Pre-Fall Practice Prognostication
by 5th Year Senior on Jul 21, 2009 12:12 PM EDT
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With all the talk about how terrible or great we will be this year, let's put our reputations on the line and make some predictions. I know it is still early, so we should do it with a caveat. If something happens to change your mind, you can change your prediction by September 4.
Here, we go...
Liberty - W
ECU - W This game will be a barometer of our defene. I think we will struggle, as usual, but will pull it out
Auburn - W I think we keep our win streak alive against the vaunted SEC.
Colorado - L After a week off, we come out flat and don't recover in time to pull out the W.
Syracuse - W
Marshall - W Another easy win.
UConn - W
USF - W Grothe alone is not enough to beat our D. It will be close but we win in not so south florida.
Louisville - W Kragthorpe may not be the coach at this point of the year.
Cincy - W They lost too much on D to keep up with our passing game.
Pitt - W We finally get our revenge but it will be a nail bitter.
Rutgers - W I have wanted Rutgers to turn the corner for many years but I just don't think they can do it.
Many of you will call me crazy and I am probably thinking too much with my heart but oh well. The close games we lost last year will turn into close wins this year. However, if JB goes down, we will be in trouble.
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I Predict
That 5YS will continue a strong tradition of humpday posts that include a token picture of Marisa Miller, and that I will continue to enjoy those same posts.
Oh, and that we go 9-3 with losses @ Cincy, @ USF, and @ Rutgers.
Aside
Did anyone else notice an advertisement for Maryland season tickets on the front page? It costs $135 (about $500 less than WVU’s season package, and that’s without any donation) and features “7 big games” including Rutgers, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. I think it’s funny that Rutgers is now a “big home game” for nonconference teams. Then again, I’d much rather have that home slate than our “7 big games” that includes Pitt, UConn, Louisville, Colorado, and ECU.
Wow
Think about it for a second….if we lose FOUR games, that will be a major major meltdown. You are talking about losing to basically all four of our “tough” games (AU, CU, armPitt, USF) and winning the cupcakes. RU And UC and USF are all about as scary to me (read: not that much) but you get the point. A loss on the road to AU is very likely in my opinion, not because of talent, but that place is very tough to play, and you are talking about the THIRD game of the season, after we play two cupcakes to get started.
I think that we go 10-2.
8-4 at Best...
I agree with cabincreekzeke…8-4 at best.
Liberty: W
ECU: W
Auburn: L
Colorado: W
Syracuse: W
Marshall: W
UConn: W
USF: L
Louisville: W
Cincy: L
Pitt: W
Rutgers: L
12-0....Really!
Liberty W : scrimmage-style.
ECU: W without last year’s LBs the Pirates aren’t the same team. We light up the scoreboard this time around, with revenge!
Auburn: W: spoiled Tiger fans shed great-coach Tuberville for a guy that couldn’t win at Iowa State…they get the full welcome to the Gene Chizik era here…blowout W…
Colorado: shouldn’t have beaten us last year, and won’t this year.
Syracuse: W: spoiled Syracuse fans run ex-NFL assistant with no HC experience out on a rail, then hire another NFL assistant with no HC experience.
Marshall: W: goodbye Snyder.
UConn: W: although I fear we might be looking ahead if USF has no conference losses, and Huskies want to play smashmouth style.
USF: W: defense pitches a shutout…in fact, Groethe will only resemble a shadow of his freshman self.
Louisville W: unless L’ville ups its hoodlum quotient and Kragthorpe remembers what he was doing at Tulsa.
Cincy W: Let me get this straight…people are picking the Bearcats because of Tony Pike? The whole defense graduated, so they are going to have to outshoot people. Our D wins this one late. Oh, and Revenge! …and please don’t be looking ahead to Pitt.
Pitt: W: a toss-up…I hope they are undefeated and we can piss on their dreams! Much revenge. I think these are the two best teams in the conference…
Rutgers: W: although, one of these years they have to upset us, right? Not this one. Our dominance continues…
I really don’t think I am fantasizing here. Each of these games is winnable. No one on our schedule outclasses us, and even if we have losses, I believe they will be close. We may need a few bounces…but then all undefeated teams do. If you are a cynic, and I know the majority of you are, I still say 10-wins minimum with losses to two of the following four: Cincy, L’ville, or Pitt, or USF.
Go JP Fanshawe!
I like the 12-0 predicition! Here are a couple other thoughts:
1. Auburn scares me, I know they are in transisiton, but sometimes teams play above thier level early in the season before they are exposed- especially at home (Colorado last year). I still think we’ll beat them.
2. The elephant in the room is special teams. We need a kicker and to fix our kick-off coverage. Imagine what our D will do if we can pin the other team inside the 20 on a regualr basis.
3. I think the Big East is balanced enough that we can win it with one loss in conference. I’d love a 12-0, but I’d take a cozy little 10-2 with a trip to a BCS bowl.
4. If J Brown stays healthy, we go at least 10-2, and he is a 3rd round draft pick.
Predictions
Auburn’s QB was injured last month and may be out for the season. My Auburn acquaintances are already sitting with their heads down over this – no depth at that position. Crowd noise at Jordon-OHare stadium is a factor. Crowd attitude is also a factor – they’d be yelling for their team or yelling at the new coach. I am told by my Alabama friend to park somewhere else and take your WV decals off your windows.
When we go to LSU, be aware the PA announcer on field follows tradition to announce that the sun has found its place on the horizon and it is now NIGHT at Tiger Stadium. One would think that RR was in town as the crowd “flips a switch” and becomes very ugly.
I know a guy from Auburn and
he was going on and on about how bad we were and are going to be and then turned around and gave the exact same reasons applied to Auburn as the reasons they’ll be good….laughable (I’ve always even liked Auburn…..except when we play them)
A Word of Caution
A complete meltdown this season is not out of the question. Sure we lost some tight games last year, but we never completely outclassed anyone either. If we couldn’t score with the crew we had last year, I’m not sure why we’ll be able to move the ball any better in 09. I hope our verbose coach proves me wrong, but 6-6 is completely within the realm of possibility.
7-5
With losses to Auburn, USF, PITT, Cincinnati, and Rutgers. I also am predicting the closest game in the Friends of Coal Bowl series.
1. Wayyyyyyyy to many questions, especially offensively, and too LITTLE depth at our 2 STRENGTHS (DL and LB). Coupled w/ coaching, I feel this is about right w/ possibility that we could go 5-7 or 8-4, at best.
2. Remember that 7-5 w/ this record would indicate a complete regression of WVU football (don’t give me the recruit argument) AND W/ THIS SCHEDULE BE COMPARABLE TO 5-11 in the NFL.
I
You may or may not be right about the D-line, depending on whether Finau ever gets here and how younger players, such as Jorge Wright and DJ Shaw progress.
But how can you say we don’t have enough depth at LB? I count four capable backups in Zac Cooper, Anthony Leonard (who played a ton last year), Ovid Goulbourne, and Najee Goode (who the coaches raved about but there just wasn’t enough PT to go around).
Also, to me (emphasizing the “to me” part), it’s hard to tell what kind of depth you have until you actually get into the season, unless you simply don’t have enough bodies. Players progress and improve from year to year, so its hard to tell until the season starts whether they are capable of filling in. Take, for example, the QB position. Right now, I would say we are thin. But what if Geno comes in from his injury and starts lighting it up? Then we have two solid QBs, which is really the most anyone has, except maybe USC.
I guess you could say we don’t have proven depth (and to that I would ask how many teams ever have proven depth all over the field). But even at LB, I would disagree.
by Country Roads on Jul 22, 2009 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Just an observation, but......
WOW! I am just starting to look at publications (not actually buying them, but while at the local Kroger while “helping” my wife shop) and I didn’t realize how BAD the Big East is going to be this season. This season may be as bad IF NOT WORSE than the Utah/Pitt BCS game debacle, when Pitt wasn’t good enough to be in the top 25. There isn’t ONE marquee offensive player in the league…..No! South Florida’s QB isn’t marquee.
Perhaps....
but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s going to be a conference void of returning offensive playmakers.
I Almost Agree
But I would call Noel Devine a marquee offensive player. Not because of what he’s done at WVU, but because of his “You Tube Legend” status. People at least know who he is. Other than that, you’re right. I would put Mardy Gilyard up there before Grothe. I also think Victor Anderson could become a household name, but Louisville’s suck may prevent that from happening.
I also disagree that this year could be as bad as 2004. Just because you don’t know the players’ names yet doesn’t mean there isn’t talent. I think several teams could be good, it’s just a matter of which ones step up and fill their holes. I was about to say this year reminds me more of 2005, but other than WVU and Lousiville, the league wasn’t that good then either. But again, it’s hard to judge anything before the season.
by Country Roads on Jul 23, 2009 8:56 AM EDT up reply actions
Noel Devine
isn’t a marquee offensive player. Just because he’s a youtube legend against high school talent doesn’t mean he’s a “marquee player”. With this rationale, Jason Gwaltney is a marquee player. Gilyard, Anderson and Grothe aren’t marquee players. PW, Shady McCoy, Steve Slaton, Donovan McNabb, etc. are marquee players and there has ALWAYS been at least one in the BEAST since early 90’s when it was formed…..We’ll see if some emerge.
Gwaltney didn’t have over a million hits on his high school highlight videos and wasn’t featured in the NEXT issue of ESPN the magazine. There’s a difference.
by Country Roads on Jul 23, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions
You know it’s getting bad when I can’t even agree with you without an argument.
by Country Roads on Jul 23, 2009 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions
WTF?
How can you say that Noel Devine isn’t a marquee player? Have you not seen any WVU games the last two years? Throw out all the Youtube highlights from High School (I agree with that). Any comparisons with Gwaltney is stupid and irrelevant considering Gwaltney only saw a few snaps for us and then was off the team.
He has proudced admirably for us, and I predict will have a better year in 2009. I still don’t know how he only had 3-4 touchdowns last year and one of those was 92 yards.
I have to disagree.....
I think you are making the mistake of assuming there are no marquee players this year simply because very few of them are coming back from last year and the year before. I will bet you any amount of money that there will be plenty who emerge this year. The Big East has lost a depth of talent the past few years, and while no one in our conference can “re-load” like a Florida or USC, etc, it doesn’t mean recruiting has been totally lacking the past few years. Trust me when I say that there will be guys who emerge. Look what Cincy’s 30th string QB did last year.
I could see a meltdown....
with a 6-win season if JB goes down enough. Our backup situation is ghastly. I’m not buying into Starks…he might have spent a good bit of time studying the playbook and can “run the offense” but he hasn’t had game day experience as a QB since high school right? If that happens, teams will just load the box and dare him to throw and we have no idea what kind of arm he has.
I also still don’t trust Mullen (recall that he was the QB coach at WF not the OC) and our kicking game either.
However, I still think that we can beat most of these teams in our sleep.
Kicker and QB
I will be listening for news about these two positions throughout preseason practice.
If JB goes down I don’t see how we can win more than 6 games.
If our kicking games does not improve, it will put our close games in question.
by 5th Year Senior on Jul 22, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions
This pains me to admit but...
I agree with the 8-4 prediction. Not that i HOPE for that at ALL. But I’m trying not to use my head, not my heart…
If JB goes down, so does our season. If he plays every snap I could see:
Liberty: W
ECU: W
Auburn: L
Colorado: W
Syracuse: W
Marshall: W
UConn: W
USF: L
Louisville: W
Cincy: L
Pitt: W
Rutgers: L
heart-based prognosticating
Head-based, I’m actually a bit optimistic about our O-line, given Jobe and Jenkins are in their second year and the “zone-blocking” another year in the rear-view mirror.
Heart-based, I have us at 9-3 – I still think Cincy is the team to beat, and I’m sure we’ll screw the pooch against the evil empire to the north, mainly because I want them to be crushed so badly. Add in a youth & inexperience loss in the beginning of the season (ECU?), and there you go. Im assuming that UConn will be solid but not enough offensive firepower, Syracuse won’t be able to hold a lead, and (here’s the huge leap of faith) we’ll have a way to score touchdowns from 1 to 10 yards out from the end zone.
I just don't see
Cincinnati replacing that entire defense….then again, who saw us doing almost the same last year?
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