WVU Dominates Maryland 45-6!

Dana Holgorsen told FOX SPORTS earlier in the week that if he could ask the Football gods for anything it would be for the ball would bounce the Mountaineers way this year.  In the 2^nd quarter when Maryland running back Brandon Ross fumbled the ball into and out of the back of the end zone and negated the Terp touchdown, the Coach had to wonder whether or not someone up above was listening.

That play perfectly encapsulated a day where most every thing went the Mountaineers way. WVU’s running game was first rate – a throwback to the days of Steve Slaton and Pat White. Our 601 yards of offense was a near perfect balance of run and pass with 304 yards on the ground and another 297 yards in the air. They set a WVU record for first downs, totaling 37.

And the WVU defense was outstanding again, picking up another 6 turnovers to bring their season total to 11.  The Mountaineer secondary has 9 interceptions in three games, clearly living up to their pre-season billing.

Just how well was it going for all Mountaineers today? Before the game, Brad Paisley made an appearance to sing "Country Roads" and Bobby Bowden was inducted in the WVU Sports Hall of Fame. And after the game? On FOXSPORTS 1, Dave Whine-stat had to pay homage to WVU. #sweetcaroline!

It is indeed a great day to be a MOUNTAINEER!

Here’s the Great, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly…

THE GREAT

• First half offense goes 35-0. Orange Bowl-esque! 197 Rushing, 227 Passing, 24 First downs.
• Defense. KJ Dillon was a beast all day.
• Smallwood. Wendell Smallwood. Nuff said.
• Red Zone Scoring – Coach Holgorsen’s positive thinking mantra is working…"If the media won’t make a big deal of it…it won’t become a big deal!"

THE GOOD

• Shaq Pettaway is back! Great to see him return to form…all except that 3^rd quarter roughin the QB that put MD in the red zone for the first time in the game.
• Special Teams. We’ve ridden their butts for three years and it turns out the unit is on the come. That, or KJ Dillon is just a rock that doesn’t make mistakes…until he got sloppy returning the 2^nd half kick off.
• William Crest looks much more comfortable with the read-option spread as the backbone of his throwing.

THE BAD

• Skyler Howard is human. He threw an interception.
• Josh Lambert is human. He missed two Field Goals (one blocked).
• A sloppy 3^rd quarter of WVU offense, predicated on a lack of intensity to get better. As great as Howard looked in quarters 1 and 2, he just looked uninspired in the 3^rd.

THE UGLY

• Maryland’s first half penalties. Holy crap. 7 Penalties for 65 yards.
• Maryland’s cheerleader/tackling dummy. Poor girl. Shelton Gibson didn’t seem to notice til he got ten yards past the accident. He really needs to send her some flowers.
• Maryland’s Randy Edsall. He was average at UCONN and is less so at Maryland. Not kicking a field goal on 4^th and 7 was really stupid…a morale killer for a team whose effort was already on life support.