Bleacher Report - Articles by Shawn Withrow

A Brief Commentary on Big East Football

Shawn Withrow — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:16:32 -0500

I watched the end of the Syracuse-ND game, and even though I am a WVU fan, I couldn't help feeling good for the Orange and for the players. Greg Robinson recently said something to the effect that he has never enjoyed coaching a team as much as he has this year.

I can really see it in his face. He is having a blast. What a great attitude for someone who has been asked to leave. During the post-game interview he paused and refused to speak over the ND Alma Mater. That shows real class in my opinion.

It is too bad things didn't work out for him at Syracuse. They were only a couple of plays away from having a much better record this year, and I am sure they will play with a lot of grit against Cincinnati this coming Saturday.

They might not have the firepower to beat the Bearcats, but since I am a WVU fan, here is hoping for a miracle.

According to ESPN Big East Blogger Brian Bennett, Bearcat coach Brian Kelly told the Cincinnati Enquirer's Bill Koch that he has informed his representatives to "keep this stuff [about other coaching jobs] off my desk. I don't want to deal with it. I'm focused on Cincinnati."

However, I'll be very surprised if Kelly stays. He has generated a lot of buzz, and this may be his only chance to catapult into a more prestigious position. The Big East is a little down this year, and he has a team chock-full of seniors.

Those two things have helped a good team become a great team under his watch. I love the Big East and follow it closely, but unfortunately some younger coaches may see it as a "stepping stone league" into a better job.

ESPN Big East Blogger Brian Bennett made mention of this in either a chat or article recently. I think that is a shame because I feel there is a lot of honor in building a program and being loyal to it, but it is one of the sad realities of modern college football.

I've read several comments on various web sites about how sorry we should all feel for Pat White because of the struggles WVU has faced during his senior year, but I don't feel sorry for him, and I doubt he feels sorry for himself.

He just became the NCAA's all-time leader in rushing for a QB with 4,292 yards this past Saturday, and he will most likely get a shot in the NFL at some position, maybe even at QB. He also passed Donovan McNabb in all-time TDs accounted for in Big East play.

Worst-case scenario, he has received a college degree, fame, and accolades, all while being a part of a WVU team that has been one of the best programs in the country over the last few years. Not too shabby.

And to wrap this up: This week has days off, good homemade food, and the Backyard Brawl. What more could I ask for? Just a couple things: WVU to beat PITT, and as mentioned earlier, Syracuse to play another amazing game and upset Cincinnati.

Have a great holiday weekend, and stay safe everyone!

Great Expectations: Reflections on WVU's Season So Far

Shawn Withrow — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:54:41 -0400

During the 17-14 overtime loss at Colorado, WVU appeared to be a team in transition with a new coaching staff and several bugs to work out.

That is probably because they are. The thing is that expectations (mine included) were much higher than they really should have been.

This somewhat naïve and overly optimistic outlook was most likely due to the pure speed and talent the Mountaineers returned offensively and how well things were coming along on the defensive side from camp and preseason reports.

In the season opener against FCS opponent Villanova, WVU's new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen decided to focus almost entirely on the pass.

It worked beautifully, with Pat White throwing for a personal best five touchdowns.

However, I think that early success led Mullen to alter the offense even more and get away from the bread and butter "zone read" running game against ECU.

After the unexpected 24-3 loss against ECU, the coaching staff realized that they had messed things up and decided to return to the classic WVU attack in preparation for Colorado.

What we saw in the game against the Buffaloes was unfortunately, in many ways, a swing too far back in the other direction.

The passes that were attempted were mostly quick outs to the sideline instead of vertical strikes.

ESPN commentator Mark May pointed out that WVU seemed to have lost its identity, and I have to agree with that in terms of the offense.

The problem, in my estimation, is the flip-flopping in play calling in all three of the games this year.

The best version of the WVU offense is what we saw in the Fiesta Bowl last year: Run first, but be ready to sprinkle in just enough long passes across the middle to keep the defense honest.

Pat White is not an NFL-style passer, that is for certain, but he is accurate enough to put the ball where it needs to be in those situations.

On the other side of the football, the Mountaineer defense has been getting progressively better from game to game, and they were further bolstered by the return of LB Reed Williams to the lineup.

In fact, I think the defensive performance against the Buffaloes is a really big positive that WVU can take from an extremely disappointing loss.

WVU held Colorado scoreless for three full quarters of the game. If this was not a team with such high expectations, one might even have been encouraged by the game in defensive terms.

The only real glaring defensive deficit came in the pass rushing. There is simply too much time for the opposing quarterback, which in turn places too much stress on a young secondary.

With all of the challenges and struggles, WVU was still in a good place to win the Colorado game. They just missed some very good opportunities, and the coaching staff made some rookie mistakes, including clock management errors.

I think the key for the Mountaineer players and fans is to do the best they can to remain positive.

It is important to take a step back and make a realistic assessment. WVU is not going to live up to those preseason dreams, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this team for what they are.

I agree with fellow Bleacher Report writer Frank Ahrens, who wrote, “This team could be fascinating to watch” in his recent article about the Colorado-WVU game.

They are still an exciting ticket, and things are going to improve as these players get more comfortable and as the new coaches learn more about each other and their team.

The Mountaineer nation needs to reevaluate what were perhaps unrealistic expectations and learn to enjoy the journey this new team is on.

Top 10 Strangest High School Football Team Nicknames

Shawn Withrow — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:36:08 -0400

All across the country, youngsters are putting on their team colors and going out on to the gridiron to fight for football supremacy and have a lot of fun on Friday night. Some of them even have dreams of eventually moving on into the realm of college football or beyond.

In my travels and through conversations and the Internet, I have come across some really interesting nicknames for a few of these high school athletic teams. Here is my all-time top 10. Feel free to add your own in the comments. Enjoy!

10.		Yuma “Criminals”—Yuma, AZ This sure does inspire a bright future for the student body. I can see recruiters shying away from Yuma.
9.		Auburn “Maroons”—Auburn, NY I used to live nearby and I would laugh each time I passed the school. I couldn't help but recall Bugs Bunny saying, "What a bunch of maroons."
8.		Cobden “Appleknockers”—Cobden, IL If the opposing team is the fighting Apples, they are in for a nightmare.
7.		Canon-McMillan “Big Macs”—Canonsburg, PA This is actually an Irish reference, not a hamburger one, but it is still funny.
6.		Fluvanna County “Flying Flucos”—Palmyra, VA Um, no comment.
5.		Springtown “Fighting Porcupines”—Springtown, TX That is one mean-looking porcupine.
4.		Poca “Dots”—Poca, WV Are you kidding me?
3.		Benson “Bunnies”—Omaha, NE "Death awaits you all with sharp, pointy teeth." - Tim, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
2.		Blooming Prairie “Awesome Blossoms”—Blooming Prairie, MN Make anyone hungry?
1.		Watersmeet “Nimrods”—Watersmeet, MI Yes. These folks were featured in a USA Today article and it still remains my all-time pick for a strange and wacky nickname.

The Big Beast: How About a Little Respect for Big East Football?

Shawn Withrow — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:13:53 -0400

Big East teams went out in the first week of the 2008 season and did a terrible job representing the league, so it does not surprise me that folks have once again started the negative chatter.

I mean, why would anyone want to miss an opportunity to step on them when they have a down week?

The Big East seems to be the conference that football fans love to hate, but I would like everyone to consider the following information.

"West Virginia’s win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl gave the BIG EAST’s representative four Bowl Championship Series wins in the last five years. The conference was a combined 32-13 outside the league in 2007, with their .711 winning percentage trailing only their 2006 and 2000 records of 37-8, .822 and 28-9, .757, respecitvely as the best in BIG EAST history."

"Seven of the eight BIG EAST teams were either ranked or received votes in one of the three major national polls. Four of the eight were ranked in the top 10 at some point, while two schools—West Virginia and USF—were ranked No. 2." (From www.bigeast.org)

West Virginia’s 33-5 record over the last three seasons is second only to the USC Trojans. Also, in the last three years, the Big East has had out of conference wins against SEC teams such as Georgia (SEC champion at the time), Auburn, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.

They have beaten ACC opponents Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami (FL), Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Wake Forest. The Big East has even beaten mighty Big 12 Champion Oklahoma.

In limited match play with the Pac-10 and Big Ten, they have come away with wins against Oregon State and Illinois.

Clearly, the best conference in college football is the SEC. I wouldn’t even dare to argue that. The performance of the Big East teams in week one of 2008 was obviously disappointing, but it is a long season. I think it would be wise to wait until the end of the year to make your full assessment.

It is a little hard to accept the argument many have made that the Big East doesn’t deserve an automatic BCS berth when a team from the conference went into two BCS Bowls and beat the SEC and Big 12 Champions on neutral ground.

The Big East conference is home to some great players, passionate fans, and very exciting games, but I am not implying that the Big East is even one of the top two or three conferences in the country.

I am just suggesting they are competitive on a national level—and in the words of Mrs. Franklin, they deserve "just a little bit of respect." It is all in fun anyway, so just take a deep breath and relax.

Epilogue: With all of that being established, the more important level is not the conference: It is the team. I realize it is strange to bring this up at the end of this type of article, but I think we really need to spend more time focusing on rooting for our team, and not bickering over which conferences are the strongest. The team vs. team debate is a lot more entertaining.

West Virgina's Recent Success Is a Ressurgence Not a Debut

Shawn Withrow — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:49:54 -0400

College football fans are familiar with West Virginia’s recent success. In fact, their 33-5 record over the last three seasons is second only to the USC Trojans. That is pretty impressive company by anybody’s standards. They have had three consecutive top ten finishes and they have also been to five consecutive New Year’s bowls.

As we approach the 2008-09 College Football season expectations are high for the Mountaineers to once again go after a Big East championship and possibly be in the conversation for a national title run.

However it has become apparent to me in my on-line journeys to various sports sites and in reading numerous article comments that there is a common misconception about WVU football. It seems many believe that they are a new face on the competitive landscape.

The persuasion of many is that they are not one of the major programs and deserve no such comparison. I have even come across those that think WVU’s recent success has been their only success.

I expect this is mostly coming from the uneducated or less experienced fan of the sport, because while the Mountaineers have certainly reached a new level of overall success in recent seasons, they are certainly not a “johnny come lately” program by any stretch of the imagination.

There was a winning tradition at West Virginia long before Mr. Rodriguez took over as head coach and there is no reason that it shouldn’t continue now that he has moved on. In fact Don Nehlen, WVU coach from 1980-2000, was the winning-est Mountaineer coach in history and is the 17th winning-est college football coach of all-time.

The WVU football tradition of winning is a “…tradition dates all the way back to 1922 and a victory in the East-West Bowl in San Diego. WVU has 26 all-time bowl appearances; eight in the last decade...” (from MSNsportsNet.com).

West Virginia ranks 15th in all time wins and is on the list with some of college football's elite programs. (Please see the list below. Story continued following list.)

1. Michigan

2. Note Dame

3. Texas

4. Nebraska

5. Ohio State

6. Alabama

7. Penn State

8. Oklahoma

9. Tennessee

10. Southern California

11. Georgia

12. LSU

13. Syracuse

14. Auburn

15. West Virginia

List From NCAA.Com Statistics.

I realize of course that their lack of a national title stains their reputation in the hearts and minds of many people. They lost their only national championship appearance at the end of the 1988 season to a very good Notre Dame team by the score of 34-21 and this past season’s devastating loss at home to PITT cost them a second chance.

Unfortunately, it has been my experience that many people don’t even realize they had ever been in the national picture before the 2000s. I do not feel like the lack of a national title justifies excluding them from being considered one of the top 25 programs of all time because being 15th in overall wins in a pool of 119 teams should do that alone.

Whether you like the Mountaineers or not doesn’t change the fact that if you are an informed football fan they deserve a little bit of respect not only for the here and now, but also on a historic level. Their recent success may be a comeback or resurgence into a higher place, but it is not their debut.

Brett Favre Puts the Green Bay Packers In an Ironic Situation

Shawn Withrow — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:02:11 -0400

I figured it was time to chime in on the Favre-Packer situation, so here it goes.

There are definitely several jokes that can be made out of the recent news that the Green Bay Packers have offered Brett Favre as much as $20 million to not play, but on the serious side, this is making the Packers' leadership look pretty bad.

The strange thing is that the Packers ironically show a lack of confidence in Rodgers by not releasing Favre. "What the...," you might say. What I mean is: If they are so sure Rodgers is their QB, and the future of the Packers, then so be it.

It shouldn't matter to them if Favre plays for the Vikings, Bears, or whomever else because (according to them) they have a better option at QB than Brett Favre. If you follow the Packers' thinking, then that means they shouldn't have any problems against a team that has Favre because they have a better QB.

I think, of course, that they are out of their minds. Favre is a superstar, and Rodgers is an unknown entity. Starting Rodgers is kind of like purchasing a raffle ticket: You just hope for the best.

The bottom line is that if the Packers don't want him, that is their business, but Brett Favre wants to play, and he has the right to do so. The Packers have to let him back onto their roster or let him go. That is the reality of contractual football.

So, Packers, please release him already. To not do so shows a lack of confidence in your decisions and, ironically, in your new starting quarterback. By the way, you are making a big mistake.

Bill Stewart: Thoughts on the WVU Coaching Change

Shawn Withrow — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:52:26 -0400

Like many college football fans, I am tired of all the bickering and reporting on the departure of Rich Rodriguez and his settlement with WVU. It is beyond time to be focused on the more important matter of getting ready for the 2008 season.

That is why I am writing this article about the new era of college football in Morgantown, WV. With the switch to Bill Stewart, many WVU fans are actually pretty optimistic about the team’s future.

The Mountaineers now have a head coach that possesses not only a great attitude but also a loyal heart.

Stewart, quietly (for some reason it hasn’t been covered very much), put together a solid coaching staff with some exceptional recruiters. A lot of naysayers about Stewart’s hire forget that WVU’s second choice, Doc Holiday is also on staff making it almost a two for one.

Stewart is not a micro manager but rather a guy who is comfortable being the face of the program and a motivator to his team while allowing his capable assistants the freedom to coach the players. He is not an egomaniac or an overbearing leader.

How will his philosophy compare to the past regime?

“If you tuned into West Virginia’s two defeats …versus South Florida (who has beaten WVU two years in a row with great defense) and Pittsburgh, you would have shook your head saying “What’s all the fuss about?” As a former offensive coordinator myself, I must admit that one of the hardest things to do is get away from something that is so successful so often. Is it pride, ego, stubbornness, or the fear of not enough preparation or more importantly game exposure to ‘Plan B’ that prevents coaches from shifting gears when a defense hasn’t stopped you all day?”—from spreadoffense.com.

This little snippet, in my opinion sums up the Mountaineers losses to USF and PITT last season. Stubbornness. I mean if you are getting stuffed every play because the defense is loading the box, make some adjustments for goodness sake!

Fortunately, I think Bill Stewart is open-minded enough to make in-game adjustments as needed and his staff will begin each game with a more balanced attack plan. He is the opposite of stubborn, yet still holds his team responsible for execution at a high level.

With the hiring of Jeff Mullen as the new offensive coordinator, it is clear that loading the box will no longer be an option for defenses facing the Mountaineers. Motion and vertical passing should open up a whole new dimension of explosiveness.

I recently came across footage of Stewart’s pregame speech before the Mountaineers convincing win over highly favored Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on YouTube. I was pleased and amazed at his fiery, passionate imploring of the team.

He was definitely much different then the “aw shucks” coach we have seen in interviews. Not different in a way that would bring his genuineness into question but rather in a way that showed that he is more than just an emotional hire.

He is a great motivator, and he is an excited and energetic leader. Some things we can be sure of with Coach Stewart, he loves West Virginia and the football team, his players love him, and he is concerned about developing quality citizens and leaders.

To most West Virginians, this means an awful lot. Winning is the icing on the cake.

What does all this mean for WVU’s future? Well in the immediacy, WVU is returning one of the best Big East RBs in Devine and the best QB in White. Bill Stewart has loads of other talent coming back including the entire offensive line.

While it is true that Casteel has some hard work ahead with the defense, I still truly believe they will be once again competing at a championship level and be in the national spot light.

After all, Casteel has proven he can do a lot with a little in the past. Stewart’s staff has also signed some powerful players to start building for the future, including one Coley White (Pat’s brother for those who were unaware, do you feel the rest of the Big East cringing?).

The 2009 class has already seen several top 150 prospects verbally commit, including an Elite 11 quarterback in Tajh Boyd and his friend Logan Heastie, a top WR.

I am sure it will be tough to maintain the level of success in the coming years, but those guys sure will help! Simply put, it continues to be a great time to be a Mountaineer.

Addition (08-01-08) This is what Jim Leavitt, USF's head coach had to say about Stewart: "He's got a great reputation, because he is who he is. He's a down-to-earth, good person, loves the game...The people who wonder on how he'll be (compared) with Rich are nuts. This guy's probably better than Rodriguez. I'm worried about him. We beat Rodriguez. We haven't gotten this guy. This guy worries me. I wish Rich would have stayed. But he didn't, so we'll have to go play Michigan now."