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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sometimes you never know what you’re going to get when you’re dealing with 18, 19, and 20-year-olds. Earlier this week, South Florida Coach Jim Leavitt was talking about changing personnel after watching his Bulls get whacked over the head by Pitt, 41-14.
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| Senior Alric Arnett is deep in thought on the bench in the fourth quarter of West Virginia's 30-19 loss to South Florida Friday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
He pulled his freshman quarterback, B.J. Daniels, in the second half of the Pitt loss in favor of Evan Landi. He also talked about replacing players in the secondary.
Well last night Daniels looked like Michael Vick, completing 13 of 26 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 14 times for 104 yards in a 30-19 victory over West Virginia.
“We haven’t played a guy like that and I guess that will be better for us in the long run,” said defensive end Julian Miller.
Daniels’ performance caught everyone by surprise.
“What surprised me is we lost contain,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “You chase the up-field shoulder of the deepest back - quarterback or tailback. It’s basic, elementary football. We didn’t do that as well as we should have.”
Daniels made six plays of 20 yards or longer, including passes of 69, 49 and 45 yards.
“In two years, how many times has someone flat out thrown the ball over our head? It doesn’t happen too much,” said secondary coach David Lockwood.
Jim Leavitt showed right away that he meant business. After West Virginia drove the length of the field on the game’s opening possession, USF was confronted with a fourth and 1 on its side of the field. Leavitt gambled and went for it.
Two plays later, Carlton Mitchell got behind Keith Tandy for a 49-yard touchdown.
“They caught us in a situation where we had one on one on the outside and the receiver made a good catch and the quarterback made a good throw,” said safety Robert Sands.
Later, Daniels and Mitchell hooked up once again for a 69-yard pass play that took the football to the West Virginia 9. On third and goal at the 11, Daniels broke contain and hit a wide open A.J. Love in the corner of the end zone to give South Florida a 17-9 lead.
“Any time you get one, and then two, your confidence goes down. It’s my job to get his confidence back up,” said Lockwood of Tandy. “I could have very easily pulled the kid out but I’m not going to pull the kid out because he gets the ball thrown over his head. That just completely kills confidence. We’ve just got to do a better job of playing better defense.”
A disturbing trend is the number of big plays the defense has surrendered this year. Heading into the South Florida game, West Virginia’s secondary has allowed 26 pass plays of 20 yards or longer. Daniels hit three more on Friday night to go with three scrambles of 20 yards or longer.
“It’s as tough as it is to cover a guy with him in the pocket, but with him running around - a guy like that - they’ve got some athletes out there running around and it makes it tougher,” said Lockwood. “We’ve got to do a better job of containing the quarterback and not giving up the big play.”
There were problems offensively as well. West Virginia finished the game with just 118 yards rushing and an average of 3.4 yards per carry. Noel Devine was bottled up all night, managing only 42 yards on 17 carries.
“The lack of running game was not good,” said Stewart. “Once you get down two scores like that you have to throw the ball. You want to throw the ball when you want to, not when you have to.”
Quarterback Jarrett Brown was constantly under pressure, spending as much time trying to locate South Florida defensive ends George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul as he was scanning the secondary for open receivers.
And twice West Virginia squandered good scoring opportunities. The first was the result of a tremendous play by middle linebacker Kion Wilson, who jumped up and snagged a Brown pass that was intended for Jock Sanders at the USF 10.
The second missed opportunity late in the game was the result of the Mountaineers shooting themselves in the foot with a holding penalty and an ineligible man downfield on consecutive plays that took the ball from the USF 14 all the way back to the 35.
“When you get the ball inside the 50 you’ve got to get points. That’s not intelligent football. We’ve got to make plays,” said Stewart. “You know they are going to blitz you, you know they are going to rush you, but you have to make plays.”
Now it’s back to the drawing board for West Virginia. The Mountaineers have Louisville next Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in what is shaping up to be an important Big East game for WVU’s season – much like last night’s game was to South Florida’s season.
“It’s a four-game season and it all starts with Louisville,” said Stewart. “We had a chance to really shine tonight and we didn’t.”
“A loss like this, yeah, it hurts but you’ve got to bounce back,” added Miller. “The will of a team is shown after a loss. Next week, we’ve got to prepare hard and come out and try and get a win.”
This coaching staff needs to quit hugging these kids and start coaching them and then benching them when they screw up. What ever happened to playing kids that help you WIN.
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If we keep doing the SAME Thing we will continue to get the SAME results....
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wow, that loss hurts. with pitt and cincy yet to come, it looks dismal for the 'eers. do we have a coach for the defensive backs? the inability to defend against the pass has to be one of the weakest points in the game, it seems. i know, the defense faced a good quarterback last night. i know, the offensive line faced two good defensive ends last night. i know, the team faced a good team last night. that's what practice is for, to prepare for those "good" people and teams. we didn't and we don't. but, i still love my 'eers.
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two things; could we find someone to kick the ball into the endzone and could we get some pressure on opposing qb's/
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Bill and Scott will you please give me a break. we are 6 and 2. Coach Stewart is 16 and 6 as head coach at WVU.What was Rod 's record after 22 games. You guys think you know so much about football and you don't know JACK......We are going to be fine.Y ou have to play with the talent you have.Speaking of Rod he left us an abundance of defensive ball players yea right.
On the verge of three of of the best recrt. classes in history of WVU football and all you do is complain.What are you going to complain about when we win National Championship.
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Pick you're heads up boys and let's just keep moving forward.........4 games left to show the world how good the eers really are.
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I am glad you know what Stew's record was through 22 games. Yeah, it was better than Rod's, but Stew inherited a better group of players. We had come off of three consectitive years of 10+ wins, and 4 straight post New Years Day Bowls. Rod recieved a team that went 4-7, and 7-5, respectively, the two seasons prior to his arrivals. Oh yeah, and a victory on the Music City Bowl over Ole Miss. You are trying to compare apples and oranges. But some of you guys have it correct. We need to bench players that continue to make the same mistakes. Our defensvie line cannot get a pass rush, and out secondary turn average quarterbacks into All-American canidates. I hate to watch what Bill Stull (PITT) and Tony Pike (CINNCY) do to us, if they are healty. Heck, they will be front runners for the Hesiman trophy after they play us on national television. I cannot stand Stew avoiding answering the defensive problems. Same answer everytime when asked about the defense, "our guys are playing hard, making plays, and bending but not breaking. They have athletes on the other side of the ball too and teams are going to make plays against us". I really am tired with that response. Make some changes on that side of the ball, and hold players accountable.
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It's easy to get discouraged when things go wrong. Let's consider what has gone right. WVU is 6-2. Of the 8 games they played 5 are against teams with winning records. Three have beaten Top-25 teams. Three are already bowl eligible. One more may become bowl eligible tomorrow.
This is in sharp contrast to last year, when WVU through 8 games was also 6-2. However, only three of their opponents had winning records, and only two of those were bowl eligible. Despite the nay-sayers & presumably in-the-know "pundits", WVU has thus far played, and have been successful against, a tough schedule. So, even if they go 2-2 the rest of the way, it will still have been a successful season. Let's give em a chance and see how it all plays out. Go Mountaineers!!!!!!! |
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USC got trounced by Oregon. The worst loss in Pete Carrolls' coaching career. They interviewed him at halftime and said he had to throw the defensive scheme out the window. According to films, formation and tendencies his players were in the proper position. The only trouble was that the quarterback was running wildly all over the field and creating plays on his own. When you have a quarterback like that the defensive backs are in a hell of a shape. He bought enough time to find open receivers. Can't keep up with them all covered over a period of thirty seconds. Receivers ARE going to get separation and lost by defensive backs over such a long period. Jarrod Brown does some of that too. He's just not an accurate passer under those conditions. However, this is all we have and lets get it done under those conditions. There are ways.
Anybody watch the Rutgers/Connecticut game. Sad ending! |
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Yes I agree that the Mountaineers looked flat. Okay nobody has said that. It concerns me. We need a break out game. We need to crush UL and keep on cruising. Bring on Cinn and Pitt.. This is our time to shine and represent. A bold prediction , but the Mountaineers win out and go to the BCS bowl. I love the MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!
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Lets avoid going too negative on the Mountaineers. If you watched the Cincinnati-Syracuse game, you saw a solid, but not overly impressive Cincinnati ballclub. The Bearcats needed a fake field goal and two Syracuse turnovers in the red zone to win 28-7. Syracuse was 7 of 14 on third downs against the Cincinnati defense, while Syracuse went 0 for 11 against West Virginia's defense. Yes, Pike and/or Collaros are scrambling quarterbacks like we saw from Daniels on Friday night, but surely the WVU defense will work on being more disciplined the rest of the season.
Offensively, hopefully Mullen will quit trying to make an NFL quarterback out of Brown and let him scramble when the first, second and third looks are covered downfield. More zone reads and triple options from the running game on first and second down would make for a more balanced attack. Get Sanders, Austin and Devine the ball and let them do their thing.
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Couldn't be prouder of the Mountaineers. They made mistakes but they played with pride and integrity. Get over it. You will be blind-sided every once in a while and there is absolutely not a thing you can do. Get after Louisville and Beat PITT!!!
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it s pass defense ,,,,,,,,,pass defense ......and more pass defense ....... or cincys going to kill us.......had we stopped the two long bombs friday night we would have had the w....................
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We have always been beat by the long bombs. WVU has never been able to contain the long passes. Thats why we dont win the big games. Also our guys dont no how to tackle. Friday when we played usf Daniels would be dancing in the backfield. We cant win games on offense.
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All I know is we have had two primetime games on national television and failed to execute. This doesn't help with recruiting. Doesn't represent Mountaineer football in a very good light. Is it the lack of a sound gameplan or adjustments by the coaching staff? Is it a lack of execution by the players? If it's the latter, put the #2s in there and see if they can execute - I don't understand the "leave them in there to boost confidence" attitude of some of the coaching staff. Seems to me, being benched would provide motivation to improve and regain your playing time. But I'm not a coach and I'm sure there are reasons why #8 and #4 are not sitting on the bench.
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Hey John - It's Jarrett Brown not Jarrod!!
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I think with the defense that USF put on the field we really needed to get more mobility at the QB position. No disrespect to Brown, I like him as our starter but it would have been interesting to have seen what Geno could have done for a couple series.
Let's beat UL, Pitt, Cincy, and RU and get that BCS bowl!! GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!! |
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What happened to the defense. After last year, I thought they would be the strength of the team. What I am seeing is very poor pass coverage. A lot of stuff over the middle in every game with nobody to cover. We used to blitz, now we sit back and make tackles after the pass is caught. Look what putting pressure on J. Brown did to us.
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When are any Wv coaches going to change the gameplan against South Florida. They stop our speed oriented offense with speed on defense. They have killed us this way for 4 years. They have stopped Pat White, Steve Slaton, Devine, Sanders.....they always take our offensive game plan away from us and we don't go to anything else. Do we have a fullback or tightend?? Can we throw a pass over the middle of the field? We never do anything to counter their defensive speed. Yes, I agree that the pass coverage was poor, but it is pretty poor every game.
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i noticed since the usf game its pile up on wvu time. all the sudden one loss and our seasons over. were 6-2 , same record as usc cal and ohio state. we had our 1st big conference loss yes and will fall outta the rankings although not alot of room to fall . alot of big losses yesterday turned 2 loss teams into 3 loss teams such as vt and kansas. kudos to another win for uc and on getting to 8-0 . leagues showing toughness with 5 teams 6-2 or better. i wouldnt count wvu out for the year yet and im not 25 or 50 percent but a 100 percent behind bill stewart and jarrett brown. im a real wvu fan. i would be behind them and support the team if we lose to the ville next weekend in morgantown. because why? because im a real wvu fan that doesnt run or attack the coaching staff when times are tough. i have faith in the eers just like anyone that believes in the program should. lets win a few more games and go to a bowl game. if not better luck next season. go big east and wvu . oh btw i would still be with them if we go 6-6 this year cuz im a real fan
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Love the Mountaineers:
1. Please blitz more and play cover less....pressure young quarterbacks....it is the great equalizer 2. Please roll Jarrett out more.....first play of both halves......worked great! 3. Don't run the center screen........ever again 4. Did I mention blitz more........ |
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Oh, I forgot: Do not punt inside the 45 yard line with under 4th and 5........for a 25 yard gamble you get a chance to score. The very best possible outcome occured when we punted in the first half......inside the two and a safety. Still do not like the call.....we had offensive momentum.....4th and short.......on the road.....they had not stopped us........killer instinct......go for it. Heck, our kick offs usually they start on the 35..........scope your offense in between the 50 and the 30 for four plays........be agressive.
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Quite frankly, we are spoiled. We have been top ten (late in the season after proving ourselves); we've played in major BCS Bowls. HCBS coached the Fiesta Bowl - as an interim at that. Despite the team has different faces, the difference I see compared to that time is lack of "Fire in the belly" - flat performances, no performances on field and I watched "pedestrian" walk to the play when defense should be a mass of maniacs going to the ball (and its carrier who happens to be somewhat flatter after the hit!) AND, what's with the team on the bench? If sitting, they ought to be listening and seeing the assistant coach drawing schemes and barking corrections to their play. Nobody ought to sitting there yuking it up and relaxing. Not with play that looks this bad.
Pardon me for borrowing, but "They need to feel our program tonight, they need to feel what West Virginia football is all about"! Sound familiar?
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OK. I'm not one to post much on sites like this, but I am a long time Mountaineer fan and am tired of reading negative comments and opinions being posted. I have been following WVU athletics for longer than the kids now playing have been alive and feel that the fans today have totally lost their perspective as to what it's all about. I feel that coach Stewart has it right in his philosophy towards the game. It's a game! These are student athletes; notice how the word student precedes the word athlete. The coaching staff is not only there to teach them how to play football and win, but also to train them as to how to deal with life and to mature as a person.The expectations seem to have only become about winning nowadays. I applaud coach Stewart and his staff for telling it like it is and also for letting the kids play, even when they make mistakes. Was anyone else watching the same game I was Friday night? The kids never stopped playing, and the coaches never gave up on them either. We were beat by MO. They were playing in a Pro stadium that was filled with people rooting against them. Yes, Tandy was beaten for a 49 yard touchdown, but where was the flag for the push off that gave the receiver the sperationto catch the ball? MO. A reception by the opposing team with an apparent fumble and recovery by our guys on the oppositions 25 yard line that was overturned by replay?MO. An unexpected star in a speedy redshirt freshman qb that came of age in one game?MO.Yes, MOmentum was on their side and not ours on Friday, but I am sure that the fine coaching staff will watch the film and make corrections where need be.I am proud to call myself a Mountaineer fan and I am happy to have a man like Bill Stewart at the helm. It's more than a game guys, it's all about teaching these young people lessons that will stick with them for life.
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OK, I am one of those who was as down as possible about the USF result and especially the play of our defense. The most glaring fact to me was that USF had the better athletes from Florida on the field friday night. Hope Cincy and Pitt doesn't have as many or it could be a LONG night against both those teams. We should win saturday BUT those last 3 games are going to be huge challenges. Mounties better turn it around quickly if they want to have a successful season.
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I may not know a lot about it, but, I see an unbeaten Cincy team coming at us and a very rugged Pitt team also. I am a fan and will always be a fan. I live in the middle of Buckeye country and display my pride for WVU unashamedly...I really feel for the team and fans....
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I think what a lot of people forget is that this is almost a transition year. People might wonder why I say that, but if you think about it a lot of it makes sense. For one thing I think Coach Stew is trying to not be so one dimensional. He is trying to get a more balanced pass-run scenario. I don't think that when Rod was here he really recruited WR's because he was more worried about the run game. This is most likely why we have Sanders at WR. We have to remember that this was Rod's team and not Stew's team. I don't think he really wants the same scheme as Rods, he wants to do things a little more traditional and doesn't have the personell to do so at this point. We also have to remember that one of the most important players on the field is the QB, while Jarret is doing an above average job with the receivers he has, he isn't a Pat White type of player. I could go on forever, but I think we just have to have faith in the system. If it doesn't work out in a couple years then let's talk about the coaching staff!
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amen Scott. There is no fire in this team,where are the fist pumps,emotion period? No swagger at all. Not to mention punting twice while down on their side of the field. The staff has a don't lose,instead of a going for the win attitude. All kinds of bullets left in this chamber.
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Greetings!
Typically, I do not post on sites like this.... However, I wanted to take this opportunity to bring up a couple of points. I think most objective fans know that there are opportunities for this team to improve. And sure, everybody wants to be associated with a winner. I just hope that the coaching staff is in fact putting the best players on the field. We all know that that anyone can fool the people some of the time...... However can not fool the people all the time. Some have said the "Defense has been keeping us in the game" and "The signal caller will give us our best chance to win" and it's also been suggested "That same athletes that have not performed well in the past, all the sudden are going to be a difference maker". Well, perhaps it's starting to sound like a credibility issue? I hope not.........It is my opinion that results will carry you. Let's hope that the football team bounces back and gets back to it's winning ways. |
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SF and Pitt have had our number for a few years now. Isn't it time for the coaching staff to take a serious look at what those two teams do to shut us down, and make some adjustments?
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It is possible that if our coaching staff can not get these men mentally prepared to give 100% we could lose the next 4 games. Lots of talent but they do not have the desire to win
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I saw this coming when I looked at the schedule in August. We just don’t match up well with SF – especially on the road. Everyone needs to get their expectations in line with reality. We are not going to win 11 or 12 games every year. I’m sorry but it’s true. At the beginning of the year I predicted 8-4 and had us at 6-2 at this point with losses to Auburn and SF. Still, we will go to a decent bowl game this year with a young team. Next year is our year.
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You know I get tired of this 18,19, and 20 year old kid crap. When I was 17 I was on my way to Vietnam, and I was a man, not a kid. My 18 year old son, spent 18 months in Afganistan, only to later lose part of his foot in Iraq on his second tour of duty. It is a slap in the face to all our young service men. Maybe they should bring back the draft, than some of the players would mature rather quickly if they had to fight for their country, instead of letting other young men die so they can play football.
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Cowboy up fair weather FANS we still have a GREAT PROGRAM and a GREAT group of young MEN and COACHES at our university so lets finish the year STRONG and play MOUNTAINEER FOOTBALL. GOD BLESS
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Yes we were all disappointed. Get over it. Believe me, no one was more disappointed than the players and coaches. They live it 24/7. We armchair after dinner every evening and on Sat. Is anyone watching college football the last 2 or 3 yrs. ANYBODY can practically beat ANYBODY any given Sat. So Fla is a tough place to play. So is Oregon, did you notice! They all have great athletes. WV in the Big East is going to get everybody's best shot, just like Fla does in the SEC and USC does in the Pac10, etc etc. We can still have an AWESOME season if we win a couple of big games still on the schedule. I think a lot of other teams will still be upset before the year is over. We have great coaches and a lot of football players with character and Im sure they have already mourned, corrected and refocused for the next game. We are going to see what this years team is made of still. Championship teams are resiliant, and get back up quickly. A two loss team will play in a BCS bowl and finish in the top 5-10. It could be us. Go hard Mountaineers.
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I couldn't have not said it better scott.
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Have you noticed that Florida has been national champions the last 2 years. Top 10 the last several years why because they dont have to be resiliant they win the big games. Why are we so hard on WV cause the last couple of years they won the big games...Oklahoma, Goergia, Goergia tech...I dont know about you but I like WV in the lime light and like to win. So those of use who are tired of seeing our defense play 10 yards off the receiver or the same plays being run on offense during the same situation thanks for speaking out. Those who thinks were just arm chair coaches keep quiet and watch WV have a mediocre season and be happy.
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As a true WVU fan, the only thing we can do is support our program. The negativity can do nothing but hurt our program. Some may think that the team has let us down, but as a season ticket holder being at the all the home games, I believe the fans including the student section has been medicore. The stadium is not near as crazy as it used to be. I remember back in the day going crazy cheering for the Mountaineers regardless of our record. Yea, there are some problems with our team, but as fans the only thing we can do is support them. Recruits are visiting and how do you think it makes them feel about WVU if we have a pedestrian crowd. Never give up, historically we have always played better with our backs against the wall. Let's keep our negative thoughts to ourselves and cheer our hearts out. Mountaineers never quit, as Pat White said Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer. If you are a negative fan and complain about Coach Stew and the team, do a lot of people a favor and STAY HOME! Let's GOOOOO Mountaineers! Your true fans will never leave you!
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Coach Stew need to put in more playmakers. He needs to bring in Smith or White at QB from time to time to keep the defense on their toes. He alson need to start Devine and Austin in the backfield. GO EEERS.
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