Don't Worry About the West Virginia Mountaineers Looking Past Norfolk State

It's got trap game written all over it. It's Week 2 of the season and the Mountaineers are coming off a rain-delayed win over Marshall. Next week is Maryland, the first true test of Mountaineer mettle so who is going to want to run at 100 percent against an FCS team who hasn't played anybody?

Oh, and let's not forget the last time Norfolk state squared off against a opponent from an AQ conference it was the Rutgers who smashed this Spartan team to bits. So honestly, if you're Dana Holgorsen, don't you just tell your guys to sleep in, eat a big breakfast and man-trip into the stadium expecting a three-hour Maryland dress rehearsal? 

No, no and NO. 

In fact, if you are Dana Holgorsen, you're telling your guys to get ready for serious work; though I don't think it will take too much motivation from Holgorsen to light a fire under his players. The fact is, the victory over Marshall was anything but edifying. The score read 34-14, which is by no means a close game, but neither was it the blowout that most people were expecting. 

Then there's the fact that officials called the game with 14:36 left on the clock. That's nearly an entire quarter of football in case anyone was at a loss.  n entire quarter. Win or no win, the Mountaineers went to bed last Sunday night with empty bellies and a lot of energy left to spare. 

The build-up to the Marshall game and the premier of offense a la Holgorsen was a powder keg of anticipation. The fuse got lit last Sunday and never burnt all the way through and no amount of rain is going to snuff out something so eagerly awaited. With a week of fine-tuning and film study, expect many of the errors committed last Sunday to be cleared up. 

Blocking down field should be vastly improved, as should blocking across the line, this in turn should open up a run game that never showed up in three quarters of play last week. 

The offense in general should be able to come out of the gate firing, considering Norfolk State runs a 3-3-5 very similar to that of West Virginia's scheme. By now, Geno Smith is pretty well acclimated to attacking the odd front the scheme presents and shouldn't hesitate to put the ball in play down field.  And speaking of Geno, I don't think there's a Mountaineer more eager to whet his appetite more than the junior signal caller.

Aside from Holgorsen, and maybe Tavon Austin, Smith has had more preseason billing than anyone on the team and, for that matter, the entire league. While his 249 yards in three quarters of play is not shameful by any stretch. it's still easily 100 yards shy of where he should have been had the game played out in its entirety. 

I'm not saying Norfolk State is traveling to Morgantown to participate in target practice for a restless Mountaineers squad. But let's face it: If Geno and his crew arrive ready to get down to business Saturday, we could be in for offensive fireworks that were absent last Sunday. While there was no shortage of lightning in the sky over Morgantown last week, it was not of Dana Hologorsen's making, and that's just plain frustrating. 

A blowout win over Norfolk State this weekend won't generate a great deal of thunder across the college football landscape, but it will demonstrate that West Virginia wasn't sated with beating Marshall in three quarters. 

More importantly, it will show a Maryland team who just made a bit of a statement themselves (I'm not even going to acknowledge the uniforms), that West Virginia isn't taking anyone lightly. I don't think we'll be the next Michigan or Virginia Tech; of course no one can predict the outcome of games like that. I do, however, foresee this Saturday as being the day that the new look West Virginia offense gets to really spread its wings and take flight. 

Make no mistake that Dana and Jeff will have their boys ready to roll this Saturday. There is far too much riding on this season to take anyone for granted (Norfolk State included), and with so much left on the table from last week, expect the Mountaineers to come out from the first snap with red eyes and fangs bared. 

If it is a blowout and Holgorsen generates his first fantasy numbers in the Gold and Blue, I hope the team still finds itself laying down for the night with their stomachs rumbling. Marshall was the first of many courses, and with turtles, tigers and panthers yet ahead, the best courses are still to come.