TSM Coaching Approval Meter (Post-UNLV, 2010)

…that a game where everything finally “clicks” was needed so that the coaches knew what to replicate week-to-week? I might be reaching, but it kind of makes sense in my head.

Way to go out on a limb and not vote. But I won’t call you a coward – there’s only one man I’ve ever called a coward – Brian Doyle Murray.

It is safer to let it bounce, instead of running up and attempting to catch it. We could’ve lined up closer, but then you would’ve been mad if the ball were kicked over there head.

I think 25314 mentioned lining Hogan and Jock deep and not so deep in punt formation, but I thought we only had Jock or Hogan back alone for most kicks. I’m probably wrong though because I have the attention span of a two year old in a candy store.

Three of those flags were total BS calls

on your first trip back in so many years

I laughed aloud when you called our fan base “agrarian.”

Also, it’s not so much that he said style points don’t matter – almost all coaches will say that – but that I think, unlike other coaches, he actually believes it and that he had to talk for 5 minutes about himself to say ridiculous things to go with it.

Your point that he is lost in the past is also probably on taget. Before the LSU game he said we needed to play Bear Bryant and Don Nehlen football. One hasn’t coached in 10 years, the other 30. The game is evolving, is our coach?

Sometimes style points don’t matter. This year they certainly don’t for WVU, especially now that we lost a game. If we win the rest of our games by 1, we will end up ranked around 10th and go to a BCS bowl. If we win the rest of our games by 40, we will end up ranked around 7th and go to a BCS bowl.

Other than that, the only place style points really matter is when voters have to decide between teams with the same or similar records for who gets to play for the championship. And at that point, it’s as much about schedule as it is about margin of victory. If OSU and Oregon both go undefeated, I really think they will play for the national championship regardless of what Boise and TCU do. Now if you get another BCS team in there like, say, Nebraska, then you have to start thinking about which team looks the best.

Or maybe LSU is a better example. Would voters give them the benefit of the doubt because they play in the SEC, or would voters look at the wins over Tennessee and Florida and say “wow, LSU shouldn’t have won those games, they’re probably not as good as their record indicates”? My guess is the latter. But what choice did LSU have there? It’s not like they could have done more and called the dogs off. They just flat out got lucky.

So really, “style points” only matter when you win by 21 and you could have won by 35 but instead you called off the dogs. I’m not sure how much voters would really look at that. Maybe they would notice if your average score was 42-10 as opposed to 28-10, all other things being equal.

Again, I’m not saying that style points never matter. I just think you’re looking at the issue a little too simplistically and blowing this one thing out of proportion because you don’t have anything else you can criticize Stew about this week.