-on-one coverage than they have in the past, a very high risk-reward proposition.

It is a bet that will be tested in West Virginia's second game, against East Carolina and its veteran quarterback.

Five WVU Freshmen To Watch: No. 4, Shawne Alston

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:17:17 -0400

We continue the parallel countdown series (to accompany the regular Friday unit previews) of five WVU Freshmen To Watch in the 2009 season, which kicks off at home against I-AA Liberty at noon on Sept. 5.

I'll count them down from No. 5 to No. 1. Understand that I'm not saying these players will pan out or even end up playing. I'm saying that these are five (maybe six) freshmen whom the coaches have identified as being groomed for contribution, who likely will avoid redshirting and who have looked good so far according to accounts of the spring and August practices, as passed on to me by observers there.

No. 5 was backup-quarterback-in-waiting Eugene (Geno) Smith.

No. 4 is running back Shawne Alston.

Alston is your man if you like tall, thick, move-the-pile running backs with championship pedigrees.

He came from Virginia's Phoebus High, the star-making program from the Hampton Roads area, which Alston led to two consecutive state titles. He's at WVU because of the recruiting skills of running back/slot coach Chris Beatty, whom Coach Stewart brought on board specifically to tap his Southside Virginia bona fides, pulling talent from that fertile soil. WVU won Alston, beating out Penn State, Illinois and Maryland.

Alston's calling card: Downhill, downhill, downhill. Hit. Hole. Hard.

Repeat.

WVU has not had a punishing running back like this since Quincy Wilson. Alston has the ability to be the jackhammer to Noel Devine's whipsaw.

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats: He is a legitimate six-feet tall and weighs 222 pounds. As a senior, he rushed for 2,278 yards and scored 34 touchdowns, including 971 yards and 10 touchdowns in the playoffs.

The plan: Alston is unlikely to redshirt, unlike his fellow beefy running backs Chris Snook and the excellently named Branko Busick, simply because WVU needs one change-of-pace big back and Alston is winning that spot in August camp.

He doesn't have the breakaway speed of Devine, Jock Sanders or Tavon Austin (who likely will spend more time at slot) but he's what the Mountaineers have not had in some time: a clock-eating, fourth-quarter pounder who makes already weary defenses really hate life.

Where you'll see Smith on the field this year: Behind quarterback Jarrett Brown and fullback Ryan Clarke in the I-formation, alongside Devine in the split-back formation.

Video: Click here.

(This is video of Phoebus winning a state title last year. A couple of observations: This is a really, really good-looking football team, with athletes everywhere. Second, the quarterback is Tajh Boyd, who committed to WVU, then changed his mind, going to Tennessee, which kicked him out, so he landed at Clemson. Aside from looking like a flake, he threw a bunch of picks in this game)

2009 WVU Preview: Receivers

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:38:13 -0400

West Virginia's 2009 receiving corps is solid and deep, even as it lacks a physical playmaker of the sort it has had in the past -- Reggie Rembert, David Saunders or Chris Henry (much as we hate to evoke his name here).

Unlike in the past, WVU has a number of taller, bigger receivers, with most over six feet tall and 200 pounds. But don't worry; the Mountaineers still have a requisite number of waterbug receivers too.

If the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over North Carolina, with its 332 yards of passing and three passing touchdowns, was any indication of the Mountaineer offense, the WVU wideouts will get a lot of work this season.

Starting on the outside will be senior Alric (ALE-rick, by the way) Arnett, last season's leader in yards, with 466. Arnett had two terrific touchdown catches in the Car Care Bowl and solidified his position in spring ball. Arnett, pictured above, caught a long touchdown from Jarrett Brown in Saturday's scrimmage.

On the other side is sophomore Bradley Starks, officially still the No. 2 quarterback. As Eugene Smith recovers from his ATV foot injury and continues to impress in August practice, the 6-foot-3 Starks is getting his reps at wide receiver. Stewart has said he believes Starks could be an NFL wide receiver. That surprised me, because the first time he did anything stood out as positive was in the Car Care Bowl when he outran single coverage to catch a long touchdown pass. Before that, Stark's last notable appearance was one he'd like to forget: fluttering a wounded duck pass 15 yards short of a wide-open Jock Sanders in the Colorado loss that probably would have won the game.

As the return leader in number of catches with 53 last year, junior Sanders had slot receiver all locked up. Until, of course, that is until his offseason DUI which kept him out of spring practice, enabling senior Wes Lyons to win the position. Wally Pipp, anyone?

Of course, there will be enough balls to go around and Sanders will get playing time at slot, spelling Lyons, and in the four-receiver set and backing up Noel Devine at running back.

It's hard to imagine an offense that can accommodate a 5-foot-7 slot (Sanders) and a 6-foot-8 slot (Lyons), but so be it. Besides, Lyons has been the easiest-to-hide 6-foot-8 guy in football for his entire career at WVU, either injured, laconic or clueless. His sole fame has come from delivering this block.

But now, he's evidently doing this.

Tight end is Tyler Urban's to lose. All he did last year was catch the first touchdown pass by a WVU tight end since, I believe, 2002, reawakening the position as a pass-catcher in the WVU offense. He's a natural talent and Stewart has proclaimed he'll one day be a "folk hero" at WVU. That's fine, but I'd prefer he hold onto more of the passes thrown his way. A couple of troubling drops last season. Backing up Urban will be another Tyler, Tyler Rader, the nephew of a buddy. I suppose you could say that when Tyler Urban gets spelled by Tyler Rader, Rader will be Tyler sub-Urban.

WVU has some promising freshmen that will likely get playing time. They include:

-- Top recruit Logan Heastie (HAY-stee), who enrolled in January, so he already has a spring practice under his belt. Heastie is 6-foot-2 and 195 and a fast learner. He was the teammate of former top quarterback recruit Tajh Boyd (thank goodness he got away). Heastie turns out to have a better head on his shoulders and stuck at WVU even after Boyd decommitted.

-- Tavon Austin is turning the most heads at August camp. He's Devine-sized and apparently Devine-fast and Devine-shifty. He'll get time behind Lyons and Sanders in the slot. He scored a touchdown on a reverse in Saturday's scrimmage. He'll also get return work.

-- J.D. Woods, a redshirt freshman, also a six-footer, will back up Arnett and Starks.

-- Stedman Bailey, 5-foot-10, 193 pounds, was Eugene Smith's high school teammate and is impressing in August practice.

-- And we can't conclude without mentioning this: Redshirt freshman Reggie Rembert, No. 88. Yes, that's the son of former WVU wide receiver Rembert, the star receiver on the undefeated 1988 team led by Major Harris. Li'l Reggie has his Dad's number and his position on the field, but, unfortunately, not his height. Dad clocked in at 6-foot-6. Son is 5-foot-7, 155 pounds, God love him.

Five WVU Freshmen To Watch: No. 5, QB Eugene Smith

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:50:56 -0400

Today I'm kicking off my parallel countdown series (to accompany my regular Friday unit previews) of Five WVU Freshmen To Watch in the 2009 season, which kicks off at home against I-AA Liberty at noon on Sept. 5.

I'll count them down from No. 5 to No. 1. Understand that I'm not saying these players will pan out or even end up playing. I'm saying that these are five (maybe six) freshmen whom the coaches have identified as being groomed for contribution, who likely will avoid red-shirting and who have looked good so far according to accounts of the spring and August practices, as passed on to me by observers there.

I start with No. 5, quarterback Eugene (Geno) Smith.

Smith was a last-second replacement recruit for the touted by flaky Tajh Boyd, who reneged on his commitment to WVU, then went to Tennessee, then got kicked out of Tennessee and now is in camp at Clemson. Smith turned out to be a higher-rated recruit than Boyd, but got off to an inauspicious start as a Mountaineer, breaking a foot earlier this summer in a "non-football injury," the nature of which was not disclosed by the team but is said to have involved an ATV.

Still, Smith has recovered enough to be participating in August practices wearing a non-contact green jersey and has gotten positive press from Coach Stewart thus far.

Smith's calling card: He is a double-threat quarterback suitable for WVU's option run attack but is thought of more as a passer who can run, which fits the requirements for future quarterbacks set by Stewart and offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen.

Size, nearly meaningless high school stats: He is 6'3" and 195 pounds. As a senior, he was 205 of 338 for 3,089 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for more than 300 yards.

The plan: Smith was recruited to be the successor to senior Jarrett Brown, who has only one season to play. On the spring depth chart, Smith was listed as the last quarterback behind No. 4 Ian Loy (who?), No. 3 Coley White (Pat's little brother) and No. 2 Bradley Starks, who is also being projected as a starting wide receiver.

However, Starks is only an emergency backup (remember his "pass" during the loss to Colorado last season?), White is even smaller than his older brother and Ian Loy is, well, Ian Loy. Whoever that is.

Going into August camp, Smith was counted on as growing into the solid backup spot, a process his injury has slowed down. Necessity will speed it up. I saw White play in the spring game and he's not ready to be a full-time quarterback and Starks needs to spend his time at receiver.

Where you'll see Smith on the field this year: You either really, really want to see Smith on the field this year or you really, really don't. If you see him on the field, it either means that West Virginia is cruising to a blowout win or Brown has been injured.

Video: Here's ESPN's video.

2009 WVU Preview: Defensive Line

Frank Ahrens — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:12:13 -0400

Unlike its counterpart on the offensive side of the ball, the experience and depth of the WVU defensive line is expected to help anchor the team this season.

Because of WVU’s unusual 3-3-5 stack defense, the Mountaineers play a three man line, which is expected to plug up gaps, occupy double teams, and create chaos so linebackers can make tackles.

They are not expected, specifically, to be pass rushers. Most of WVU’s sacks come from blitzing linebackers and defensive backs.

That being said, if this line has sufficient talent and speed, it can get into the backfield on its own. Look back to the 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, where massive but slow offensive linemen couldn’t contain WVU’s speedy pass rushers without being called for holding penalties.

The leader of the defensive line this year is Scooter Berry, who seems like an ninth year senior. Berry has been at WVU since 2006 and came along originally as a fullback with his half-brother Jason Gwaltney, a highly recruited running back now largely lost to history, who ate, injured, and slacked his way out of WVU numerous times.

Thankfully, Berry didn’t get his kin’s work ethic.

After switching to defensive line, Berry has found a home as a strong and fast pass rusher with good hands. At 6'1'' tall and nearly 300 pounds, the redshirt junior is tough to move around.

Next to Berry is nose tackle Chris Neild (seen in the photo above), who came on strong last year in a largely thankless role, noticed much more by coaches and opposing players than fans. Neild, a 6'2'', nearly 300 pound redshirt junior, is being hailed by coaches as one to watch this season.

Here’s all he did last season, which is not bad for a guy expected to do nothing else but stand his ground: 47 tackles, including 17 solo, 2.5 sacks, and 4.5 tackles for loss. He also had a forced fumble.

The battle for the third spot on the defensive line is between rangy 6'4'', 250 pound redshirt sophomore Julian Miller and 6'3'', 250 pound redshirt junior Larry Ford.

Of course, if the Hawaiian Yeti ever materializes in Morgantown, he could see playing time, as well.

Here, we refer to the mysterious Tevita Finau, the now-legendary junior college player who has submitted three—count ‘em—three commitment letters to WVU and whose academic record and transcript are apparently as complicated and hard to transfer as ownership of the Raiders to someone that knows what they're doingl.

This cat is supposed to be big—6'5'' and 250 pounds—and fast, a natural pass rushing blitz machine. That is, if he actually exists.

I will go on record here and now saying that Finau will not play one down—ever—for the Mountaineers, and will be pleased if I am proved wrong.

Even if he makes it through all the NCAA hoops and gets to Morgantown, there’s no guarantee that he can actually play, and play well, at the Big East level.

Here's some video that allegedly shows Finau, but I can’t swear that it’s not an elaborate CGI hoax.

2009 WVU Preview: Linebackers

Frank Ahrens — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:14:27 -0400

If there's one reason to be optimistic about the 2009 Mountaineers, it's the linebackers.

There's no way of knowing now if this is the best group in the Big East, or the nation, as some have said, so I won't. Instead, let's be a little more empirical.

In Jeff Casteel's atypical 3-3-5 stack defense that WVU has employed for several years now, the linebackers are the playmakers. That's why it's not unusual for WVU's defensive linemen to have few sacks. Their job is to take on double—and triple-teams, hold their ground, gum up the line and let the linebackers (and sometimes the safeties) swoop in and make the tackles.

This year's linebacker story begins and ends with senior Reed Williams.

Williams was the defensive MVP of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, but then found out he had two bum shoulders. He managed to play only two games in 2008 before redshirting for the season, getting surgery and preparing for the 2009 season. Reports from Williams and the team say he's 100 percent and a year smarter. (Despite playing only two games last season, Williams managed to rack up 17 tackles and an interception.)

Last year's defense was no slouch without Williams. The team finished 11th nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 17 points per game. It was No. 1 nationally in red zone defense, which apparently is computed by a number of statistics you don't need to know.

The point is, the defense was good without Williams, who, in 2007 as the middle linebacker, was the defense's quarterback. There's no reason not to expect similar performance this year with him.

Joining Williams on one side will be J.T. Thomas, a redshirt junior, who had a team-high 10 tackles for loss last year and is probably the fastest linebacker. Look for him blitzing more this season.

On Williams's other side will be junior Pat Lazear, who got plenty of playing time as a backup last year and made the game-sealing interception in the Meineke Car-Care Bowl victory.

Backing up this trio will be experienced senior Zac Cooper, a linebacker who was moved to defensive end in an experiment to get some speed at the rush end but has been moved back to linebacker; redshirt junior Anthony Leonard, who was forced into the starting middle linebacker role last season, probably too early, when Williams finally called it quits; and either redshirt senior Ovid Golbourne or redshirt sophomore Najee Goode.

Leonard had a monster, 16-tackle game in the victory over Auburn and is probably back to his natural position.

Golbourne is a former running back who got plenty of backup time last season.

Goode is the most impressive physical specimen of this bunch, who all look like they've been punched out of the same 6' to 6'2", 220 to 240-lb. mold.

Despite the returning promise and experience, this group suffered a key loss to graduation: Mortty Ivy, who just made you feel more comfortable when he was in the game. In addition to his 90 tackles and three interceptions last season, Ivy was a smart and capable field commander. Even with Williams's return, Ivy will be missed.

I like the way this group looks and feels, I like their experience and their speed and athleticism. They should be fun to watch.

2009 West Virginia Football Preview: Running Backs

Frank Ahrens — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:31:08 -0400

First, I must apologize for falling behind on these previews. I had promised one every Friday leading up to the season kickoff on Sept. 5 vs. Liberty.

But an Italian vacation interceded and forced me to miss the past two Fridays, so now I'm catching up.

It's worth noting that, while wearing a West Virginia shirt atop the Spanish Steps in Rome, a man came up behind me and said, "Let's go, Mountaineers!"

Turned out, he and his family were from Beckley, W.Va., and vacationing in Rome, as well. We're everywhere.

So, moving on. I decided to do these previews like the new Oscars, not the old Oscars, where they saved Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and the the other biggies 'til the end, making viewers sit through three hours of Best Animated Short and so on.

My first preview was the offensive line. Instead of following it with the defensive line or the special teams, today, I'll toss you a little sugar: the running backs.

Start with what you know: WVU has one of the nation's top running backs in Noel Devine returning. In his two seasons at WVU, he has answered all the questions anyone had about him:

Is he a troublemaker? No.
Is he reliable? Yes.
Can he stay in school? Yes.
Will he keep listening to Deion Sanders? No.
Is he too little to be an every-down back? No.
Was he overhyped coming out of high school? No.
He already has two kids...will he have a third? Yes.
Does he have a fabulous gold grill? Yes.

Coach Stewart and the others have said that Devine is finally understanding how to be a running back in the WVU system, not just a runner. He accumulated more than 1,200 yards last season but, as a friend said, it was the quietest 1,200 yards ever.

That is at least partly because he scored only four touchdowns, down from six his freshman season. Also, he was inconsistent: 207 yards vs. Auburn, 27 vs. Pitt.

So this season, Devine is the unquestioned feature back, the quarterback will not take as many rushing yards from him as Pat White did last season and he's three years in the system and should know it. It's a promising combination.

No discussion of WVU's running backs after last season can proceed very far without mentioning the phrase "third-down short yardage." WVU was atrocious at it last year and it cost the team at least a couple of victories.

When the team becomes so desperate on short yardage it brings in its *backup quarterback* as the big back, you know things are bad.

Fullback/H-back Will Johnson was injured most of the season but, watching him play when he did, I'm not convinced he's a short-yardage pounder. He's more of a catch-a-pass-out-of-the-backfield guy.

So the coaches made that Priority 1 in the off-season and spring. They came up with Ryan Clarke, a 6-foot, 228-pound redshirt freshman.

Clarke is fast (4.5 40) but coaches are counting on him to protect quarterback Jarrett Brown and pick up tough, crucial third-down yards.

Speedy Mark Rodgers established himself last season as Devine's capable backup. He's Devine-sized (5-9, 179) and Devine-quick, as well. He showed a knack for hitting holes. Expect him to be the first off the bench to spell Devine this season, unless and until suspended running back/slotback Jock Sanders is cleared to play by Stewart, following a DUI charge.

Sanders's natural position is slot on this team, but his boneheaded move in the offseason opened the slot position and coaches responded with the unorthodox experiment of putting 6-foot-8 Wes Lyons in the slot, who knocked everyone's socks off in the spring.

So that should be a lesson to Sanders. Still, the team would like Sanders to back up Devine if needed.

WVU also has a few of promising freshman running backs coming this fall.

The first is Tavon Austin, a Devine-sized back from Baltimore, who was twice Maryland offensive player of the year.

Coaches are envisioning this cutback king at slot and returning kickoffs and punts almost immediately, but he could see some work at running back, as well. Watch his videos on YouTube; he's like lightning.

The second is Shawne Alston, a 6-foot, 222-pound sprinter who could find his way into the Devine back-up mix.

Rounding things out is a pair of hardheaded freshman fullbacks: The comically named Christopher Snook (with a name like that, you pretty much have to be a fullback) and the Hall-of-Fame named Branko Busick, son of WWF wrestler, Big Bully Busick.

Both fullbacks are already over 6 feet and 215 pounds. One likely will end up at fullback, but it's nice to know there's a potential Owen Schmitt in the wings.

So, to recap: WVU has only one experienced running back assured to be eligible to play on Sept. 5...Devine. So that looks bad.

On the other hand, in addition to Devine, it has a game-tested backup in Rodgers, what looks like a fullback solution in Clarke and tons of talent on the way in. And, if Sanders makes it back, another experienced back. It's hard not to be optimistic.

2009 WVU Preview: Offensive Line

Frank Ahrens — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:53:45 -0400

Today, I launch my unit-by-unit preview of the 2009 West Virginia football team with the group that has the most question marks coming in—the offensive line.

(Apologies to who make a credible argument that the not-so-special-teams unit—among the worst in the nation last year—has the most question marks. I will get to them but my argument is that the offensive line is on the field half of all plays and has a greater hand in the outcome of a game, as opposed to the special teams, particularly the kickoff and punt-return teams, who are on the field for only a handful of plays.)

The offensive line is at the heart of every offensive unit but particularly so for the run-oriented WVU teams of recent years. And because of the atypical zone-blocking scheme WVU has run, Mountaineer offensive linemen have had to learn a particular form of run-blocking.

Much of that has changed.

Last year, with the hiring of new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen from Wake Forest, WVU offensive linemen were asked to pass-block more than they had in the past, while continuing to hone their zone-blocking skills.

The results were mixed, at best. Former quarterback Pat White (boy, it hurts to write “former”) enjoyed some of his typically splendid runs and was able to develop his pocket-passing game.

At the same time, it wasn’t just the lack of a big running back that prevented WVU from picking up several crucial short-yardage first-downs. I was very critical of new offensive line coach Dave Johnson last year, more so than I was of Mullen for his play-calling.

This year’s offensive line is almost completely retooled, which has caused concern among fans and media following the team.

Gone are stalwarts Ryan Stanchek, Greg Isdaner, Mike Dent and Jake Figner.

This year’s starters include players who were at best part-timers or injured last season — Josh Jenkins and Selvish Capers—and those forced into starting roles too quickly, such as Eric Jobe.

In the past, WVU’s offensive linemen were unlikely to overpower anyone. The nature of the zone-read spread-option offense run by White and Steve Slaton was built on quick, agile offensive lineman rather than 320-pound road-graders.

That has changed.

With the installation of a more traditional, pro-style offense that still incorporates elements of the spread, WVU’s offensive lineman will probably grow bigger.

Here’s the post-spring depth chart of the offensive line, looking at their (lack of) experience and their size:

- RT Selvish Capers (redshirt senior, 19 starts): 6-5, 298.
- RG Jeff Braun (redshirt freshman, no playing time): 6-4, 307.
- C Eric Jobe (reshirt junior, replaced injured Mike Dent during season, started five games): 6-2, 284.
- LG Josh Jenkins (sophomore, saw action in five games last year until injured): 6-3, 298.
- LT Don Barclay (redshirt sophomore, played in all 13 games last year, broke leg during spring scrimmage; scheduled to be back this month): 6-4, 298.

One way to evaluate the performance of an offensive line to look at per-game rushing and passing averages.

Here's WVU’s per-game passing average during the White era.

Passing, average yards per game:
2005: 116.
2006: 158.
2007: 159.
2008: 151.

After White’s freshman season, when he took over in the sixth game and was asked to do very little in passing, the numbers are amazingly consistent. Interestingly, the average actually went down in 2008, when Coach Bill Stewart promised to throw more.

Now, take a look at WVU’s per-game rushing average during the White era:

Rushing, average yards per game:
2005: 272.
2006: 303.
2007: 297.
2008: 210.

What does that tell us? One thing I would argue is that, yes, WVU has lost experience on its offensive line coming into this season, but it has not lost quality.

It’s only anecdotal evidence, but I watched every WVU game last year and I saw a lot of offensive lineman getting pushed into the backfield instead of going the other way. Noel Devine had some spectacular reverse-field runs, but those weren’t by design. He went where he was supposed to go, but there was no hole. Worse yet, sometimes he found the offensive line caving back on him.

You may have missed it, but Stewart took something of a shot at his “experienced” offensive line from 2008, noting that none of those so-called experienced hosses got picked in this year’s NFL draft.

Everyone says that communication among players is most important along the offensive line as opposed to other units on the field. This group has grown up together as backups to last year’s starters and has played together throughout the spring.

Johnson apologists deflected blame from his line’s performance last year, saying his group of linemen had gone through three coaches in the past four years. Well, that excuse is over. Most of the 2009 linemen are blank palettes, upon which Johnson can freshly paint his instruction.

If Johnson is any good as a coach, and his instruction takes, it’s hard to imagine the 2009 offensive line could perform any worse than last year’s unit.

2009 WVU Preview: Several Solid Reasons for Optimism

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:34:51 -0400

I will say this up front: I am strangely optimistic about WVU's 2009 season, which begins only nine weeks from Saturday at Mountaineer Field against the I-AA Liberty Flames.

Sure, WVU lost its greatest player ever—all-time college football rushing leader and WVU's only four-time starting quarterback bowl-winner—in Pat White.

Big deal, who'll miss him? Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out, Pat.

I am just kidding. We kid because we love.

I think I will miss White more than the team. He's probably the best college football player I'll ever get a chance to see in person. Every down was a privilege to watch. And yes, I'll probably buy the NFL Sunday Ticket to watch White with the Dolphins.

WVU also lost its all-time leading scorer in kicker Pat McAfee. Equally bemoaned with his loss is the loss of the lovable video of SpongeBob displayed on the JumboTron while Mountaineers fans said, "Good one, Patrick!" after each made field goal and PAT.

So, WVU has lost its best player ever and greatest scorer ever. Why should I be optimistic?

A number of reasons, in no particular order:

White's replacement is fifth-year senior Jarrett Brown. By all accounts, Brown is, like White, a solid citizen and a diligent film-watcher. He's taller than White and has a stronger arm, and he is only slightly slower.

Plus, he has a full year in offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen's system, which White had to learn on the fly.

He is the clear-cut quarterback heading into the season and has Coach Stewart's full confidence. He is 2-0 as a starter and has allowed himself to be used as a third-down back in desperate situations last season, which tells you a lot about his character.

Noel Devine is back, and as the coaching staff says, he finally knows how to play running back at WVU, which is very promising considering he gained more than 1,200 yards last year without knowing how to play running back.

Bonus: The team appeared committed to developing a bruising blocking/third-down back in the spring and has at least one good-looking contender, Ryan Clarke, with a couple of promising freshmen incoming.

The receiving corp is big, tall, fast, and deep: Alric Arnett, Wes Lyons, Bradley Starks, Jock Sanders (back on the team) and freshman Logan Heastie (pronounced "hasty.")

The defense returns most starters from last year, including Chris Neild, Scooter Berry, Pat Lazear, J.T. Thomas, Robert Sands, and Brandon Hogan.

Bonus: This season will see the return of the defense's most important player—Reed Williams—who missed all but two games last season with shoulder injuries. He was the defensive MVP of the 2008 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.

The coaching staff has had a full season to gel.

The recruiting class has been top-drawer, including running back Tavon Austin and quarterback Eugene Smith.

WVU is not laboring under high expectations for the first of many seasons. It has been picked to finish as low as fifth in the Big East and makes almost no preseason Top 25 rankings.

These are my reasons. Did I miss any?

To help get you ready for the season (starting next Friday), I'll begin a weekly analysis of each of the 2009 team's units.

I'll start with the unit that has the most question marks—the offensive line.

Pat White Poised To Become an NFL Quarterback

Frank Ahrens — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:06:02 -0400

I hate to say I told you so, but—well, I don't: On Nov. 28, 2007, I wrote this blog posting headlined, "Bite It, Mel Kiper: Pat White Is An NFL Quarterback."

Since then, Mel has come around on White. He projects White as a second-round pick on Saturday, or a third-round pick on Sunday—not as a wide receiver, but as a Wildcat quarterback/multi-threat. (I'm pulling for second-round, so White can earn first-day money.)

A lot of others have come around since then, too: chiefly, pretty much all of the NFL scouts who saw White, a) throw like an NFL quarterback during WVU's Meineke Car Care Bowl win, b) throw like an NFL quarterback during the Senior Bowl, of which White was the MVP, c) throw like an NFL quarterback at the combine, and d) throw like an NFL quarterback at the numerous workouts White has been ferried to by NFL teams.

There's one guy who still hasn't come around on White, but I've sworn not to mention his name in this posting.

Gone are the days of so-called draft experts yelling that White will have to convert to wide receiver in the NFL; that he has no chance to play quarterback in the NFL.

The problem, and this has been well-documented, is that the NFL is a round-peg-in-a-round-hole league. You're a third-down back, or you're a pass-rusher, or you're a 3-4 linebacker. Or you're a prototypical NFL quarterback, which is to say, you're 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds—mobility not required. Evidently, brains not required, either, and here, we invoke the required first-round quarterback bust, "Ryan Leaf."

Problem is, White is an innovator. There's never been anyone quite like him. Oh, there's the inevitable Kordell "Slash" Stewart references, but Stewart, though as athletic as White, was not the quarterback and, more importantly, not the intelligent field captain White is.

For all of White's many gifts—and I saw the man play every game for four years—his greatest strength is his intelligence. He almost never made a bad play, almost never made a mistake.

If anything, he evolved faster than the game could allow for. For instance, during last year's 24-3 WVU loss to East Carolina, White ran for a first down and headed out of bounds to avoid the big hit. He saw that he had passed the first-down marker and dove out of bounds, setting the ball down just inside the sideline—inbounds—with his left hand, while simultaneously touching the ground outside the sideline—out of bounds—with his right hand. Clearly, the ball was downed when White was out of bounds. First down, WVU.

But the perplexed referees, seeing White out of bounds and the ball, stationary, in-bounds, something they evidently had not seen before, stood befuddled, and made no call. An alert East Carolina Pirate picked up the ball, and the referees incorrectly ruled that White had fumbled. White was ahead of his time and ahead of the game. Consequently, he was penalized for it.

It was the fear that the same thing would happen to White in the NFL draft. Despite being nothing but a quarterback since the seventh grade, despite winning four bowl games as a starter, something no other player had done in the history of college football, despite having a stellar passer rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio, White—because he is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds—would, of course, have to become a wide receiver in the NFL.

Perhaps he will not be an every-down quarterback. At least not during his first year in the NFL.

Here's betting White will see 10 to 15 snaps per game during his rookie season, make big plays with his arm and his feet and,most importantly, will suck up the playbook and the film and impress his coaches with his intelligence, his leadership, and his "it" quality.

Then, finally, Pat White will be an NFL quarterback.

(Okay, I can't resist speaking the name that Who Must Not Be Spoken: NFL draft "expert" Todd McShay, who evidently has some sort of personal grudge against White. McShay has been the most strident opponent of White being an NFL quarterback. Even in recent days, now that White is finally getting the quarterback respect he deserves, McShay says he is "getting overrated."

Listen: McShay knows more about prototypical NFL players than I do. He's studied the game and its personnel with obsessive attention. But he cannot recognize innovators when he sees them. Further, I don't know if McShay has sources in the league or talks to GMs, but the sense I get from reading the copy of those who do is that they are singing a more positive tune on White than McShay is.

I'm no shrink, but I have a pet theory on McShay's grudge against White. Like White, McShay was an undersized quarterback coming out of high school, but obviously lacked White's gifts. He tried to play quarterback at Div. 1-A Richmond, but washed out at the position, getting switched to defensive back. If I couldn't make it as a quarterback at my size, McShay may be thinking, then White can't either. Just a theory.)

Pat White is an NFL quarterback, and that will be proven in the hopefully many years to come.

Jarrett Brown's Team: WVU Spring Scrimmage

Frank Ahrens — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:21:30 -0400

The takeaway from Saturday’s Gold-Blue scrimmage game in Morgantown is that Jarrett Brown, Pat White’s replacement, was large and in-charge.

You can see a couple of (shaky) videos I shot here.

His arm is no surprise, but what was notable was his field presence: He clearly was the team leader on the field and that will be good for Mountaineer fans to see.

The format of the game followed usual scoring systems. In this, the first team played against the scout team, so the 35-7 score was no surprise.

WVU’s first-team receivers—Alric Arnett, Wes Lyons, and Bradley Starks—looked tall and strong. I was surprised not to see tight end Tyler Urban work into the offense more prominently.

Of course, Noel Devine did what he does: He took a pitch left, ran down the line, found his hole, and squirted through it. Then, at midfield, he cut back and outran the entire defense to the right end zone pylon.

Backup tailback Mark Rodgers got some meaningful carries and showed the burst he displayed last season.

The first-team defense was impressive in shutting down the scout team offense, as they should be, but backup tailback Jordan Roberts somehow found a hole in the line and sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown. Roberts was last season’s Kennedy Award winner as the best player in West Virginia high school football.

Coach Stewart said Roberts will have a role on special teams.

Coley White, Pat White’s younger brother, ran the scout team offense and took a turn running the first-team offense.

He’s fast, like his brother, and even though Coach Stewart said he liked White’s pocket presence, to me, he looked like he was running around like an insane weasel.

Then again, with Reed Williams and the rest chasing you, why wouldn’t you?

Further, White’s throws look more like a shot put; he’s almost got a little jump off his back foot when he throws, and he’s really small.

All that being said, he did find a couple of outlet passes on check-downs and hit early enrollee wide receiver Logan Heastie (pronounced “Hasty”) on a nice crossing route. The crowd noticed that Heastie made the catch and applauded approvingly.

I’m optimistic for this team for a number of reasons.

First, the defense is back, nearly intact, and middle linebacker Reed Williams—the key to the defense—is back after missing almost all of last year. If fragile Brandon Hogan makes it through the year, nose tackle Chris Neild is as good as advertised, and if safety Robert Sands continues to mature, this can be a dominating defense.

If huge Samoan pass rusher Tevita Finau actually hits the field and is not just a myth, like Nessie or the Yeti, well, that’s gravy.

On offense, Brown has had four years at WVU and a full year under Jeff Mullen’s offense, which is something Pat White didn’t have. Devine has another year under his belt and it looks like the team has a couple of answers for short yardage.

If the offensive line can mature quickly—and that’s a big if—considering they’re young and Donnie Barclay broke a fibula in the scrimmage, which means six weeks of healing, this will be a formidable offense.

Just remember this: Tennessee didn’t win its national championship when the great Peyton Manning was running the team. The Vols won the year after he left when Tee Martin was the QB.

WVU-Syracuse Basketball: Mountaineers Headed Backward Fast

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:22:02 -0500

WVU’s performance in a 74-61 loss at Syracuse Wednesday night on ESPN was so poor in so many ways, it defies description in paragraph style. Instead, we will address it in bullet points:

WVU made the 2-3 zone defense look like the most exotic, effective defense ever devised. It’s not like it’s not the first defense you see on the playground when you’re a kid and the one you face most of your life.

Still, for WVU tonight, the Mountaineers looked liked they were seeing John Beilein’s 1-3-1 for the first time. Or any defense for the first time, for that matter. Syracuse made the defense as wide as the court and somehow seemed to pack the middle at the same time.
WVU can’t shoot. The team shot 36 percent overall last night and 26 percent from three-point range. For the season, WVU is shooting 43 percent, good for 12th place in the 16-team Big East. The only thing worse than the bricks were the air balls.
Evidently, WVU can’t play defense or rebound, either. Syracuse shot 47 percent last night and outrebounded WVU 40 to 30.
WVU has 1.5 players. That’s it. Da’Sean Butler is a player. Sometimes, Alex Ruoff is a player. Devin Ebanks could become a player. Tonight, that was it.
I’m not sure Truck Bryant can play at this level. He disappears for minutes at a time, both when he’s on the court and on Bob Huggins’s bench because of his poor play on the court.
Unclear to me why Cam Thoroughman still has a scholarship playing basketball, because he can’t. He should learn how to skate and be a hockey goon.
Beilein must have recruited Wellington Smith for a different offense, because he has no impact in this one. He is averaging 5.7 points per game His point total for the past 10 games is 4, 0, 2, 3, 10, 3, 4, 6, 9, 3.
Admittedly, Syracuse can pass expertly in the paint, but WVU seemed to forget the concept of “weak-side help.”
I now have a Big East player I despise more than that really good and really annoying little fat man, Pitt’s Levance Fields. It’s Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf, who apparently is physically incapable of missing a layup.

I’m all for good sportsmanship, but when WVU was down by 18 or so late in the second half and that tattooed House-of-Pain-wannabe brought the ball up, dribbled between his legs, and made a three-point shot, I really wished someone would have punched him in the nose.

Preferably Thoroughman, so he’d get ejected.

At least Devendorf is an upstanding citizen. Oh, wait. He’s the guy who hit that Syracuse student? That female Syracuse student? In the face?

Todd McShay Poops All Over Pat White's NFL Dream

Frank Ahrens — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:57:57 -0500

Former WVU quarterback (boy, it hurts to write that) Pat White is in Mobile, Ala., practicing for Saturday's Senior Bowl, a big chance for NFL draft-hopefuls to showcase their abilities to league scouts.

White, who is college football's all-time quarterback rushing leader, is trying to show he can be a quarterback in the NFL.

ESPN's Todd McShay is having none of it, despite White's 332-yard, three-touchdown performance in the Meineke Care Care Bowl victory over UNC. From McShay's reports, White has no chance of making it as an NFL quarterback and is blowing his chance to make a living as a wide receiver or return man. Here is McShay's ESPN Insider report on White's first three days of practice:

Monday (1/19/09): It was apparent from the start of practice that White did not appear comfortable from under center. He stumbled on a few occasions during simple hand-off drills and his entire rhythm and timing as a passer was thrown off when he was forced to drop and read coverage simultaneously. His overall accuracy as a passer left much to be desired. He sailed one pass over the head of TE Shawn Nelson, who was running a crossing route against air. Later he short-hopped a comeback route during one-on-one drills. And then he under threw a vertical route, which resulted in an interception for San Jose State CB Coye Fancies. Making matters worse, White checked in at a mere 6-feet tall and 190 pounds during this morning's weigh-in. How many quarterbacks with those measurables are starting in the NFL right now? Exactly. The wise decision for White is to get involved as a receiver and return man moving forward. He did not catch one pass, kick or punt during Monday's practice, which is a wasted opportunity in our opinion.

Tuesday (1/20/09): White was able to calm some of his critics today by looking much more comfortable under center. He was able to fit the ball in tight windows throughout practice. White also showed accuracy throwing on the run, rolling out to the right and throwing a strike to Southern Miss TE Shawn Nelson, which can be extremely tough for a left-handed quarterback like White. We are still not ready to say White can line up as a quarterback at the NFL level, though. He continues to take too long getting the ball out of his hands and fails to show the proper touch on his throws. This was magnified during the seven-on-seven period when White threw a low fastball on a skinny post that obviously needed more trajectory and softer touch. The ball was easily intercepted by Ole Miss OLB Ashlee Palmer.

Wednesday (1/21/09): White threw spirals and showed a smooth delivery for the most part, but there is no getting around the fact that he is simply not accurate enough to play quarterback in the NFL. While he did throw spirals, the nose of the ball often sunk and when the coaches put the 10-foot net up for him to throw over his accuracy fell off even more. At his height, his release point is just too low. In the seven-on-seven period, White flat-out missed wide-open Ole Miss WR Mike Wallace in the end zone. This was a trend on Wednesday as he often looked to be aiming and feathering the ball in order to prevent himself from making a mistake. As a result, his passes often lacked the RPMs needed to be successful at the next level. On a side note, many think that White needs to transition to wide receiver and we agree. However, when observing him catch the ball as he was waiting to take his next rep at quarterback White didn't look natural with his hands. That begs the question of whether White can catch the ball well enough to play any position other than quarterback. At this point, though, he needs to try because he has not done himself any favors behind center this week.