WVU douses the Flames 33 20.

Above Immage from WVSports.com.
While the mood at Puskar Stadium seemed a bit underwhelmed, the Mountaineers took care of the most important task of the day, winning. Liberty with its superstar athlete also named Brown came in with a solid well coached game plan and gave the Mountaineer Defense a challenge. Of course some of that challenge could be left at the foot of the kickoff teem. As they gave the Flames an average starting spot of the 33 yard line. But nevertheless the Eers were able to score more points and really had a pretty impressive offensive day. We got to see Ryan Clark carry the ball for five yards on 3 carries, but those were "short yardage yards" that we simply didn't pick up last season and they did account for one TD. We got to See Noel Devine rush for a TD and 112 yards on 17 carries. And we got to get reintroduced to our newest Star Jarret Brown. He accounted for 243 passing yards with 19 completions on 26 attempts, and 69 rushing yards with a Touchdown. All day long he made good decisions with one particularly good decision when he read cover 0 by the flame defense. He simply scampered straight up the middle for not just a big gainer but a score. Yes sports fans he can run too. He also spread the ball around to Joche Sanders (8-95), Alric Arnet (1-22), Tuler Urben (2-49), Wes Lyons (2-31)(Lyonns strained a hamstring but appears to be held out simply as a precaution for rest of game.), Noel Devine (3-9), Bradley Starks (2-34) and newcomer Tavon Austin (1-3). All in all a very nice performance from the 5th year Senior.
Image from Charleston Gazette.

The resounding negative of the game as mentioned above was kick off coverage. They were in mid-season form, unfortunately I am referring to last years mid season. This needs to be corrected asap as the Mountaineers can ill afford to give teams that kind of field position.

All and all though the Eers got this job done. Now on to East Carolina.

DaGeek

Bitancurt Ties record in win over Liberty.

(Above Image from WVSports.com) One of the places of concern all spring and fall camp was what are we going to do about field goals. Who was going to replace Pat McAfee? The answer came yesterday as Mountaineer Nation had its official introduction to Tyler Bitancurt. Bitancurt tied a Milan Puskar Stadium record with field goals of 38, 35, 45 and 36 yards. The last time a Mountaineer kicker made four field goals in a game was McAfee against Rutgers in 2006. That is right not only did he come in and do his job, he didn't miss a kick and tied one of the most decorated kickers to ever don the Jersey. Not a bad debut for the Red Shirt Frosh.

DaGeek

Mountaineers making NFL Rosters:

PAT WHITE is a Dolphin
RYAN MUNDY is a Pittsburgh Steeler.
DARIUS REYNAUD is a Minnesota Viking
ELLIS LANKSTER is a Buffalo Bill
MARC BULGER remains a Ram
STEVE SLATEN remains a Texan
OWEN SCHMITT remains a Seahawk
PAT MCAFEE is a Colt
Congrats to those making a roster. Good luck to those that were waived.

Morty Ivy was waived from the Carolina Panthers

As more information becomes available I shall update this list.

Week 1 Blog Rankings

1. Florida 125 (5)

2. Texas 113

3. Virginia Tech 98

4. Ole Miss 92
tie Penn State 92
tie Oklahoma 92

7. Okla. State 90

8. tOSU 83
tie LSU 83

10. Bama 81

11. USC 71

12. Utah 69

13. Cal 66

14. Boise St. 61

15. Oregon 53

16. FSU 48

17. UGA 46

18. BYU 37

19. TCU 35

20. WVU 31

21. Ga. Tech 22
tie USF 22

23. sPitt 21

24 UNC 20

25. Iowa 13

Others Receiving Points: Rutgers 10, Cincy 10, ND 10, Oregon St. 8, Miami 6, Kansas 5, Air Force 3, Mich St. 3, Illinois 2, Texas Tech 2, Nebraska 2

Points are tallied on a 25 pt descending order basis. A first place vote yields 25 pts. a 25th place vote yields 1 pt. 5/6 of the writers have participated in poll to date and that is what is published.

"The Signal Caller" Jed Drenning's new website...

Jed Drenning former Kennedy Award Winner, and current sideline announcer for Mountaineer Sports Network has embarked upon a new and exciting project know as "THE SIGNAL CALLER." His football pedigree is self explanatory just look at the image, which answers the question "the signal who?" When asked what is this page all about, he responded, "This site is for the football enthusiast, who reads the entire newspaper not just the Sports Section."

This site is stocked full of all kinds of content: From breaking down the Big East 1> Questions around the Big East as 2009 gets underway, to giving the most comprehensive breakdown to coaching the spread offense (It should be noted that he was one of the innovators of this concept as he was the "Signal Caller" for Rich Rodriguez at Glenville State College) 2> Coaching the Spread, to giving the avid listener to Sports Radio Talk Show the cheat sheet that is used by the "experts," 3> Radio Cheat Sheet , and my personal favorite 4>The Armchair Q-Bot which Jed has created to give a QB rating system from the QB's perspective.

This site also gives the reader links to sites around the Internet, these sites are invaluable in getting the "rest of the story." I am quite certain that this site will be entertaining, informative, and a great way to supplement the knowledge of the football enthusiast. You can reach his site from the many links above and the link to the same on the right side of this blog.

Congrats to Jed on today's launch. I highly recommend that you the football enthusiast peruse this page, but I warn you you will be reading and clicking there for some time to come.

DaGeek

West Virginia gears up for opener against Liberty. And DaGeek is ready for some football!

Well football fans the wait is almost over. Put up and/or shut up time is upon us. Tonight is the first Coach Stew show. It begins at 7:06 and concludes at 9:00. Cheep food is being promoted on the radio to draw a crowd to the Waterfront Hotel. The question on everyone's mind? What are we going to see from this football team this year? I am guessing ole Stew is going to give us some insight into that tonight, and we might have a little better handle on that after kickoff at noon this weekend.

What I expect to see from this team on Saturday is a 3 to 4 score win, and plenty of snaps from the second team. For most of the fall we have heard these concerns: O-Line, Kicking Game, Special Teams in general, Secondary, and transition from Pat White to J. Brown. We have been told repeatedly in the media that the strong suits for this team are: Defense, receiving corp, and Noel Devine. But what we really don't know is: How do those parts add up to for the up-coming fall? Finally we are going to get a taste of that answer.

I am hopeful that these Seniors are looking to the task at hand. My guess is that Liberty is not coming into to Morgantown to lose. I am hopeful that the Offensive Line has been reading all the press clippings and are motivated enough, and prepared well enough, to erase every word. I am hopeful that this team is going to begin a very special run beginning this Saturday. I have opined earlier in this blog and I forecasted a Big East championship caliber run. I believe that WVU's 5th year senior, QB, Jerrett Brown is ready to lead this offense and I know for certain that Reed Williams is ready to lead this defense. I simply ask that those who shall be in attendance, please come with your game faces on. Please, give this team the kind of support that a championship team deserves. Finally, please wear that gold and let's bring on the Mountaineers!!!

DaGeek

To follow tomorrow:

The release of Jed Drenning's Web Site, "The Signal Caller"
WVLAWGEEK's weekly football poll.
Starting lineups and injury notes for the weekend if any.

Joe Mazzulla back on team___ MSN reports...

MSN reports that Maz gets another chance. After his second run in with the Police in as many years. Joe Mazzulla has completed his punishment as far as coach Huggins is concerned. “Joe has done everything that has been asked of him on all fronts,” says Huggins. “I believe he deserves to be back on our roster and play for the Mountaineers.” His plea of guilty to disorderly conduct resulted in community service of 40 hours and a $100.00 fine. Let us hope this is the last of this kind of news for this very talented player. This is very good news considering the Mountaineers depth at that Point. This is also fantastic news for teammates, DaSean Butler and Devin Ebanks as they will now get to concentrate on sinking the rock as apposed to distributing it. Anyway, this is a nice peace of news for WVU Basketball.

Lets Go Eers!!!

DaGeek

WVLAWGEEK's Big East Predicted finish:

Yes, yes, yes I am a homer. Yes, yes, yes I am a die hard Old Gold and Blue fanatic but even if i were not I would Pick the Mountaineers at the top of this league:
1. WVU (predicted league record: 6 and 1 or 5 and 2) WVU should be favored to win games in all but two of these tilts, Cincy and South Fla. 2. USF (predicted league record: 5 and 2 or 4 and 3) They would be tied with WVU were it not for there league away tilts) 3. sPitt (predicted league record: 4 and 3) This team lost a lot with Shady's exit. And while I think that talent will help them to compete in the league, Coach Wanny will once again let them down. 4. Rutgers (predicted league record 4 and 3 or 3 and 4) the big problem the Scarlet Knights have is the fact that they have no proven signal caller. Maybe the best O-line in the conference and certainly easiest road to travel, but the simply lack experience in the skill positions. 5. Cincinnati (predicted league record 3 and 4) I think with Rutgers jumping on them in opener Cincy spends too much time trying to dig out of the hole. I know that this is a precipitous fall for Kelly and company but I simply think that three of the above teams will beat them on any field and the fourth will beat them because of the first game jitters. 5. UConn (predicted league record 3 and 4) UConn simply lost too much in Brown. This team will likely win a couple they shouldn't and lose one they shouldn't. 7. Louisville (predicted league record 1 and 7) The Ville just doesn't have it and I think that Mr. Kragthorpe will be shown the door at the close of this season. 8. Syracuse (predicted league record 0 and 8) While I think the future may be looking up for the Cuse it won't be this season.

This preseason prognostication is as valuable as all others posted out there in that it has very little value. I just felt the need to put up or shut up. So there ya have it. I ask that each of this site's authors post there league finish. Also this sites preseason Top 25 shall be posted next Wednesday. Da Geek

What do you think of the new Bowl affiliation starting in the 2010 season?

It was announced yesterday that the Big East relationship with the Gator Bowl has come to an end. And that the Champs Sports Bowl is its replacement for 1st pick out of the Big East as one of its participants. It appears from the mutual admiration of John Marianato, Big East Commissioner and Steve Hogan of Florida Citrus Sports that this is a marriage made in heaven. Time shall tell.

"We are thrilled to be a partner with the Champs Sports Bowl, said BIG EAST Commissioner John Marinatto. “I know our schools are very excited about the agreement. Orlando is an outstanding destination for our teams and fans. It’s going to be a great experience for everyone. The Champs Sports Bowl is an outstanding addition to the BIG EAST bowl lineup."

“We are very excited about gaining another top pick through the BIG EAST and Notre Dame,” said Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. “If we are successful in signing our other planned selections, it will be tough to argue that Orlando doesn’t deliver the best week of the college football postseason.” ---BigEast.org

I am curious to see the readers and posters reactions to this change. I will give my premature thoughts on this event. Here are my two considerations:

1. What else could the new Big East commissioner do?

a. He could have let the Gator Bowl dictate terms that would have all but eliminated us from selection from now on. The last deal was a hybrid with the Sun Bowl where in Notre Dame could be selected 2 times in four years which in essence meant that the Gator only had to select a Big East team once. As it worked out the Gator selected WVU for the 2007 incarnation. And it is either Notre Dame or the Big East rep this year in the Gator. So if the Golden Domers don't get it done, with that sissy schedule this year and go to the BCS, be assured, the Gator is salivating to take them. My point is that it is not the best deal for the Big East. And WVU has been there six times so maybe a change is not such a bad thing. While I lament losing the New Years Day Bowl prestige, I am not sure that this relationship is a good one. Thus the time has come to move on.

b. He could have wooed other bowl sites, aka a New York Bowl. As it turns out this may happen anyway and be a lower tier bowl. I think that of the remaining "open bowl slots" Champs may have been best option.

c. I for one am glad that the Commish has taken the proactive position to acquire some new bowl games. I don't know if the Champs is an upgrade but it is at least new. As I understand it, it appears the Big East is about to ink a deal with the Sun to be the second selection out of the Big East after the BCS. If this is the case I would say that the lineup is improving. We shall see how it all shakes out once all the Bowl affiliations are completed.


2. What are the upsides to Champs Sports Bowl?

a. Well an obvious answer would be the location. It is hard to argue that Orlando in late December would be a bad place to visit. Christmas at the Magic Kingdom sounds pretty darned fun. But I digress it is a warmer location than Jacksonville. It has more to do outside of football and it has direct flights from West Virginia. I would say that from a novelty standpoint this bowl game could prove to be a fun one.

b. Payout is negligible. It appears that Champs Sports is going to pay 2.4 the Gator is 2.5. I wish we were able to garner more money but from that standpoint it is almost a wash.

c. A major upside is that it is a night game with exclusive viewership. It shall be shown on ESPN as a part of their bowl week. It will be only game on at that time and thus the exposure for the two teams competing will not be shared.

d. While we are still tied to the Golden Domers in this contract it is only impacting a Big East team 1 time in the four year deal. Thus a Big East Team shall be taken 3 times. An improvement to say the least over relationship with Gator Bowl.

e. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge novelty as a plus. It is a place we haven't been associated with and that is a major plus. This would be even more true if we don't have to play the ACC. I am hopeful that we will pick up another conference opponent for this game. We shall see.

Anyway this is a post that is crying out for the input of the reader. Please let me know what each of you think.

DaGeek

Da Geek created an online petition to retire No. 5

Please participate in this endeavor. I believe it is of paramount import to retire Pat White's Jersey asap. The following link shall take you directly to the online petition. Thanks in advance for your prompt attention to the same.

Da Geek