USF has our number. They did when RR was here and they still do. You have to give them some credit.

Despite the poor performance we still control our own destiny in the Big East. Do I think that will happen? Not really. Is it possible? Certainly. For that reason I still vote “yes.”

However…Jeff Casteel and his defense have me on the very brink of a “no.” That side of the ball was suppose to be our bread-and-butter this year, and after returning a lot of starters they have been miserable every single week. Every week they manage to make some scrub look like the second coming of John Elway.

Luckily, we have Looeyville and the Krag coming to town for what should be a nice bounce back game against a crap team heading into the big one with Cincy.

I have waited since late Friday night to click that little button. I will not click YES again until I see 4 quarters of inspired football (win or lose).

This was for all the staff. I only one I can say no to is Casteel and the defensive unit. Punting from the USF 33, although at the time it seemed gutless, turned into a safety for our defense. I believe, from reading Stew’s comments, that Koz was to coffin corner the kick and did not. That safety was almost a defensive touchdown and almost led to momentum changing offensive touchdown. It worked once, and our offense was not moving the ball well. If it ain’t broke, no sense fixing it. Maybe we should have gone for it, but I can’t fault him for not either.

The only comment from Stew I question is where he has stated he doesn’t play favorites and we always have our best 11 on the field. I really think there is someone on the bench better than #8 was that night. Some nights you have it, some you don’t, and #8 didn’t have it that night.

And as far as favorites are concerned, come on Stew. JB just doesn’t have the football IQ to run our offense the way we are trying to do. If we want to throw the ball down the field, we need to bring in Geno. He is much more effective with that game plan. If we want to run the option or an occasional bubble screen (and I strongly emphasize OCCASIONAL), JB is our go to guy. He played a miserable game, but did anyone notice he was actually tucking away the football and protecting it? Let’s play smarter, not harder. We might be trying so hard that we’re losing focus.

So even though it was close (51/49), I’ll barely say yes, because I was satisfied with the majority. It takes tough skin to be a true Mountaineer fan—the glass always has to be half full.

as long as we get 6 wins. I don’t understand what the big deal is…..6-6 gets us to a bowl……isn’t that why we play the season out.

I think those of you who think WVU should strive for 10-11 wins each year are unrealistic. What do you think we are…Ohio State? Florida? USC?

Stewart is a great MAN, who is NOT arrogant at all. As long as our head coach presents himself well, that’s enough for me.

I also approve of the job by Mike Parsons and Ed Pastilong….That MSN intro music is fantastic. It’s soooooo fresh.

I think it is still too early to judge the coach. He has started a lot better than Rodriguez so far in his first two years. He has revamped the offense as well. Like some of the other posts, I just hold my head with some of his decision making, but overall I think that the Mountaineers are for real. Having said that, I think that our hands are going to be full throughout the rest of the season. The Mountaineers have the potential to lose a couple more games this season.

The 2009 Mounties do not have an identity. Are they a run first pass second team? Are they a pass first and run second team? Is the defense bend but don’t break or are they aggressive and risk oriented? I do not think he players or the fans know. That issue rests with the coaching staff and principally with HCBS. Other than his first game at the helm the team has struggled to find what works and what doesn’t. Stretch the field, spread the wealth both sound nice if you can execute but as successful business leaders will attest, trying to be all things to all customers just doesn’t work.
Offensively the game plan looks like something played on Saturday mornings in your neighbor’s backyard. Gimmicks and trick plays that fail more often than they succeed. Skilled athletes used in positions and situations for which they are not suited and capable athletes standing on the sidelines while 1st stringers struggle and fail. RR was stubborn in his offensive sets but no more so than BS. The reluctance to call JB’s number (he was recruited as a dual threat QB), the reluctance to pound the rock against slower weaker opponents, empty backfields on 3rd and short, and passes thrown two yards short of the 1st down marker are signs of an OC who does not have a clue. Being outgained by UConn and USF with the firepower we have is a clear indication the OC is in way over his head. Too many different offensive alignments indicates we are masters of none and downright stink at others. The Mounties ran the option once in the USF game for a 19 yard gain from Tavon and we never saw it again. This was the offense that was going to bring back the tight end and he caught exactly one pass on Friday. Devine used as a decoy was as truly strange and when he was wide open as a safety valve JB scrambled and was sacked or threw OB. While many fans have criticized the OL, there is virtually never a RB held in for blocking on obvious passing downs. Offensively, the Mounties should get the underachievers of the year award. This is a coaching issue. The weakness I see in this staff is the OC and the OL Coach. Neither is up to the job and the team’s results speak for themselves. The team lacks intensity, killer instinct, and identity. HCBS is right when he says players do not need to be yelled at when they just screwed on national TV. But the OC and OL coaches are not players and it’s time they take some heat publicly for their performance. They are probably great guys and one is a WVU grad, but at this point they have been abject failures. HCBS needs to make a half year adjustment and fix the problem.
Special Teams are a mixed bag. HCBS must be watching a different game than I am because I keep seeing a pooch kick that gives the opponent the ball on the 40 yd line. In eight games this year I think we have two touchbacks. Our kickers can’t be that bad. It appears our KO team is now gun shy and lacks any aggressiveness. They ruin to the 35 yd line and wait for the other team to come to them. For all the talk about players flying to the ball, I just do not see it. Punting from inside the opponents 40 twice in the same game shows the Coaches lack guts and confidence in the offense. When you lose confidence it is time to make changes in your approach to the game.
Defensively the team has underperformed and to some degree that rests with Casteel. We have been mediocre at applying pressure to the QB and our DBs just aren’t good enough to stay with receivers for more than a couple of seconds. Tandy has been a disaster all season and Hogan is running a close second. The 3-3-5 is supposed to allow pressure from more angles and positions than most opponents are accustomed, but we have done less blitzing this season than in years past and generally been less effective when we have.
Give Mullens and Johnson the boot and replace with more experienced assistants, and light a fire under the players and we’ll get better. The staff gets a B for intent and effort, but a D- for performance. A clear No from me.

Brown and Tandy have been stinking up the field and BS needs to step to the plate and pull both of them if Mullens and Casteel don’t have the smarts to do it themselves. For someone who sat on the sidelines and watched one of the best in Pat White, Brown didn’t learn crap. He is not a leader and seems to do better coming off the bench in relief. Tandy……..I cannot even find the words to describe his playing abilities. Well, yes I can……….they suck. Surely there is someone else on our team that is hungry and can play that position. The sign of a good coach is one who can adjustments when things aren’t going right. Leaving Brown and Tandy in this last game were huge mistakes…………kinda like when RR kept trying to run the ball against Pitt when they loaded up the box.

I vote yes, one game is not a season.
There is something I want to mention though:

I don’t think the defense is uninspired as much as they may just not have the talent. Rich Rod never really cared about recriuting on the defensive side of the ball, and I think we are paying for that now. I think Q-tip Motha mentioned how many ex-offensive players we have over there. We also look really slow all over the field on defense- whether we are athletically slow or football-brain slow(taking bad angles, making bad reads, etc).
Our D-line is great against the run, but doesn’t have much explosiveness vs. the pass-How many times have we had a defensive lineman flat out beat his man and get the QB?

I put this squarely on Coach Stew’s shoulders and I’ll tell you why. First, did you really think Devine was going to get to the edge on USF – Especially this year with those two book ends they have? USF has speed, and the reason they have our “number” is b/c they match up very well with our speed. Coach Stew and Mullins should have had a better game plan. Some inside runs, some I-formation, double tight-ends, and even some read-option, which our team should know a little bit about. I liked the short passing game. We did have a great opening drive, but it seems like we went away from what was working. Second, our team has gone into half time trailing in several games this year against inferior opponents, namely Marshall and UCONN. That to me, means the game plan going in was poor, chalk another one up to Coach Stew and the boys. Our D-fense is terrible, especially our secondary. We play a 3-3-5 … and you mean to tell me with 5 DBs we can’t gaurd against the big play. I’m sorry, but if I’m the coach, you get burnt twice, you come out of the game. I’d rather have some underclasses get some time and get beat then watch veterans who should know what their are doing get torched over and over. Fourth, I think Stew gives our QB much too much room on that leash. 4 interceptions and a fumble at Auburn? Come on – yank him. Last – we’re going to loose to Pitt and Cincy, if our coaches are worth their salt, we’ll beat UL and RU and finish 8-4 and get to a lower-tier bowl.