National Champs

LSU got their butts kicked against Alabama in the least anticipated re-match, in years. As if anyone is surprised the game was all field goals and was very low scoring (except for a late 34 yard rushing TD by Trent Richardson). The only thing that was somewhat surprising is that LSU got shut out. No one understands why Jordan Jefferson played the entire game. I don't know why they don't bring the "Honey Badger" in for a few offensive plays (jet sweep anyone?) either. I also didn't get ESPN's love-fest for A.J. McCarron after the game. He had 156 passing yards (0TD) in 1st half. Only had 5 completions for 78 yards passing TOTAL in 2nd half (0TD). 0 completions last 5 drives. That's the offensive MVP? And he played "great" according to the ESPN people? Chip Kelly said "one of the greatest QB performances in a National Championship" -- WHAT?? It has to be that coming into the game everyone expected McCarron to be a liability and he didn't end up turning it over. Big deal. He also didn't score, couldn't get a TD on a drive that started on the LSU 27 (or two other drives that started at midfield or in LSU territory), completed all of 5 passes in the 2nd half when the score was still close enough that a fluke play here or there could have made it a one score game, and the last 5 drives he completed ZERO passes! If they wanted to say he didn't hurt them or he played well enough, sure, I can agree with that, but saying he played "great" and that Chip Kelly line make absolutely no sense. If not for the FG kicker wouldn't they have said the fact that McCarron couldn't score TD was a huge difference in the game? In reality it was an award that they had to give to someone, so I guess he's about the only true offensive option - unless you go with Trent Richardson since he actually scored a touchdown.

So the game was a snooze fest. Who's shocked? Congrats to West Virginia's own Nick Saban on winning another BCS title, though. Arguably, has to be one of the best coaches in the BCS era.

Along the national champions talk...


WVU lost to UConn in a close game at the XL Center. Don't get worked up over the loss. What we've seen thus far in the Big East 2011-12 season is that winning on the road, in conference, is extremely challenging. Sure, that last out of bounds call was horrendous. But so was shutting down the last few minutes of the game. Regardless, this is a young team, still that doesn't get much scoring help beyond their experienced guys (Jones, Bryant, Kilicli) so this type of game is bound to happen a few times this year. But one would hope that it won't continue throughout the remaining schedule. WVU is 17 games into the schedule now. So there's no reason to use the inexperience line anymore. That was just UConn scoring when it mattered and WVU didn't. 12-5 at this point in the season though is probably better than you would have expected early in the season (especially after the exhibition or Kent State games). So we'll see what happens. I still believe that given the strength of schedule and RPI of this season WVU can get in with 18-19 wins, IF they don't lose to anyone else that they shouldn't. 14 conference games left, plus the Big East Tournament should provide enough opportunities to get to 18-20 wins on the year. And given that the Pac-12 literally has maybe one team that is good enough to get in the NCAA Tournament and several other power conferences aren't "great" you should be able to get in with less than the usual 20+. The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, in Morgantown, against Rutgers (again). Rutgers is an improved team from last year, as they have beaten Florida and UConn at the RAC of late, but they also lost BIG to WVU just 6 days ago, so we'll see what happens this time around.


In other WVU news...


Still no official word on Jeff Casteel. I'd imagine it will be resolved by the end of the week though as recruiting is about to kick back up a notch for the final push towards Signing Day. If you're interested the two "big" names that have been mentioned as possible replacements for Casteel (assuming he leaves) are Randy Shannon and Brian Stewart. Everyone knows who Randy Shannon is from his time with "the U" but if they could land him it would be a pretty big splash and certainly would help maintain Florida recruiting. I won't rule anything out, at this moment, but it does seem like a long-shot. Shannon has been rumored all week as the new Tennessee defensive coordinator. This is also a guy that sued WVU back in the day over getting hit in the head by a trash can at Mountaineer Field. Would he be willing to forgive and forget? It could actually end up being a good PR move for WVU as inevitably the media would pick up on the story. We'll see. If you're curious, Shannon mainly ran a 4-3 defense at Miami.


Brian Stewart on the other hand isn't as well-known to the casual observer, but has quite the track record/resume himself. Stewart just recently resigned his position as defensive coordinator at Houston after Kevin Sumlin left for Texas A&M. A lot of people believe he's going to end up as the new Mountaineers DC as obviously he has a connection to Holgorsen. Stewart has a lot of NFL ties, which is always a nice selling point for recruits, as he was the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator for two years (2007-08) along with assistant positions with the Eagles, Chargers and Texans. At Houston the past two seasons, Stewart employed a 3-4 defense.


Obviously either of those two would present somewhat of a personnel shift from the 3-3-5, but in reality WVU plays safeties as linebackers part of the time which would be similar to a 3-4 and they have used 4 defensive linemen at times as well, which obviously is what a 4-3 employs...so in reality, the only difference would be the base defense's name and what they are primarily set up in. Casteel has always said part of the reason for running the 3-3 stack is because of the lack/inability to recruit the quality to play anything else. I guess if Shannon or Stewart take over we'll find out.


In recruiting news...


5 recruits enrolled for the spring semester. Far less than originally hoped for, but still getting some in early does help. You can also take those 5 off of the list as fall enrollees meaning WVU can sign 5 more to replace those guys...as the 5 that enrolled will count back towards last year's class. Again, 25 is the "limit" but expect WVU to sign a few over that, if they can. One of the things that gets overlooked is the state of scholarships that Holgorsen walked into. Due to attrition, and Stewart's intentional small signing classes, the number of scholarship players is well below the maximum allowed. So that's why you'll see a push to bring in as many as possible.


A few names to watch: LB Ike Spearman, LB Schlyer Miles, S Clint Heaven, G Adam Pankey (former Pitt commit), T Mark Glowinski and LB Garrett Hope. Those are most of the ones expected to visit prior to Signing Day. Probably several others but that's enough for tonight.