Coaching Staff

Coaching staff seems to be coming together. Looks like a pretty good mix.

http://msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=12104&cat=exclusives

Owen Schmitt proving his value at Senior Bowl practice.

Once again he is making us proud. He is delivering his patented hits. He is doing his catch the ball run, run the ball, and knock-heads thing. He is impressing his teammates particularly the defensive ones, which he welcomes with a never stop till the whistle blows mentality. He is more importantly impressing the NFL coaches. Owen is the type of guy who simply needs a chance once he gets it he will impress. This part of his job interview is going very well. I encourage everyone to watch the Senior Bowl so that you too can once again see Owen shine. The picture to the left is from ESPN.

ESPN has done a story on the Big O and here are some of the highlights of that article:

"He's got a hard head and won't quit coming at you," Penn State linebacker Dan Connor said admiringly. "I like his style. He's old-school. He's tough and rugged. Going against him … it's like 1972 football." "You don't have to look around when he hits somebody," Connor said. "You know who it is by the way it sounds." At one point, Schmitt's helmet popped off while he was blocking Michigan linebacker Shawn Crable. In vintage fashion, Schmitt never even thought about stopping. "The whistle didn't blow yet, so you keep going," Schmitt said, shrugging. Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom, who coached running backs in the NFL, faced Schmitt each of the past two seasons and thinks he can play in any system. "He's exactly what you're looking for, a big guy who can block, can run, can catch the football and be your short-yardage guy," Croom said. "You can do so many things with him. That's what makes him so valuable." Tom Rathman, who also knows a little something about playing fullback in the NFL, has had a close-up view of Schmitt this week. Rathman won two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers while clearing the way for Roger Craig and now is the running backs coach of the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders' staff is coaching the North team this week. "Everything you look for in a fullback, he has," Rathman said. "It's about him taking it to the next level, getting better in everything he does, whether it be the pass game or the run game. He's got to get better as a blocker. But he has the tools to take that next step. It's a matter of how fast he progresses." The comparisons between Rathman and Schmitt are obvious, but Rathman stopped short of calling them mirror images of each other. "Nah, I was a lot better looking than he is," Rathman quipped. Schmitt gets a chuckle out of being asked whether he would be willing to play H-back or even special teams in the NFL.
"I'll play water boy if they want to draft me," he said. "I don't care. I'd punt if they really wanted me to. I just want to impress some people and show them what I can do." - By Chris Low ESPN.com

And impress is what he continues to do on and off the field. I can't wait to see you in the NFL. My love of all things Owen will continue to grow and develop as he continues to grow and develop in the the next opportunity. Fathers of aspiring football players please do yourself a service and watch this man play. His attitude and aptitude for football is exactly what your boy should attempt to acquire.

DaGeek

WVU will Ink a JUCO Grad From University of Phoenix

6-foot-3, 215lb., Courtney Stuart (Likely Free Safety or Bandit) will sign his letter of intent to be eligible for 3 seasons. He will graduate with an associates degree from the University of Phoenix this spring. He will report to the team in July with the rest of the the rookies. Owen Schmitt is a big reason for this latest member of our recruiting class see the quote below. Holy Schmitt is the gift that keeps on giving. Former player Dale Wolfley is a coach with the University of Phoenix JUCO program. He helped to direct Stuart toward WVU. Wolfley compared Stuart to a Ryan Mundy type of prospect. One can only hope. Anyway, I like the fact that the current players are a big part of why recruits want to be a part of this. Welcome to the team Courtney Stuart!!!

"The biggest reason I committed was the tradition, the pride--just to be proud to be a Mountaineer. I liked the camaraderie between the players, the opportunity to come in and win and build on the tradition. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little in awe, a little emotional. I remember talking with Coach (Dale) Wolfley about a year ago. He asked me, 'How would you like to play at West Virginia?' "'That would be awesome,' I told him, 'get me to West Virginia.' A year later, coach Wolfley did it. "Seeing that Schmitt, seeing him break down at the end of the game, that's the kind of program I want to be part of. Little did I know that I would get a call from them. It makes me feel like it's a privilege. I want to give everything I got," Stuart said. - from Story By Jim Laise WVSPORTS.COM

WVU men (15-4, 4-2) 66-64; WVU women(15-3, 4-1) 58-51over Marshall in Capital Classic

Well the men, I am guessing will be doing some treadmill work today along with some free-throw shooting. This wasn't the performance that Huggins was looking for after last Saturday's game. However we did overcome. Neither the men nor the women put on extra-ordinary performances against their down-state rivals and both were happy to leave Charleston with W's.

I for one am glad that this legislature mandated mid-year game is over so that we can focus on the Big East. I think that the officiating left something to be desired, with a total of 52 files called that night. But it is not an excuse as was pointed out by Joe Mazzula. "(The officiating) went both ways," said WVU guard Joe Mazzulla. "Both teams had to adapt to it and I don't think either team every really did. That's why there were so many free throws."-AP

One possitive note in this game was the debut of a familiar face, Jarrett Brown who went 2 of 3 for five points in first half action. “This time of the year you try to win and go on,” Huggins said. “I’ll be over it hopefully by the time practice rolls around tomorrow.” -AP The team is hoping he is over it for if he is not it could be a painful practice. But alas it is time for the men to focus on Georgetown. The 12th rated woman also need to focus on the task at hand in the Big East. Ugly wins are always better than pretty losses!!!

DaGeek

Fiesta Bowl Slideshow

Tonight is the annual legislature game.

That is right sport's fans it is WVU vs. Marshall men and women. This is for a years worth of bragging rights. Both teams have been tough at home. So these "Neutral" site games could prove interesting. One thing I have learned about this game is that who really knows. Truth is that both teams have won on days that they shouldn't so as I said we shall see. I know that I am going to have to deal with some stuff if DaGeek's Wifey's team is successful. So in the interest of the Earth continuing to move around the sun let's hope WVU wins. I would love to hear from everyone post game.

DaGeek

Da'Sean Butler Big East Honor Roll

When announcing this weeks BIG EAST accolades our mountaineer, Da’Sean Butler was honored for his performances last week where he averaged 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week. He also scored 15 points with 12 rebounds in a 69-52 win at USF.

Way to go Da'Sean!!!

College Basketball Coaches Poll Question

My first post as an author on this blog and I start by asking a question. Wondering if John Beilein has a vote in college basketball's coaches poll and if so if he voted for WVU in his top 25 poll.

Wake Forest QB coach looks to be announced as WVU OC

The Register Harald is reporting that Jeff Mullen is expected to be announced as OC.

"He has been at Wake Forest for seven years, the last five as coach of quarterbacks."

"Mullen was in Morgantown this past weekend and offered the position, according to an informed source. An official announcement is expected after paperwork is completed."

I will bring more to you regarding this hire if and when it becomes official. Mickey Frufari is pretty careful about these kind of announcements thus I am confident that it is true.

DaGeek

Owen Schmitt watch at Senior Bowl North team practice.

Official Weight and Height was 251 and 6'2" respectively. They didn't show any running drills. Only three pass plays that I saw him involved with. He missed a catch when the ball was overthrown. John David Booty of USC through a check down pass to Owen when he was split out and Owen caught it, turning up field for more. Matter of fact it was the last 7 on 7 play of the day. Worth the wait. Well done!!! He looks like he belongs. No shock to me. Reading ESPN's take I found this: "• Maybe the best attraction of the North practice was West Virginia FB Owen Schmitt. You wouldn't think that a semi-contact practice would show off the talents of a big, physical, mauling, blocking fullback and early on, it didn't as Schmitt showed that he is not a natural hand catcher and struggles to flip his hips in space and quickly get upfield. But the bruiser quickly became the North's quarterbacks' favorite target as a dump-off option. He made a nice catch during the seven-on-seven drills and several during the team period, including taking hits that twice took his helmet off to expose his Mohawk haircut. Since the quarterbacks did not yet have a feel for the deep passing game or great timing yet with their deeper options, Schmitt was the benefactor. "-Insider ESPN
DaGeek

Mounties 2nd in Big East!

With the win over S. Florida today, WVU(14-4, 4-2) sits in a 2nd place tie in the Big East with Cincinnati (9-9) and DePaul (8-9). Whodathunkit? There are however, quite a few quality teams right behind us at 3-2. The Mounties did it with an outstanding team performance in a must win road game without Joe Alexander. They gave up a few lay ups at the beginning of the game and USF's first 12 points in the second half came on uncontested lay ups, but finished both halves with excellent defense and the 2nd half especially with near perfect offensive sets. They used a near flawless offensive and defensive run in the 2nd half to take an 11 point lead and were able to extend it at the end with excellent free throw shooting. Butler had another huge game with a double-double. And Jarrett Brown saw his first action of the year with a couple uneventful minutes in the first half.

Big East Road Win!

Mazzulla's play- not too shabby.

After the 38-38 tie, it was nice to see the Mountaineers take control of this one so decisively.

Current Bracketology From ESPN WVU 9th seed in East

I realize that this means nothing right now. I also realize that the focus for the team needs to be on South Florida today. With that said however, I would like to point out that we are currently being listed as a ninth seed coming out of the East. Were that to happen, WVU would be playing ironically enough Kansas State in the round of 64. :0) How do you like those apples?

DaGeek

I wanted to just move on, but...

First of all, I would like to express that I am pleased that those of us in this blog haven't beat the horse to death regarding the feud between WVU and Rodriguez. The latest attack however is very concerning to me. I wondered in the days following the Fiesta Bowl why Coach Magee wasn't considered for the position. The explanation that he committed to UM too quickly seems somewhat plausible, but I'm still not sure. Allegations of discrimination are very serious, especially when you hire a coach who was previously dismissed due to a controversy surrounding race. I hope that WVU can somehow quash these allegations but I suspect that because they don't appear squeaky clean with regards to the hiring process, there will always be doubts.

Reynaud?

I see his name is not listed in the poll, but The Blue Gold News is reporting that Reynaud has decided to fore go his final year of eligibility for the NFL. They refer to it as if it is old news, but I hadn't seen it on here or heard of it anywhere until this weekend. I'm a little surprised by the decision. I wouldn't have thought that Reynaud as being projected high enough to warrant coming out early. Though I'm sure he will improve his draft status tremendously at the combine and workouts. It still seems as though coming back would have been a wiser decision. With an inexperienced tailback and a new coaching staff, I would have expected Darius to receive a significant increase in touches and scoring opportunities next year. I wish him the best in his future as he was and is one of my favorite players to watch and I believe that whomever is lucky enough to acquire him in the NFL will be getting a much greater impact player than will be anticipated.

I have since found the press release:

1/10/08 - Receiver Darius Reynaud will skip his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL draft. "He's going to go into the draft," his mother, Katrina, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Wednesday night. Reynaud could not be reached Wednesday and did not return messages left at his home in Luling, La., earlier in the week. WVU Coach Bill Stewart was also unavailable for comment. Reynaud's decision can't be a surprise, though. He'll graduate in May and subsequently earn back the year of eligibility he lost in 2004-05 when he sat out as an academic prop, but he submitted papers to the NFL's draft advisory committee last year. He returned to school, but the goal remained in play throughout this season. Reynaud has been engaged for more than a year to his longtime girlfriend and they have a two-year-old daughter. He submitted his paperwork to be evaluated by the advisory committee again last month. "I have to feed my daughter," he said last month. "Every time I step on the field, that's my motivation." - Mike Casazza, Daily Mail

Owen Schmitt to play in Senior Bowl. January 26,2007

Way to go Owen. Not that anybody on this web site had any doubts. We love you and wish you the best in this camp, this game, and in you NFL career. The official press release from the Senior Bowl is below:

"West Virginia's Schmitt To Play In Under Armour Senior Bowl
Hard-nosed Mountaineer legend who has broken ten facemasks during his career, will display outstanding running, pass catching and blocking skills in North team backfield during January 26 contest.

MOBILE, Ala. (January 16, 2008) -- The North team backfield in the 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl will feature one of the nation’s most intriguing NFL draft prospects at running back – West Virginia’s Owen Schmitt – bowl officials announced on Thursday.
Schmitt developed into a Mountaineer legend during his storied career, known as much for his outstanding blocking, pass catching and running skills for West Virginia’s high-powered offense, as for his hard-nosed play which resulted in his breaking of ten facemasks during his career.
A former walk-on who transferred to West Virginia from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Schmitt started 21 games for the Mountaineers – ten at tailback, seven at fullback and four at tight end – during his career.
West Virginia running backOwen Schmitt
A respected team leader who was named a permanent captain, he rushed for 272 yards and four TD’s in 2007, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, and caught 12 passes for 121 yards and another score.
The 6-3, 260-pounder from Fairfax, Va., collected 64 yards on just three carries in West Virginia’s Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma, including a career-high 57-yarder for a touchdown.
A warrior in the weight room, he put up unbelievable numbers including a 525- pound hang clean and a 640-pound squat.
As a junior in 2006, he rushed for 351 yards and seven TD’s, topped by a 109-yard rushing performance against Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl, and finished his West Virginia career with 1,003 yards rushing, 13 TD’s, and caught 32 passes for 288 yards and two more scores.
A excellent student who has already graduated with his bachelor’s degree, he was also a second-team All-Big East selection as an all-purpose back this season." (Official Press release from Seniorbowl.com)

Weeklong HD Coverage Of 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl January 21-26 Exclusively On NFL Network
2008 COLLEGIATE ALL-STAR GAME FROM MOBILE, AL LIVE AT 4:00 PM ET SATURDAY, JANUARY 26
NFL Network’s exclusive high-definition coverage of the league’s next generation of talent begins Monday, January 21 at 4:00 PM ET from Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, AL with the Under Armour Senior Bowl and the week-long events leading up to Saturday’s game.

Monday, Jan. 214:00 ET – Day 1: North Team Practice (HD)8:00 ET – Day 1: Path to the Draft Senior Bowl Recap Show (HD)
Tuesday, Jan. 2210:30 ET – Day 2: North Team Practice (HD)4:30 ET ­– Day 2: South Team Practice (HD)8:00 ET – Day 2: Path to the Draft Senior Bowl Recap Show (HD)
Wednesday, Jan. 2310:30 ET – Day 3: North Team Practice (HD)4:30 ET ­– Day 3: South Team Practice (HD)8:00 ET – Day 3: Path to the Draft Senior Bowl Recap Show (HD)
Thursday, Jan. 2410:30 ET – Day 4: North Team Practice (HD)4:30 ET ­– Day 4: South Team Practice (HD)8:00 ET – Day 4: Path to the Draft Senior Bowl Recap Show (HD)
Saturday, Jan. 253:30 ET – NFL Total Access Senior Bowl Pregame Show (HD)4:00 ET – 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl (HD)7:00 ET – NFL Total Access Senior Bowl Postgame Show (HD)

Dykes in East West Shrine game tonight at 7 on ESPN 2.

Keilen Dykes is in Houston preparing to play for the East team in the East-West Shrine Game Saturday with other all-star seniors from around the country. The 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2) is a great place to showcase his talents one more time. I for one will miss him. I have a personal fondness for this game because it is one that is all about charity. I am very proud of our representative and know that he will do his school proud. What I really like about this player is that he lets his game do his talking. I think though a bit undersized his heart and work ethic have proven him to be of NFL caliber. I was glad to learn that he has said that he is encouraged by the potential of the 08 squad. The team will sorely miss his leadership and his interior dominance. He and Dingle are going to be big shoes (and bodies) to fill.

Photo from Rivals.Com.

DaGeek

Blog's Final Poll for football season.

1. LSU 97 (3)
2. Georgia 93
3. TIE WVU(1) / Kansas/USC 90
6. Missouri 89
7. tOSU 76
8. OU 65
9. BC 63
10. Cincinnati 61
11. Texas 60
12. VPI 59
13. Tenn 53
14. ASU 48
15. Auburn 43
16. BYU 36
17. Illinois 34
18. Oregon 26
19. Michigan 24
20. Hawaii 20
21. Oregon State 15
22. TIE: Wake/Tulsa 14
24. TIE: Texas Tech/ Clemson 7

Others receiving votes: Rutgers 5, California 4, Penn State 3, U Conn 2, East Carolina/ UVA 1

Fighting Through The Storm

WVU certainly wasn't impressive last night but gained another important win in conference play. One more week and the schedule gets significantly more difficult w/ upcoming contests against Georgetown, Pitt and Providence who appears to be playing well. The interior play again was not very good as St. Johns continually had uncontested layups and dunks. Some of these plays were on "broken" sequences where there was a loose ball, but players are still able to sneak down low uncovered way too frequently. And we were significantly out rebounded again. There were definitely a couple encouraging signs as well however. Seven turnovers in a game is impressive no matter who you're playing. Also, Flowers played quite well off the bench. And Butler showed how valuable he can be when he isn't plagued with foul trouble. When he gets minutes, he looks every bit as dangerous as Alexander can be. It was a good thing too, since Ruoff was unable to find his shot and Alexander was just wasting space on the court. I know I sound harsh, but let's be honest about things. This team only has one good win so far (Marquette, who may not be as good as people thought anyway) and the road ahead does not get easier.

Photos from Rivals.Com

New staff

As Coach Stew continues to put his staff together, one thing stands out above all else. He's hiring recruiters! Every announcement made has added a strong recruiter in another Geographic area. Some might see Don Nehlen light, but you must also remember the talent that Nehlen's staff was able to assemble. 11 players drafted in 1998! Doc Holiday is a BIG GUN in south Florida. And apparnetly Beatty is strong in the Virginia Tidewater area which is turning into the new south Florida area. Dunlap has recruited many in Western PA and Eastern Ohio. Stewart himself has recruited Maryland and DC very well. I think Stewart has proven he will stay out of the way of his coordinaters on gameday. A strong OC and we may all be pleasantly surprised!!

Super Steve has now said he is off to NFL.

Well to say I am sad is an understatement. But I also want to wish him all the best. He has given me some outstanding memories.

A personal thank you to Steve: Thanks for being a class act and thanks for getting the job done. Your performance in the Sugar Bowl will never be forgotten. It has been a very special time for each of your mountaineer family to have watched you perform Steve. You and your family has blessed this university for the entire time you have been here. I for one will be following your career in the NFL.

DaGeek

Pat White, Greg Isdaner, and Pat McAffee on ESPN All Bowl Team.

That is right Eer fans some recognition from the network who hates us. This all bowl team recognized three players that we all knew made an impact. Anyway congrats to them all.

Da Geek

Roundball thoughts...

My dad is coming home from the beat down of Syracuse. It appears that we are a tail of two teams this year. By that I mean we are hard to overcome at home and we will struggle away. That sounds like the Big East. I think that we will be able to get some good away wins but it is clear it is going to be tough to do so. I am glad that Coach has done something in his first try that Coach B had a tough time doing in his tenure that is defeat the Orange. Anyway, I will have further thoughts on this later.

DaGeek

According to DA Super Steve is staying at WVU

Great news about Super Steve we now just need to get DR to stay and we will have 10 of 11 starteers back next season. I think that this is a good move for WVU and for Steve's NFL prospects. He has one more season to pile up some great stats. What an offense. Now if the coaches would just give me the OC job so that we can rock and roll next year. Even I could not mess that up. It could be as simple as getting out of the talents' way. Anyway here is the article from the DA:

"West Virginia University star running back Steve Slaton is returning for his senior season, a source close to the team told The Daily Athenaeum on Friday morning.Slaton, who exited the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in the first quarter on Wednesday night with a leg injury, is fresh off his least productive year as a Mountaineer and may have unfinished business to settle.In West Virginia’s last two bowl games, Slaton has only carried the ball a combined four times for 9 yards.In the 2007 regular season, the superback from Levittown, Pa., gained a modest 1,053 yards on 210 carries and scored 17 touchdowns.He was replaced Wednesday night by freshman Noel Devine, who went on to gain 108 yards and scored two touchdowns including a 65-yard scamper to seal the Mountaineers’ 48-28 win over No. 4 Oklahoma."--DA 01/07/08

Michigan's coaching raid appears to include CM and Mike Barwis OUCH!!! And some other FB points.

1. It looks as if we will retain Jeff Castille but will lose some key components to the staff. I am sorry to see them go. I really hoped we would keep Mike Barwis and CM. Oh well, I guess we will just have to reload.


2. Coach Stew is making another run at Josh Jenkins. I don't know if he can be successful but it would be a bit of a recruiting coup if we could bring him back into the mix. I think that our chances would be better if we brought back our surely ole line coach from FSU.


3. The best thing we have going for us on many fronts from a coach-recruiting perspective is the fact that they will get to coach a winner next fall. It appears that we will have Pat White back for sure and likely we will have Super Steve and DR. That is a lot of talent and leadership to attract some coaching talent.


4. I would ask my usual suspects to post their respective polls to my email address by mid day tomorrow.

Big Win VS. Marquette

After watching the lackadaisical performance against Notre Dame earlier this week, I was worried that our soft early schedule had us ill-prepared for physical Big East play. Notre Dame is highly underrated though and I'm sure they will crack the top 25 this week. Winning games against tough opponents at home is also very important and the ND loss won't hurt if we can win some of the other road games that shouldn't be as difficult. (S. Florida, Providence, Depaul, St. Johns) I'm also hopeful that the 2OT loss to Oklahoma will provide some extra end of game experience that we haven't had to deal up to that point.
Some interesting #'s in this game that show a huge difference in philosophy from previous teams. WVU shot fewer 3 pointers than Marquette and dominated the glass. We also saw a huge edge at the free throw line, but that is somewhat out of proportion due to the 13 made free throws in the final minutes.

Though it is a great win, there are still a lot of areas for improvement. Alexander seems out of sync during stretches and he needs to be much more consistent for us to be successful. Interior defense was very lacking at times even in a zone defense as Marquette completed several passes for easy layups. They weren't plays on drive and dishes either, they were passes from the outside going past standing around defenders. Butler's offense has been spectacular at times, but he continues to be forced to spend time on the bench due to foul trouble. The frustrating part is that many of his fouls are "stupid" fouls and not for being aggressive. Nichols presence on the court seems to be very reassuring to the team as the offense just seems to be much more in sync while he's out there. I would like to see him be a little more aggressive with the ball. Though he still almost never turns the ball over, he could be a little more productive scoring and getting assists. Ruoff continues to play solid, intelligent basketball and has been the anchor for this team. The next stretch will be very telling. WVU has a better record than 4 of the next 5 opponents and if we hope to make the tourney, these would be extremely important wins.

Youtube Highlights Fiesta Bowl by zproductionz et al. Enjoy!!!

Weezie's Thoughts

First of all, let me congratulate the Mountaineers on what I believe is their greatest performance. Though they have dominated teams before and won big games, I can't recall them ever dominating a top tier program in this big of a game.

I understand everyone's thoughts on the decision to hire Coach Stewart. I've been impatiently awaiting for them to name someone the coach as timing was getting to be a little worrisome, but I wouldn't be so cynical regarding the administrations process of hiring Stewart. Though it does seem like an emotional response, it wouldn't have been prudent to officially hire him prior to the game if they truly had been considering him all along. After listening to Coach Stew's press conferencet, he will be a welcome breath of fresh air from coaches that do nothing but double speak to the press. I think he would have spoken to the press all night long if they had let him.

Certainly head coaches receive too much blame for a loss and too much credit for a win. Coach Magee was instrumental in the play of the offense last night and enough credit can't be given to Coach Casteel on the job the defense did. After reading the article posted by Geek a while back on Coach Magee becoming a name that would soon be associated with programs searching for a new head coach, it leaves me to wonder, why wasn't he considered for the WVU position? Did he jump ship and sign on with Dick Rod too quickly? When Coach Stoops was asked if WVU had shown anything new offensively that they hadn't seen, his response was not really, maybe a couple slight wrinkles. We all saw the "slight wrinkles" in WVU's offensive game plan the other night and it has been something that most of us have been waiting for for quite some time. That is the true spread offense. One that stretches you all over the field vertically and horizontally. Nobody was ever asking Dick Rod to change his philosophy, but to just use all of the options that a veteran team can utilize in it. Pat White is by far the best player in the country, and it is actually a shame that he only got to showcase his greatness running the ball this year.

On another note, Coach Stoops was terrible in this game. It's often a cliche that officials could call holding on every play, but they really could have against OU. I think that some of the terrible holding penalties that weren't called was because the officials were truly getting tired of calling them and didn't want to be criticized for calling a holding penalty on every play. And most of the pressure that was being applied was not on blitzes but 3 and 4 man rushing schemes. If OU had figured out a way to block a 4 man rush without holding, their passing game would have likely kept the game much more competitive. And as I watched Pat White scramble for several first downs, I kept wondering what kind of idiot continues to blitz Pat White. That ranks up there with Steve Logan going for two at the end of regulation in '96 when we had missed several chip shot field goals.

As for other matters, there were a couple of interesting things during the bowl game. I usually don't enjoy watching the broadcasts on Fox as the announcers don't do any college football all year long and the coverage is usually awkward. However, whoever was doing the play-by-play this year was quite entertaining. The comments made when Berry and Dingle were sitting on the bench had me rolling in laughter. However, he also stated toward the very end of the game that you might be able to smell the couches in Morgantown. For those that don't know tradition, they may think that West Virginian's have smelly furniture. And finally, did anyone notice the Pride of West Virginia's choice for their song at halftime? An old American folk song sung by countless artists (made famous by the Animals): House of the Rising Sun. If your not familiar, it's a song about life gone wrong in New Orleans.

Stewart named HC

Congratulations to the new non-interim-HC. As I told DaGeek last night, I really don't feel like I can give a heartfelt argument against this hire at a time like now, after he executed to perfection what was thought to be a lost cause. But that's what worries me.

This makes me think that the administration was trying to hire an insider for cheap instead of hiring the best qualified candidate in the country all along. It does not raise my confidence level in the administration that they decided to do this in the wake of a big emotional event when all Mountaineer fans would be less resistant for sentimental reasons. If there had been a blowout loss, would they have made the hire? Would they have announced it in the middle of the night? Frankly, if they think Stewart is the man, the results of this one game shouldn't matter too much. The circumstances make it seem like it's the only thing that matters, at the expense (potentially) of recruiting prowess, team management, coordinator hiring ability, offensive and defensive philosophy, etc etc.

The players seems to heavily support him, and he pulled off this game against long odds (albeit with the help of Calvin). I'm not going to pull my hair out about this, and this hire doesn't reduce my expectations for next year. I hope my general skepticism is proven wrong- but is this the hire a top tier program makes? On one for whom life at the top is just a blip?

Think of it this way- this is the Steelers hiring Russ Grimm instead of Mike Tomlin. Maybe it would have been fine. We'll get to find out between now and the first few years of the next decade.

Wow Just Wow!!! 48-28

Coach Stew and the entire team thanks!!!Images of Coach Stewart, Pat White and Owen Schmitt from CBS Sports.com.
Images of DR and Noel on the right is from Yahoo Sports.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3178430&n8pe6c=2

Congrats to the Mountaineers

I couldn't imagine a better way to start the year and put the last one to bed. That was an excellent football game.