WVU Needs Late TD

Hey All,

This past Saturday the WVU Mountaineers took on William & Merry and needed a late TD from a true freshman in order to get the win. It wasn't a bad game, but it wasn't a very good game for the Mountaineers either.

The game got started with WVU looking at 2 QB's to take over after the Geno Smith era has come and gone. In my mind it's clear who the true starter should be, but it's not my decision. Paul Millard looked solid in his first start with the Mountaineers as he threw a 69 yard TD pass to Ronald Carswell late in the third quarter to tie the game up aftet being down 10 to start the second half.

There were a lot of new comers for West Virginia in this game and they all did an outstanding job. Huston transfer Charles Sims ran for 120 yards and had a score to his stat sheet as well. Along with Millard it looks like WVU has some talent again this year, but needs to grow a bit as they are all young players.

One person who I was surprised didn't do better, was Florida State transfer Clint Trickett. WVU split the time at QB in order to see who they liked better to run the offense. Millard came in and completed his first 8 passes, and went a total of 19-25 with 237 yards with no interceptions. Trickett on the other hand, was really ineffective in this game.

WVU won the game 24-17, but the game shouldn't have been that close. If you ask me I wouldn't have taken out Millard until he made a mistake. He was playing way to well to take him out. I think if you leave Paul Millard in the game you win more convincingly. Instead, you switch QB's and the game becomes too close for comfort. I hope they don't make the same mistake nexy week against Oklahoma, because they won't have any room for error in this game.
Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

WVU Rolls Past James Madison

Hey All,

As fun as they are to watch, Geno Smith and his West Virginia receivers don't play Sam Huff football.

Too much finesse. Too many yards. Too many points.

It was only appropriate, therefore, that on the day the Mountaineers honored their legendary linebacker, the less-heralded defense had a couple of moments that no doubt did him proud.

Give Smith his well-deserved accolades for his five touchdown passes Saturday in the No. 9 Mountaineers' 42-12 win over James Madison, but don't fault the defense if it boasts a bit about a couple of goal line stands that might have looked right at home in the Huff days of the 1960s.

"I bet you he was pretty excited, wasn't he?" West Virginia defensive coordinator Joe DeForest said. "I hope so. I'd like to talk to him about it. ... What they did there, they showed like they're growing up."

With the Mountaineers playing at the Washington Redskins stadium -- they need to maintain an East Coast profile for recruiting now that they've moved to the Big 12 -- former Redskins Hall of Fame linebacker Huff served as the honorary captain and soaked up the cheers as he held up his long-retired No. 75 jersey during the quarter break in the first half.

By then, Smith had already staked West Virginia (2-0) to a 21-0 lead. He went to complete 34 of 39 passes for 411 yards, moving past Marc Bulger (8,153) to set the school record for career yards passing (8,191).

Smith's favorite targets, Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin, both had 100 yards receiving by halftime. Bailey finished with 173 yards on 13 catches and three touchdowns, while Austin had 113 yards on 11 receptions and one score for the Mountaineers, who piled up 569 yards and improved to 13-0 all-time against FCS schools.

What could Smith have done better? Not much.

"I had five incompletions," the quarterback said. "I could've completed all five of those."

He added that he could have made better decisions when the offense hit a lull in the third quarter, but that's when the defense came through, stopping James Madison on four running plays after the Dukes had first-and-goal at the 3, then coming up with a third-down interception in the end zone after a first-and-goal at the 9.

"The two goal line stands were very impressive," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "As a team we overcame adversity there in the third quarter. We've got to get used to that."

They won't have much if Smith keeps playing like this, working the no-huddle attack with creative tosses, slip screens and scrambles. It was a thing of beauty when he ignored the rusher in his face and draped a pass onto Austin's shoulder for a 24-yard gain in the second quarter.

Much of the time, however, the quarterback found receivers so open that his passes became easy target practice, including his 4-yard touchdown throw to Dante Campbell for the redshirt freshman's first collegiate catch.

Stedman's touchdown catches came in various shapes and sizes -- a 9-yarder on a screen, a 3-yarder on a fade in which no one covered him, and a 30-yarder that Smith lobbed perfectly into a seam between two defensive backs down the sideline.

The Mountaineers have scored 181 points in their past three games -- including 70 in last season's Orange Bowl and 69 in their opener against Marshall.

The Dukes (2-1), remembered for stunning then-No. 13 Virginia Tech two years ago, tried just about everything, but they were never in this one.

"They've shown potential to upset people," Holgorsen said. "I give our guys credit for not falling into that trap."

James Madison got called for 12 men on the field twice on defense in the first quarter, and then successfully converted a fourth-and-1 at their own 34 on the first play of the second quarter -- a ploy that managed to keep the Mountaineers' offense off the field for a least a couple of extra minutes.

"We didn't come out of the chute at all," James Madison coach Mickey Matthews said. "I can't show you why. We didn't show a lot of poise."

The Dukes were also missing leading rusher Dae'Quan Scott, who injured an ankle last week. Then they lost Daniel Brown to a torn ACL in his right knee on the first offensive play, defensive tackle Jordan Stanton to a concussion, and safety Titus Till to an ankle injury.

James Madison's fans roared when their team finally forced West Virginia to punt late in the first half, and again when the Mountaineers' Shawne Alston was tackled for a safety in the third quarter -- although the two points were a bittersweet consolation prize that came after the offense had been halted by the Huff-like stop at the 1.

"The goal line stands by them in the third quarter," Matthews said, "certainly kept it out of reach."

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Plaque For Stewart

Hey All,

Friday afternoon the West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics dedicated a plaque at Milan Puskar Stadium to honor the memory of late Mountaineer football coach Bill Stewart.

The attractive gold and blue plaque reads: “Bill Stewart. A True Mountaineer. Leave No Doubt.”

“We have come together to unveil a plaque designed to commemorate a great man – a great father, a great husband and a man who was extraordinarily proud of his hometown of New Martinsville in the Ohio River Valley,” said WVU Director of Athletics Oliver Luck. “I imagine in my mind grandpas telling their grandkids in front of this plaque about the great Oklahoma victory out in the Fiesta Bowl and what that meant, not just to the football team, but to the University and the entire state as a whole.”

The plaque is located on the stadium concourse underneath the press box.

Athletic department staff personnel, coaches, former players and friends of Coach Stew took part in the brief private ceremony. University First Lady Beth Clements joined Director Luck in making remarks.

“We think it is appropriate to put this plaque next to the only other plaque in the stadium commemorating the opening day of Mountaineer Field,” said Luck. “We hope this stadium will stand for many, many decades to come, and both of these plaques will be here until the very last day.

“I envision many folks will come throughout the course of the season to pay their respects to Coach Stew,” Luck added. “Thousands of our fans knew him personally and because of the placement here in the public area of the concourse, I think folks for generations can appreciate the type of man that Coach Stewart was.”

Stewart, who died on May 21 of an apparent heart attack while playing golf at Stonewall Jackson Resort, was the head coach of the Mountaineers for three seasons from 2008-10.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

Two Close Games

Hey All,

So much to talk about and so little time. Yesterday there were two outstanding games in the world of the NHL and the NCAA college football world. Let's start out with the game that came on first, the Pittsburgh Penguins vs the Washington Capitals. This game is always exciting to watch as I'm sure it is to play. The Pens were still down a few players with injury. Letang and Michalek didn't even make the trip due to injury. Everyone thought that this game was not going to go good for the Pens being down their top two Defensmen. But the rest of the Defense stepped up their game to fill in for the missing players. Not only did the Defense step up their game, but the Offense played out of their minds. The Caps didn't even have a shot on goal until 9 minutes into the game, whereas the Pens had 8 and they even put one past the goalkeep of the Capitals. That is how the score would look until the second period where the Caps would get one past Marc Andre Fleury to tie the game at 1-1. Like I said the entire team would pick up their play to fill in for Letang's and Michalek's absence from the game. Simon Despres, a rookie in the NHL, would pick up his first ever point in the NHL. He would pick up this point on the an assist on the goal from Chris Kunitz to make the game 2-1 in favor of your Pittsburgh Penguins just 2:36 into the 3rd period. This would be the final score in last night game, but not without an amazing rush from the Caps who aren't trying to lose the second game in a row under a new head coach. This would be the case for the Caps though who have always seemed to have the Pens number in the regular season. Not last night, the Pens Defense made it happen and Fleury was outstanding between the pipes. This was what the Pens needed after a tough lose to the Rangers two nights before. I can't wait to see what happens when Letang and Michalek come back, and if the Pens can keep that level of play up.

Let's get to the second game shall we. The West Virginia Mountaineers faced the University of South Florida Bulls in a very critical game for both teams. For the Mountaineers a win against USF and a win by Cincinnati on Saturday could very well mean that WVU will win the Big East and and a chance at a BCS Bowl game. The stars will need to aline in order for this to happen. This game last night though would not be easy for WVU as a win by USF would send them to their 7th straight Bowl appearance. It was a Defensive game from the very beginning. There was no scoring in the 1st quarter of the game, but in the 2nd quarter is when the Offense for both teams took off. The Mounties got on the board first with a touchdown coming from the Defense on a pick 6. Then it was USF's turn on Offense to try and get something going, but the Mountaineers D said not today and forced them to punt. This is when the Special Teams for WVU picked up the game and blocked the punt and got the ball on the 10 yard line. The D of the Bulls said now it's our turn to say no, and forced a field goal from the Mounties. They would later get one more to go up 13-0 and then they would give up a TD on a spectacular catch in the end zone. At the half the Mountaineers were up 13-7 at the half. After the half USF would drive again and pick up yet another field goal, but trouble would come back around for the Bulls on the next kickoff. Austin would take the next kickoff back for a touchdown and keep the D on the field. At the end of the 3rd it was 20-13 in favor of the Neers. The game would get crazy as the Bulls would come back and take the lead 27-20 with not a lot of time left on the clock. The Mounties would come back and tie it though with under 3:00 minutes to go. The Mountaineers would stop USF for the last time with 1:13 left to go on the clock, and get the ball back and drive down the field with no timeouts left. With just seconds left on a 4th and 10 WVU's Geno Smith would connect with Bailey well inside the range of the kicker. They would set up and spike the ball with 3 seconds left. They get everything set up and the kick put it through the uprights with no time left on the clock. You couldn't have asked for a better finish and a better way to end the regular season for the Mounties. Now they just need to hope that the Barecats of Cincinnati to pick up the victory against UConn Saturday and put WVU into a BCS Bowl Game.

Until next time readers,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

So Much to Talk About

Hey All,

I'm not even sure I know where to start and this Holiday weekend of sports. So I guess I'll just start with something I'm sure 90% of Americans watched yesterday, on Thanksgiving, football.The NFL featured 3 games yesterday, the Lions vs the Packers, the Cowboys vs the Dolphins, and the highlight of the night the Ravens vs the 49ers. Let's start with the first game of the day, Lions vs Packers. This game started out and should have shocked everybody. The Lions Defense shut down the Packers Offense for almost the entire first half. Hell at the end of the first half it was 7-0 Packers, which is the lowest points they have scored in a half of football this entire season. Everything was going the Lions way in the first half until Stafford throw his first INT of the day. This put the Pack on the 20 of Detroit going in to score. Not a problem for the raining Super Bowl Champs. I was surprised to see that when coming into the second half; A the score and B how flat the Lions looked after such an amazing first half. It was no time until the Pack had a lead of  14-0, then 21-0, then 24-0 they just couldn't stop the Packers Offense. The biggest help was Defensive tackle Nadamukong Suh did by far the stupidest thing I have ever seen done on a football field in my life. He didn't like being blocked, so instead of just taking it like a man, he decides to get up and stomp on the offensive lineman's arm. The sad part is he had the nerve to argue this call. He even went to a press conference after the game and still claimed that he "wasn't intentionally stomping on the players arm, I was just trying to get up and get my balance." Suh said. Which is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard in my entire life. He needs to just watch the replay and he will clearly see that there's nothing he can argue that will change anyone's mind. He's still going to get a fine and probably suspended for a few games. Needless to say with the Lions best Defensive player out they lost the game 27-15, but the score doesn't do the Packers justice they man handled the Lions the entire game.
Game #2 Cowboys vs Dolphins: probably one of the better games that happened this Turkey day. This game went down to the wire, and though nothing exciting like a player getting ejected, the final in this game was 20-19 in favor of the Cowboy's. Now I'm not the biggest Cowboy fan in the world, but they got lucky against the Fins in this game, it was theirs to lose. With a score of 10-6 at halftime in favor of the Cowboy's most would say that it was theirs to lose, but the Dolphin's came out and put 10 on the board in the 3rd quarter alone to make the score 16-10 in favor of the Dolphin's. The 4th quarter is where this game gets interesting, with players making spectacular catches for Dallas and the D for Miami not really showing up. Miami had a lead of 19-17 going into the last minute of the game when Dallas decided they weren't going to lose to Miami, arguably one of the worst teams in the league. The Cowboys drove all the way down the field to score a game winning field goal with no time left on the clock and spoil Miami's Thanksgiving day upset.
Game #3 Ravens vs 49ners. This game was so boring that I actually fell asleep to it before it was even midway through the 3rd quarter and didn't wake up until they were past the post game show, and onto Sports Center. All I know is that everyone made such a big deal about the two coaches being brothers that no one stopped to realize that hey, maybe these teams are very evenly matched defensively. Through the first 3 quarters there were 4 field goals kicked and made by both teams combined. Making it an outstanding 6-6 game going into the 4th quarter. A score that resembles a baseball game. It wasn't until the 4th when Baltimore decided that they were tired of playing with this team and were going to take it down and score the only touchdown of the game, and end up beating the 9ers 16-6. You really can't take this one away from both defense's who played an amazing game. All in all I guess it is true what they say, Defense wins Championships, and that's all there is too it.

Next on my list of things to talk about is the Backyard Brawl, Pitt vs WVU.This game couldn't have been more frustrating for both teams fans. Between WVU turning the ball over 4 times and putting Pitt in scoring position 4 times. It also didn't help that the special teams for WVU was the worst showing I have ever see. The Defense for WVU did decide that they wanted to play some ball tonight and hold Pitt to field goals on all but one of those turn overs. Pitt hand an outstanding lead of 20-7 until WVU decided that they were not going to lose probably the last meeting between the two teams with the conference mix up that is going on right now. WVU drove down the field not once, but twice to seal their victory 21-20 over Pitt, which had to leave a very, very bad taste in Pitt's mouth after receiving the ball in WVU territory 4 separate times, and only being able to show field goals for it. Now within this game there was something that should have drove ever fan of the sport crazy. That would be the play of the punter for WVU, who couldn't kick a ball in this game to save his life. He couldn't have been averaging over 25 yards a punt. To the point where the coaching staff had seen enough in the first half, and benched the kick because he was doing so badly. This is funny to me because this kick has been doing this for the past 10 weeks and now they wise up and decide to pull him. He would have been cut from my team weeks ago if I was a D1 coach. You have one job, and that is to kick a ball, nothing else. That's all he does at practice and all he does in a game, KICK A BALL! If you are going to school for free at a D1 school like WVU and you can't do that, sorry about you luck kick but your cut if you play for me. Now as much as it pains me to say this being a WVU fan, they got lucky in this game and should have ended up with a loss. WVU played like straight shit the entire game. Geno Smith, I have a bit of help for you.

"STOP BEING SUCH A PUSS AND PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN AND GET THE EXTRA YARDAGE YOU NEED TO GET THE FIRST DOWN!"

Smith is no runner, he has proven that by his running out of bounds 2 to 3 yards short of a first down. He has a nice arm, but makes very poor decisions when the games on the line. That is just facts, just watch the game films and you will agree with me. But all in all WVU did pull through and pick up the win tonight and kept their hopes at the Big East title alive, along with a BCS bowl game. Something they will needed badly if they plan on moving to the Big 12 next year. I hope everything works out for them and they make a strong run at the Big East title just to prove to people that they can pull through when they need it most.

Until next time readers
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date withe everything sports.

WVU Looks Bad

Hey All,

Now I'm a huge WVU fan, but last nights game against Syracuse they didn't come to play. If you can give up 46 points and expect to win the game, you are sadly mistaken. The offense wasn't putting up points and the defense wasn't stopping anyone from putting up points for the other team. That seems to be the problem with WVU football, they play down to the team that they are playing. If they are playing a great team, then they play great. If they are playing a terrible team, then they play terrible. It's sad to admit that, but the truth hurts sometimes. If they can figure out how to play the type of football that everyone knows they are capable of playing, then they would be unstoppable. Under new coaching staff, I thought this was going to be the year that they make a undefeated run for a BCS game. That doesn't look like it's going to happen this year, but the team has a lot of young talent and can be good for a long time. The only problem is now everyone's trying to get out of the Big East Conference, which is making it become very weak. WVU, in order to be a contender for a title, needs to switch conferences and they need to do it fast. The Big East isn't going to be around much longer, and is now not considered a power house like it looked like it was becoming. Since WVU was turned down by the ACC it's now time to look for other conferences to be a part of. The SEC is a good one, but they wouldn't fair well in that conference. The Big 12 might be the best place for the Mountaineers to call home for next season. The teams are tough, in the Big 12, but beatable for the Mountaineers. It's a big named conference witch will help the Mountaineers in many different ways; it will bring in more recruits, give WVU the schedule they need to make a run for the BCS title, and it will let everyone know what they are made of. This team can be one of the teams to beat, they just need to do the right things in order for that to happen. Moving conferences is just the first step in a list of things that need to happen. Once they put the proper pieces to the puzzle together, they will become a great team for years to come.

WVU Rolls over Bowling Green

Hey All,

WVU vs. Bowing Green today was completely one-sided for all of the first half. WVU forced 4 turnovers, 3 interceptions 1 fumble, and scored 17 points off of those turnovers. At first it looked like Bowling Green was going to make a game out of this until, I think, they angered the Mountaineers and they just went off on them. When the game first kicked off and the Mountaineers could only get a field goal out of it made me, and I'm sure the rest of the Mountaineer faithful a bit worried. Then on the next kickoff Bowling Green took it back to WVU's 18 yard line, where it only took them one play to score a touchdown. After that forced a punt from WVU and drove down to get a field goal to make the score 10-3 in favor of Bowling Green. Since then WVU's defense wasn't going to allow that to happen again, stopping Bowling Green's offense with the 4 interceptions. WVU scored the next 17 unanswered points off of 3 of those turnover's, the 4th coming at the end of the 2nd quarter. WVU went into the half with the lead 38-10, with the offense and defense playing the way they are this spelled great things to come for the second half. However, it looked like the 2nd half would start the same way that the first half did, with a fumble, but after the officials review the knee was down and WVU kept the ball. I think that they saw something on the scouting report with Bowling Green's defense, with the running game, because the Mountaineers came out running and really never stopped the entire game. This was the most touches that the running backs for WVU have gotten so far this season, and it went well for them, running all over the Hawks defense. On the first drive of the game WVU drove down the field to score, on the ground for Garrison's 2nd rushing TD of the game. He also has rushed for 250 yards this game, and is a freshman, which if I'm not mistaken is a record for a freshman running back. Geno Smith in the first half was 14-25 with 212 yards passing and 3 TD's, so I think it's safe to say that the offense is clicking for the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers had 640+ yards of offense in this game alone, to win big in this game 55-10. The next coming games on WVU's schedule should be easy wins up until they get to the biggest game of the year, PITT. This game always brings excitement and you never know how it will turn out. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes for the Mountaineers.