WVU/Marshall 2011 - Safety In Numbers
A recap of the game as told through stats both in and out of the box score
(Oh my gosh, doing this for the second year in a row now makes it an annual tradition!)
14:36 – Remaining in the 4th quarter when the game was called due to lightning
34 – Points scored by Dana Holgorsen’s offense in just over 3 quarters in his first game against Marshall
27, 24, 24 – Points scored by Jeff Mullen’s offenses in 4 quarters against Marshall in 2008 (when he had Pat freaking White), 2009, and 2010
42 – Rushing yards for WVU - their lowest rushing output even if you project it out to 4 quarters in 132 games! – Virginia Tech 2001
332 – passing yards by Geno if you project his 3 quarters’ worth of stats out to 4 quarters
4 – times in a Jeff Mullen offense that the quarterback passed for over 300 yards in a game (Smith – Rutgers 2010, Marshall 2010; Brown – East Carolina 2009; White – North Carolina 2008)
0 – points scored by the Marshall offense
9 – different players caught a pass for the Mountaineers (happened only two times under Jeff Mullen – Rutgers 2010, Syracuse 2009)
Too many – times Geno had to run out of a collapsing pocket
More on Marshall
Sam’s game preview
Sam’s game recap
Scott’s recap of the fun during the rain delay
WVU/Norfolk State - Safety in Numbers
A recap of the game as told through stats both in and out of the box score
6, 13 – passing yards and rushing yards for WVU in the first quarter (made even more impressive that WVU finished with 431 yards passing on the game)
89%, 19.25, 3 – Pass completion percentage, average yards per pass, and touchdown receptions thrown by Geno Smith in the 4rd quarter
371 – passing yards by Geno (a career high, the highest at WVU in 13 years (Marc Bulger 429 – Missouri 1998) and Smith’s third 300 yard passing game)
13 – first downs by WVU in the 3rd quarter
6 – of those first downs that were earned via Norfolk State penalty
10 – teams in FBS that haven’t allowed more than one touchdown this season in two games (although it was a special teams TD, it still counts against WVU as a TD, but they also did only play 3 quarters against Marshall) Central Florida, Florida St. – 0; Michigan St., Florida, Illinois, Texas, Arkansas, Temple, Kentucky - 1
236 – yards allowed per game by WVU’s defense (and remember, Marshall, 3 quarters)
2 – of the 10 teams who have only allowed 1 TD through two games are allowing more yards per game than WVU (Temple (272) and Kentucky (308.5))
0 – turnovers lost by the offense this year (only 4 other FBS teams can say that – Cincinnati, San Diego St., Texas A&M, and Wisconsin)
0 – turnovers caused by the defense this year (only 3 other FBS teams can say that – Nevada, North Carolina, and UAB)
17, 9 – number of carries, and the yards of the longest run by Vernard Roberts. A WVU back hasn’t had that many carries in a game without a run longer than 9 yards since Noel Devine carried the ball for 19 times with a long run of 9 against Cincinnati in 2008. In that time, 20 different ball carriers have had 17 carries or more and all had had at least one run of 10 yards or more
1 – lady whose day was made when Bruce Irvin gave her a big hug during the Mantrip
18 – consecutive home wins against non conference opponents. Last loss was against Virginia Tech in 2005 (who was ranked #3 at the time). Will it make it to 19? What will LSU be ranked when they come to Morgantown?
Another Song Parody - It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
After bringing you Dana Holgorsen as “The Gambler” over the summer, the only way to accurately describe the whirlwind of conference realignment is through another song parody. And what better song than the schizophrenic words of Michael Stipe and REM, “It’s the End of the World as we know it (And I feel fine)”?
Suggestion: Listen to the song here to keep up with the tempo and the lyrical rhythm. Enjoy!
Note: Even though I started composing this song yesterday, it’s already partly out of date so forgive any dated references.
That’s great it started with Pitt, and Cuse, headed to, the ACC
Marinatto’s not afraid
Meeting of the ADs, gotta raise the exit fees
Take the league to 12 teams
Piling on from to Tran-geez
Everyone weighing in, Boeheim, Petrino
Twitter starts to chatter with rumors, innuendo
According to my sources, an insider tells me,
A friend of the program and a person in the know
Moves are coming in a hurry
All things should be clearer in the next few days
Teams of team reporters baffled, stumped, buried, scooped
Look at that Thamel tweet! Fine, then
Uh oh, SchadJoe, reporting something we all know, but it’ll do
#freebruce, #freebruce
Each school serves its own needs
Listen to your heartbeat, Ollie
Keep the Mounties in national spotlight, right?
If SEC or ACC, or Big12 takes us, we’d be feeling pretty psyched
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it and I feel fine
Three o’clock, zero hour
School officials still quite dour
Be judicial, unofficial, reports are still quite initial
Shutting up, press releasing, despite speculation increasing
Every move speculate, till the time we celebrate
Tweet what he said, retweet that, calm down, calm down
Watch your twitter time-line, uh-oh, this means
Announcements here! Much fear! All conjecture steer clear!
A super conference, super conference, super conference, why?
Every damn mid major, across the lower 48, save for the Big Sky
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it and I feel fine
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it and I feel fine
The other night I drank some wine and dreamt of conference realign,
Wetzel, Travis, Feldman, Forde, SportsbyBrooks, and Paul Fine!
Ennis, Mike Casazza, McMurphy, and Andy Katz
Now we’re hearing 50/50, is the end in sight?
The next 48 hours are critical, right? Right
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
Hope our fearless AD doesn’t blow it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it and I feel fine
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
I don’t trust your tweet more than I can throw it
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it and I feel fine
It’s the end of the Big East as we know it
Politicians are trying to quid pro quo it
If we don’t get out soon, I may Bordeaux it and drink some wine
Mick Cronin vs. Huggins for COY
Today, Dick Vitale listed his top three choices for national coach of the year at this point in the season. He listed Jim Boeheim, Steve Fisher, and Mick Cronin. I can’t (or rather, don’t want to) argue a bit with the first two choices. But Mick Cronin?! Are you freaking kidding me, Dickie V? First of all, Dickie V explains away what I maintain is the number one reason to yCronin is undeserving of such an award. In regards to the Cincinnati/Xavier fight he says:
Cronin made sure his team learned from it. He took charge right away after the game, saying how disgraceful it was and that actions like that would not be tolerated. Cronin talked about putting on the Cincinnati uniform being a privilege and the athletes involved would not be back unless they really gained from the experience.I have to admit, Cronin talked a big game in the post game conference and I was very impressed. (Read the transcript here) Then he took a big crap on his promises when he suspended Yancy Gates for six games. Six games. LaGarette Blount was suspended for 75% of his season for his cheap shot against Boise. Even if you think six games was fair or more than fair allow me to provide the strongest case against Cronin, actual on-court data Cronin’s team is 85th in the RPI and so far has played the 167th strongest schedule in the country. Bob Huggins’s Mountaineers are 14th in the RPI and have played the 4th toughest schedule in the country. Cronin’s team is returning 59% of its minutes from last year, and so far this year, 21% of its minutes have been played by newcomers. Huggins’s team is returning only 39% of its minutes from last year, and so far a whopping 46% of its minutes have been played by newcomers! (In case you’re curious, Syracuse returned 82% of its minutes and only 12% have been played by newcomers. Could certianly have a lot to do with their success) So in short, Huggins team is playing better against a tougher schedule, all with a much greater dependency on younger talent. Cronin shouldn’t even be discussed as Big East Coach of the Year without mention of Huggins, let along be mentioned with Boeheim as a possible National Coach of the Year.
Sadly, today is the day that we probably say goodbye to Kevin Jones. I say this not because I hope the Mountaineers will lose, but because I think they’ll likely find a way to do so in the most excruciating way imaginable. That’s just how WVU does this season.
This is a shame. I can say this without hesitation: Kevin Jones might just have been the greatest Mountaineer of my lifetime. He was quieter that some of the team’s more revered players. Da’Sean Butler is the obviously candidate for having had a superior career, and he did have an amazing one, but I’m not certain a team ever had a player doing more individually with less assistance from his teammates. During a season in which teams knew that stopping Kevin Jones meant that the Mountaineers would largely grind to a halt, he was essentially unstoppable. We can talk about the double-doubles, despite the double teams. We can talk about the rebounds, despite the concerted efforts to stop him. We can talk about the performances, like his dismantling of a very good Kansas State team. Or we can simply sit back and reflect that Kevin Jones made one of the greatest Mountaineer careers ever out of a baseline jumper and a tenacious ability to get into position for the rebound.
I don’t mean to denigrate the man by writing that. He strayed to the three-point line at times and occasionally made those. He shot from the top of the key occasionally and made those too. His defense was never porous. But simply put, he found two things he could do really well and he made a career out of them. In fact, his only shortcomings as a Mountaineer emerged when he strayed from that simply baseline jumper and offensive rebounds game. Those were the moments that we got frustrated with him.
Sadly, his final year in Morgantown has gone underappreciated, both by the some fans who don’t seem to recognize just how good he was and by the nation at large (who whispered nary a peep when the undeserving Jae Crowder won the Big East Player of the Year despite producing worst statistical performances with considerably more talent around him). Such is life as a Mountaineer though.
If tonight really is his last, he ought to go out knowing that he was one of the school’s greatest players and even if he didn’t crack our all time top five (although he might, right?), he’s definitely a rock solid top ten player.
Calm Down Ron Bane
Last Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day and unseasonably warm, so you’d think a logical conclusion is that a combination of these two events would cause WVU students to go absolutely insane. You would be correct. You might also think that if you’re able to recognize that this possibility exists, our city officials would to. But alas, they’re not quite so able to put two and two together.
Which is how you end up with Ron Bane absolutely losing his mind about student partying last Saturday, partying that was captured forever in a viral video that’s gone around the internet documenting precisely the madness on offer in Morgantown on unseasonably warm St. Patrick’s Days. Bane wants to hold WVU responsible for student behavior. This has long been a dream of various councilors, who walk a tenuous line between loving and hating the university, recognizing that it is necessary for Morgantown’s existence while loathing the fact that students aren’t always the most upstanding of community members.
WVU has predictably declined Bane’s insistence that they be held liable for student behavior. That should hardly be surprising. After all, college students are adults by every imaginable definition. What they do is their business, not WVU’s, and while the University can encourage good citizenship (something, frankly, that we all ought to encourage), the University isn’t going to willingly take responsible for bad student behavior.
But there’s more at work here though, because as outraged as Ron Bane might be at what happened last Saturday, he isn’t exactly being consistent in his fastidious desire to make sure that somebody, somewhere, pays:
Bane said that he supported charging the university because police and firefighters responding to the student areas takes away from other citizens of Morgantown, ones who live here year-round. Students do pay taxes in Morgantown, Bane said, but not to the extent of the year-round residents. He added that when someone “tips the scales,” they should be charged extra.
That is Bane, arguing that the university owes extra because students don’t pay as much as the city’s full-time residents. Which would be a great point if Ron Bane was willing to be consistent, but I think we can all rest easily tonight knowing that Bane isn’t going to stand athwart every weekend of lawlessness that our community endures. Would Bane oppose Mountainfest, for example, the summer biking extravaganza that wildly inconveniences the overwhelmingly majority of Morgantown residents who don’t ride louder-than-hell Harley Davidsons everywhere?
Bane simultaneously wants to hold the University responsible for the actions of its students while giving Mountainfest a pass for the actions of its cyclists. And before you say, “These aren’t comparable groups!” let me acknowledge how right you are: the University plunges millions into the local economy while the motorcyclists plunge thousands. The University doesn’t expect special legal treatment for those affiliated with it while the Mountainfest do (free parking downtown, relaxed enforcement of noise violations, repeated redlight violations).
Perhaps the bigger point is wondering how city officials were so incapable of seeing a disaster coming their way. Somebody should have recognized that a popular holiday dedicated entirely to drinking falling on a Saturday with unseasonably warm temperatures created a perfect storm for student madness. The response should have been bringing in the sort of resources that are brought to Morgantown six times an autumn for the football games.
Nobody recognized the danger. Nothing was done. And now we’re stuck with local politicians making nonsensical demands, all in the pursuit of justice for crimes tolerated and encouraged in other scenarios.
