October 2010
11 posts
3 tags
Playing UConn
Just win big. That’s all we’re asking. Don’t make it close. Don’t make us nervous. Just. Win. Big.
Here’s a definition of winning big: 49-10, with their only touchdown coming in the last five minutes of the game, long after anybody’s still wondering about the outcome, long after anybody cares about the outcome, long after the second string players have given...
2 tags
Doing What You Do Best
Here’s a fantastically bad idea for Bob Huggins: start Deniz Kilicli at point guard. Yes, Kilicli’s better as a low-post force, and yes, he’s very capable when getting the ball down on the blocks, but basketball isn’t about winning and losing. It’s about balance. And only a team that balances its focus between what it does well (Kilicli down low) and what it does...
3 tags
Losing To Syracuse, 14-19
It was the nightmare scenario that so many of us had feared, played out over three excruciating hours in which it became painfully clear what was about to happen. When Geno Smith got sacked on the game’s final play, who anywhere was surprised? Some perfunctory knees later, and there the Mountaineers were, done in 14-19 by Syracuse. People though that want to ignore the historical...
2 tags
Playing Syracuse
We’re 5-1, as ideal a record as anybody could have imagined back in August. We’ve won close games that shouldn’t have been close. We’ve witnessed one of West Virginia’s best ever running backs wasted on plays sending him directly into the line. We’ve seen the coaching staff decide that the offense’s only substantive responsibility is getting the defense...
1 tag
Beating USF, 20-6
So the West Virginia University Mountaineers beat the University of South Florida Bulls 20-6 and, as Monty Python once said, there was much rejoicing. Or, you know, some rejoicing. Yay! Err, umm, yay. Yay?
We beat USF by 14 points, a lead we managed with two first half touchdowns, the first on a beautiful playfake that sprung Brad Starks and the second on an unbelievable hook-and-ladder play...
2 tags
Playing USF
A few years ago, in the hunt for a national championship, I did what any reasonable human being would do and hosted a chili cookoff on a Friday night. It was the night we played the University of South Florida, a no-name school surrounded by bigger schools and, we were pretty sure, more capable of getting beaten by the Mountaineers. Not so. Our running game - the offense’s staple that year -...
4 tags
WVU UNLV/USF Short Week Safety in Numbers
A recap of the game as told through stats both in and out of the box score
3 – touchdown receptions for Brad Starks against UNLV
4 – receptions for Brad Starks against UNLV
0 – receptions for Brad Starks in 4 games leading up to UNLV
100 – yards receiving by Brad Starks against UNLV
-15 – yards attributed to Brad Starks in 4 games leading up to UNLV (10 yard illegal block penalty...
1 tag
Beating UNLV, 49-10
After the game Saturday, I got a text message from a friend, wondering if this week’s win was good enough for me, the implication being that I’d done a lot of complaining considering we were a pretty swarthy looking 4-1. It’s true that we’ve won every game we were supposed to and lost the only game we were supposed to. This is, frankly, where everybody thought (hoped?...
4 tags
Playing UNLV
Before I go any further (Editor’s Note: but you haven’t gone anywhere yet!), I’d like to note DJ Gallo’s fantastic description of Rich Rodriguez’s offensive gameplan at the University of Michigan. A lot of people like to believe that the man is some sort of genius, but he isn’t now and never was. His success at West Virginia University stemmed entirely from...
1 tag
Again With The Offense
WVU’s offense isn’t quite anemic, but it’s close. Ranked 66th in rushing and 72nd in passing, WVU’s offense never seems to be consistently doing anything. WVU fans, predictably, are desperate for answers as to why this is. The answer, as it always is, is the conservatism of football coaches.
Simply put, they’re terrified of losing in new ways. They’re happier...
1 tag
John Calipari Is A Douchebag
I spent all weekend trying to figure out the right way to say that John Calipari is a huge douchebag, especially in light of these comments but also all of this. However, I couldn’t figure out a way to say what I wanted to, so I boiled it all down until I only had the gist of the situation encapsulated. After all that work, I had this:
John Calipari is a huge douchebag.
I think I captured...
