Link to video of Coach Holgorsen responding in part to last two weeks.

Coach Holgerson says, he is far from perfect. Well I don't need perfection in the person as that is a standard that cannot be achieved. He indicates that he is going to try to understand the expectation of the people of the great State of West Virginia and live up to those expectations. He is excited to get to football. Music to my Eers!!!

Da Geek

Vindication. WVU disputes claims in Chuck Landon's Article as being blatant inaccuracies and outright lies.

Mike Casazza reports in today's Daily Mail that the Huntington Herald Dispatch and Wheeling News Register got it wrong. I would go on to say that the secondary "news- agencies" got it wrong as well by re-reporting the "news" or commenting on those reports in columns etc. I think that this type of "journalism" is reprehensible.

While WVU is not taking any legal action against those newspapers it is clear that they have responded regarding these matters. "A WVU source said Wednesday the university will not take any action, but "knows the Herald-Dispatch story had blatant inaccuracies.""... "The column also cited a source that said Clements told Luck "that if he read one more article about the coach-in-waiting, it would cost Luck his job."One WVU representative close to Luck and Clements called that an "outright lie.""- Charleston Daily Mail

So where does this story go from here? I am hopeful that it shall be dead. One thing I know for sure Chuck Landon's credibility is now called completely into question. He frankly should lose his job over this activity. I fear however, that the Huntington Herald Dispatch has received so much attention regarding his column that he will get a raise. I can't wait till September 3. At that time Coach Holgorsen will be afforded an opportunity to hit ole Chucky right where it hurts the most, on the scoreboard.

Air Raid sirens from Morgantown will be sounding so loudly that even those in Huntington shall hear them.

Da Geek

Today's links of note...

Orlando Sentinel adding to hype of Geno Smith. It is nice to be noticed in Orlando, Fla. “All the great ones, they either have it or they don’t. Geno’s got it,” WVU coach Bill Stewart reflected about his quarterback. “He’s got that ‘it’ factor.”

Charleston Daily Mail questioning the use of a sports column. Mike Casazza makes excelant points about the ethics of the press. One such point, " I just think, well, I think it was wrong on a few levels, none greater than using a column to deliver news because you can tiptoe around providing facts in an opinion-based format … and very few people will realize the distinction." I think it is a must read in reaction to the article written by Chuck Landon.

Scott Grayson of West Virginia Illustrated does a nice expo on the newest members of the WVU HOOPS team. Will this class rival the one that lead us to the final four? I don't know but this batch of youth looks pretty impressive. I know Da Geek is excited to see the newcomers this November. I would love to see some of their play in Europe this summer but I have my doubts about seeing anything on the TV. One this is for sure these new-comers shall get thrown into the deep end of the practice pool in short order for Coach Huggs.

Garrett Cullen of Metro-News comments on the need for Tyler Bitancurt to return to his first year form this up-coming season. "“(More) consistency,” Bitancurt said of his summer goals."

Phil Steele did his all Big East Team. It was echoed on ESPN's Big East Blog. Notable Mountaineers making first team honors are: Quarterback Geno Smith; Receiver Tavon Austin;Center Joe Madsen; Offensive Guard Josh Jenkins; Offensive Tackle Don Barclay; Defensive End Bruce Irvin; Defensive Tackle Julian Miller; Linebacker NAjee Goode; Corner back Keith Tandy; Safety Terence Garvin all made the mark. I am of the opinion that there are a few members of the WVU receiving corps which shall make the post season mark: Tyler Urban and Stedman Bailey.

Off of Smoking Musket a little insight into Chris Neild as a Red Skin. What does Coach Shanahan think of him? "Everything," Shanahan blurted at a press conference following the Draft when asked what he liked about Chris Neild. "I love the way he competes. I love how important football is to him, because you can tell. He's got a mindset when he plays, and you can tell he really enjoys football. He lines up right over that center and competes on every down. I'll be surprised if doesn't come in here and do everything possible to make this football team. Just talking to him, I could tell he's excited and wants to get here right away and do what he can do to make this football team. He's a great competitor." Well Chris if you are going to impress someone that is the guy to impress. Good luck as a Skin.

I hope you have enjoyed these excerpts as well as the full articles linked from here.

It is a hot day to be a Mountaineer at least where I am. :)

Da Geek

J T Thomas III What a class act.

With all of the negative out there in sports-land today, I thought that I would like to point out that we have a huge reason to be proud of one of our own. JT3 is an example of what is right with our program. The previous link will take you to JT3's web page. Thank yous go out to his family for raising such a wonderful son. Not only does he make us proud of him on the field. This newest member of the Chicago Bears has proven to be exactly the kind of ambassador we are looking for off the field as well.

What he did for a young lady, Joslyn Levell, in Morgantown will have long term positive effects. You may click on her name to goto the feed on ESPN covering this 8th Grade Prom event. The simplest gestures tend to be the ones that last the longest. Thanks J. T. 3 for giving Eer fans something to cheer about again and again.

Da Geek

Yup been a while my friends. Time to revive the blog.

I have had some health issues, some work issues, and now a new baby but tis time to get back on this horse and start writing. I shall be giving this site a new facelift. It shall happen over time but my goal is to be up and running in next couple of weeks.

So what to write about these days. Seems that all that is on the menu right now is Chucky Landon. He seems to have a real problem with Oliver Luck. He will not stop filing stories that border on the line of the National Inquirer. His "story" is now being regurgitated by other "Media." The Pittsburgh Post Gazette aired an article today based upon his blather. This lazy piece is the kind of stuff that makes your stomach turn. As a result his ever expanding Ego doesn't seem to want to shrink. So what to do? I am afraid the answer is nothing. Any response from WVU brass will give him more news cycles of relevance. I think that 95 days from now when we play our first game of the season much of this frustration can be alleviated by the thrashing of that opponent. Chucky will then have to tuck tail and hide or simply look stupid. Though, apparently that isn't a concern of his.

Will Tressel's demise end up giving WVU a recruiting boon in Ohio? I think to a small degree yes WVU shall benefit from tOSU's untimely demise. To what extent is to be seen.

Is the Big East in good hands? JM seems to be trying to swim in the deep end of this pool. He either delivers on this next TV deal or he may find that his conference is about 8 teams smaller. It is imperative that he starts to listen to the counsel of the AD's from Rutgers, dare I say sPitt and of course our very own, Oliver Luck. Otherwise the Big East may find itself a nice quaint little eastern-Catholic school basketball conference with FCS football only.

As I said more shall be coming so please stay tuned.

Da Geek

What Hath Stew Wrought? (Or, more accurately, What Hath the People Who Hired Stew Wrought?)

In a few short weeks, WVU has gone from being the conference favorite with dominating winning streaks against almost half our Big East foes to a sub-mediocre also-ran. One cannot blame Coach Stew for taking his dream job when it was offered to him, but you could see in his body language during UConn's possession in OT the excruciating reality of dream-turned-nightmare setting in.

Remember the pre-game videos touting 7 years of achievements and featuring Stew's visage? What a fraud. Any holdover cred from the Rod era that this team has had has been thoroughly flushed down the toilet. Whether now or the end of the year, it's time for Luck to put his first stamp on the program by hiring a competent head coach.

West Virginia doesn't have flocks of in-state talent to constantly replenish its roster. Any coach must be able to do more with less. An offense that is so much less than the sum of its parts is fatal. Maybe if we were USC or Texas or Ohio State we could afford to have a figurehead as a head coach. Not WVU. We need someone who will pull the plug on underperforming subordinates. We need someone who will recognize and cultivate winning strategies. Not someone who takes personal responsibility for special teams and watches as it becomes a season-tanking disaster. What a shame to squander Casteel's excellent defense. Is it any surprise that the most effective coordinator predates Stew's tenure as Head Coach?

I know it's totally out of the character of any institution in West Virginia to work this way, but it's vital that when Luck makes his next hire, he values competence above who-knows-who. Even if that means the coach leaves for greener pastures in the future. I think we are all quite aware that hiring someone with West Virginia connections can result in that outcome anyway.

The Coaches Have Their Say.

The banners have been raised and a new hoops season is almost upon us. The first coaches poll was released earlier this week and WVU was only to be found on the outside of the top 25. I've been eagerly awaiting the first polls for months. From everything I've been reading in the offseason, it has been pointing towards WVU not being in the top 25 at the beginning of the year. I suppose I just wanted to see for myself if the voters would really be that foolish.

I looked at what was returning in the Big East and I personally would have picked us either 3rd or 4th in the preaseason. But alas we were picked to finish 5th which isn't so terrible. After hearing that news, I was hopeful that we might make the preseason top 25 as surely the voters would have enough sense to rank more than 4 teams from the BE. The coaches, so far at least, don't appear to have enough sense. We'll see if the sportswriters are any smarter. I say this because I am completely confident that the 'Eers will be very strong again this year with strong leadership and an unbelievably improved back court. There will be huge shoes to fill, unquestionably, but there are also aspects of the game that this years team will likely be stronger at as well. And it's hard to believe that a Huggins' coached team will fall off too much defensively regardless of who is on the court. So let's hear some predictions. I'll get it started and say that entering the NCAA tourney, we'll be in the top 12 and finish 3rd in the BE reg season.

Weezie

"Style Points"

"I worry about the Master Coach and daily walk. I worry about my bride because she rules the roost at the house. I worry about being a role model for my son. Other than that, I don't worry. I don't believe in style points. You have no idea how tough this ol' kid from New Martinsville is. I will jut my jaw and bow my back. I don't care about style points. That means nothing to Billy Stewart. Nothing." Bill Stewart in Post game presser following Saturday's tilt with hapless UNLV. Hmm. really coach? Well unfortunately for WVU those who can determine the final placement of WVU do care.

Now I know that if WVU (and I really hope they do) finishes at top of Big East they go to a BCS Bowl. The problem is that the specific BCS bowl will be determined in large measure about how WVU "appears" to the Bowl committee. Additionally, recruits care about style points. Frankly, I as a viewer of college athletics am attracted to the team that can put up the points. Long gone are the days that Bo and Woody coached. Where you could play a pro-style smash mouthed football game and still contend in the end.

In this era of college football it is a beauty contest. The prettiest wins. So how a team wins a game is important in the end game. Even, suppose that we didn't have the bowl system and we were in a "playoff" system, style points would matter there too. Why? Well because if you are in a 16 team playoff and you are one of 4 teams vying for the votes for #16 then you want to be the prettiest girl in the contest. Otherwise you are watching the playoff not playing in it.

Say what you will about "class" it doesn't sell to pollsters. They don't care that you took off the gas in a gesture of goodwill toward the other team. They might question why a "good team" would struggle with a "bad team." The fact remains that at the end of the day those pollsters likely didn't watch your game they just reviewed the score and maybe even the box score and made their decision based on that information.

Why, many asked after the LSU loss, did WVU fall out of the polls? Well part of that answer is that we won ugly in two of the first 3 games. We didn't blow out FCS, Coastal Carolina and required some late game heroics by Geno to oust the detestable Herd. The fact remains that if we would have blown out those first 3 teams, as a "contender" would have, WVU would have been further up in the polls before we lost to LSU and would not have fallen as far as we did after the loss.

Florida has 2 losses and remains in the poll. Why? Well part of that reason is that they have a pollster bank-account that they accumulated historically with "style" points. They get forgiven for their losses. We on the other hand don't have near as much capital to spend thus when we lose the pollsters punish us. And punish us hard. WVU blew out the Running Rebels as they should have. That game ironically had some style points to it. We blew out a team we should have blown out. The pollsters begrudgingly had to let us back in the revolving door of the top 25. It didn't hurt us that LSU against all logic has been able to pull out 2 straight wins in crazy fashion. Our loss had style points. We lost to a 6-0 LSU team in eyes of pollsters they were hard pressed not to acknowledge the same. But rest assured if LSU had been blowing the teams out on theirs schedule, as an SEC team they would be knocking on the door of the top 4.

My point simply is that WVU needs to "run up the score" to make the points it needs to move up the polls. I have herd it said that win and the polls take care of themselves. The truth is that that simply is not the way it works. Win big and climb faster win and climb slowly and risk never making it to top of the hill. A team that starts at the top of the polls doesn't have to do anything but win to hold their spot right? Well ask Boise State. They have done nothing but win and thanks to VPI and Oregon's dominance "style point-rich" wins they have supplanted the Broncos. Now winning out gets Boise State a date in a BCS game but not in the BCS championship. Well DaGeek, you may ask, Boise State wins with style, why would they not get credit for it? Well they have gotten credit for it. They are discussed every week by the talking heads. They are in the discussion for the national championship. They whip the teams they should and the shine doesn't come off the statue, but they then get slammed because the WAC doesn't bring any bling. It the WAC, lacks style points. A win in conference for the Broncos just gets a ho-hum from the rest of the country, though we like watching them do it on TV. The Big East has style point problems this year as well, so WVU can ill afford to give up any mojo with ugly wins. We need to put it to the teams we are suppose to blow out, or we shall be punished.

Coach Stew saying that he doesn't believe in Style points is disturbing to say the least. He better start believing in them or WVU will pay the price. I don't know why any competitive team exists if not to win the prize at the end. The prize at the end is the crystal football. To win the crystal football we must get the votes from the voters in the two human polls. To get those points we have to impress them. To impress them we need "style points". I want our Coach to take a good hard look at his position on this issue and ask himself if he really is doing his "OLD GOLD AND BLUE" any service by ignoring the glaringly obvious reality that style points matter.

I love my Eers as much as anybody can. I respect our Coach, but I must disagree with his position as to style points. I am jutting my jaw out and bowing my back on behalf of my beloved team. Coach you have this wrong! Please address this and lead us back to the title hunt. Coach do it and do it with style!

DaGeek

Bayou Bengals

This is a big week for the Big East. The WVU-LSU game will likely define the conference's significance this year. Unfortunately, the game doesn't mean much for WVU itself. We're unlikely to compete for a national championship, so the goal remains to make it to the BCS. That entails winning the Big East. LSU has no bearing on that goal!

That being said, I expect an ugly game saturday night. LSU's defense is stacked. Patrick Patterson is the best D-back in the country....think Revis and Eric Berry type. The front seven are more than stout and they face an O-line that's been questionable and will be missing Jenkins. I'm thinking this could be a rough night for Geno. Unfortunately, I predict turnovers in the 4-5 range. That will be difficult to overcome.

The good news is LSU doesn't have the best offense. Don't get me wrong, I've seen them score long TDs in consecutive games by handing the ball off to one of their burners on a reverse. But Jefferson is not solid at QB. He's prone to his own mistakes. We have to stop the speedsters from getting to space.

So the game in my mind is who can make the least mistakes and you better bring your A+ kicking game Saturday night because it's likely to be an ugly Cajun brawl.

Maryland Terrapins

After a 2 year hiatus the border war has been renewed. Maryland and West Virginia have met 46 times (WVU leads 23-21-2), including each season from 1980 to 2007. As you can see this rivalry has been a close one. Neither team is able to pull to far ahead of the other. It has been a streaky series though. One thing that this game use to mean was whether or not the Eers were going to go to a bowl game. This game was the gage to determine that event. In recent years it hasn't had the same prognosticating properties but it does still portend on good or bad things to come. I for one love this series and hope that it continues to be a staple in the schedule. The series has been renewed until 2017.



Maryland had its worst season in history losing 10 games last season. I would caution against looking to last season to define this years Terp team. They have started off the season with 2 straight wins over Navy and Morgan State. While Morgan State may not get your attention the win over the Midshipman should. Maryland exhibited a running prowess that is indicative of eating clock while scoring points. This team will try to beat you on the ground and with there defense. It should be noted that the Terps are known for their linebackers and this years team is no different.

So who is getting it done for Maryland? Who do we need to watch this week? With the caveat that we don't have a lot to sample from with only two games to look at here is who I think you should be on the look out for Saturday:

They have decided to platoon at the quarterback position. Jamarr Robinson will likely start and he has completed 8 of 19 pass attempts for 81 yards and 2 TDs against 2 interceptions. Likely to see a lot of time as well is Danny O' Brien who has completed 5 of 10 passes for 79 yards and 3 TDs against no interceptions. Between the two QB's they have a combined 43.3% completion rate and a combined QB rating of 129.8. This is an experiment and while not the focus of the offense it can be an effective tandem.

Those two quarterbacks will be throwing the ball to primarily 3 receivers each of whom has scored this year. They are Matt Furstenburg who has caught 3 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Torrey Smith who has caught 4 passes for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns. Adrian Cannon who has caught 2 balls for 24 yards and a touchdown.

The running backs would constitute the bulk of the offensive output. They have four threats at this position. Davin Meggett has carried the ball 16 times for 155 yards with a touchdown. Jamarr Robinson has toted the ball 17 times for 128 yards. Da'Rel Scott has carried the ball 18 times for 100 yards with one touchdown. He has also caught 3 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown. And finally D. J. Adams has contributed 12 carries for 71 yards and two touchdowns. All four of these backs will likely see the ball at Mountaineer Field. They are good and they are the focal point of this team.

The overall scuttlebutt on this offense is that they are young and talented. They didn't face much of a defense in Morgan State last weekend but Navy was formidable and they scored 17 on them. The question is what will they do against a West Virginia defense who is playing without its shut-down cornerback. I am hopeful that the Mountaineer defense will show Maryland a look that they haven't seen and will for the most part keep them held at bay. We shall see.

The kicker, Travis Baltz, is more than serviceable, kicking at least one field goal in the first two games. He kicked two 47 yarders in the effort against Morgan State. He is perfect thus far on extra points as well. Finally, he serves as the punter and kickoff guy.

The Terp Defense has given up a total of 17 points all year making them the current 10th rated scoring defense in the Country. That number is quite impressive when you consider one of those teams is a notoriously high-scoring Navy team. Against Morgan State, Demetrius Hartsfield and Adrian Moten both had picks and Joe Vellono registered a sack. This defense is young as well as talented. Look for them to be a great challenge for the Mountaineer offense.

Overall this game will be a solid test of the the Mountianeers. They need to come to play and play hard. If they do I see it being a great day to be a Mountaineer. If not it could be a long day.

See ya Saturday in the Blue Lot.

Go Eers!!!

Da Geek