This Will Have To Do

This paragraph accurately describes the shortcomings of Rich Rodriguez’s coaching philosophies. I’ve never seen a coach so ardently stick to his game plan when adversity arises.

The fact WVU will run the same set of plays over and over again is troublesome. Granted it works most of the time, but as we’ve seen with the two USF games and the Pitt games it can come back and bite you in the ass.

I’ve always been concerned over why Rich is so reluctant to establish an intermediate to long range passing game. White and Brown have the arms? Is it the receivers we have? Does he have confidence our guys can catch passes?

Pitt pretty much knew what we were going to call play after play. Wasn’t it obvious? Dive to Slaton/Devine, White up the belly/outside, Devine to the outside, maybe an option to Schmitt, or a bubble screen to Reynaud.

It’s like Rodriguez goes into hibernation when things get serious. I know we blow people out, but it’s not going to happen all the time. It’s as if he plays NOT TO LOSE instead of going for the kill and win. Was it the fact that Pitt was playing well defensively and he was too stubborn to believe that we would break them down? I don’t know, but I guess it’s something to be concerned about.

183 total yards against a Pitt defense that was pushed around by UCONN and USF is unacceptable. I’m sorry.

The blame game can be played alot with Saturday’s loss. Yes, Rich didn’t make the necessary adjustments, but he wasn’t the one that missed two chip-shot field goals either. Nor was he the one that couldn’t hold a block to save his ass. (I’m looking at you Mike Dent.)

http://boomp3.com/m/b0688ce87986

I feel bad for Dent, as he’s had to replace the best center in WVU history. You know the kid’s definitely feeling the heat replacing a two-time All-American and Rimington Award winner.

I don’t feel bad for any Mountaineer player. You are given a wonderful opportunity to have a free education and play on a (sometimes) potentially great football team. While I don’t believe amateur athletes should be criticized like pros, there is still some room for debate. With Dent’s struggles this year, there’s very little debate.

I’m just saying it sucks how Dent has been scrutinized the way he has. He doesn’t deserve it all. I personally feel that he’ll turn out and be a good center, after all this is his first season as a starter.

when these guys accepted scholarships, to a team that is on national television every week, that is the arguably the most important thing in an entire state, they opened themselves up to whatever critisim about their performance anyone has to dole out. By the way, we congratulate the shit out of them when they play good.

The offense shit the bed, ruined a gift wrapped chance to go to the national championship, not just for them, but for all mountaineer fans. They deserve all the critism we can give them. maybe they will play better next time.

Coming into the season, Dent was hyped to be close to Mozes since he was his understudy for the past 2-3 years. The coaches put all their eggs in one basket… and it backfired. He hasn’t shown any improvement throughout the season, and I don’t think he will be a good center. He has one more year to improve on a pitiful performance… but he’s already had four. However, I hope he does… I hope he works his ass off and proves himself for next season. If not, I’m ready for Gino.

That being said… I don’t blame him for the loss. The coaches receive most of the blame.

Zub, with all due respect, you are way off my friend. A college scholarship doesn’t equal open season on the athlete who accepts it. Neither does the fact that games are televised. Or that some fans have a skewed perspective about the relative importance of the football team. Or that the university makes millions dollars on the backs if its players while they don’t get a cent. They are kids playing their hearts out, and they deserve what we’d all like for ourselves if we were on the team – fan support (constructive criticism included), and simple respect. And refraining from truly stupid acts like heaving objects at the Pitt buses, and threatening the home team’s kicker.