I'm not buying the West Virginia Hype

some WVU tape to get a better sense of that team. Tavon Austin is really fast. Like, Percy Harvin fast.

Lots of folks (not the least of which Clemson) were stunned the Mountaineers hung 70 on the Tigers. But I think Clemson imploded helped WVU’s explosion. Nevertheless, it left an indelible mark as to the Mountaineers image in a bunch of folks minds.

When you look behind the curtain though, W. Virginia was not particular adept at rushing the ball in ’11, and defensively not especially good at stopping the run. And, their defense will not be appreciably better. In fact, maybe, as you say, weaker…particularly on the DL.

A lot of how you handle a Dana Holgerson-designed offense has to do with how familiar you are with it. Most of the B12 is very familiar with Holgerson’s diamond formation, bubble screens, and the like.

As for Texas, this time around, I like Diaz’s defensive schemes a lot better than Muschamp’s for stopping it. He will bring relentless pressure on Smith, and Austin and Bailey may not face coverage like they will from DBU. They’ll certainly not run free down the middle of the field like they did against Clemson.

Bottom line: I like the way the Longhorns strengths, both defensely and offensively match up against the Mountaineers stengths and weaknesses. And I like playing them at home.

I’ve been confused as to why so many people are picking them to beat us at home?

but I think their bowl win was significant. Lets go back to those thrilling days of yesteryear. Holgorson goes to WVU as OC. BOOM! Right before season he takes over as head coach. Thusly, WVU is trying to learn on the fly. After the regular season they had a few weeks to prepare for their bowl game and were able to fully implement everything and all get on the same page. They throw up 70 in the bowl game. QB is back and I think their Offense is legit. The points about the defense are correct and we should beat them. I think 5th in the B12 is a little low. Also, would not surprise me to see them beat the land thieves at home. I’m glad we catch them in Austin this year

Last year was a down year for us. Holgorsen had trouble getting his players to adjust to his new system from a pro-style offense. Once they adjusted, you see what they did to Clemson.

Also, our defense was a bend but not break style that forced no turnovers. This year we will be an attacking style that should force more turnovers. You saw what WVU did in the Orange Bowl with short fields after turnovers.

In addition, our special teams sucked, because Bill Stewart just wasn’t very good at his job, and left the special teams in shambles when he left. We got a new coach to handle that, so that should improve greatly as well.

Their offensive line was also inexperienced last year (and down their best player last year who had a knee injury). They’re all back, including the injured guy - Josh Jenkins - and the line should keep Geno upright and have plenty of time to pick apart Big 12 defenses, which he has the arm, accuracy and intelligence to do. Add in two 1000 yard receivers in Austin and Bailey, and it’ll be tough to stop the offense.

I’m in no way saying that WVU is going to roll through the conference, but a second place finish isn’t out of the question as a reasonable outcome, and with Oklahoma in our house (which is very tough to play in, LSU result notwithstanding), winning the conference is also within the realm of possibility.

I’m coming down to Austin for our game this year, and I encourage you all to come up to the mountains next fall. I promise you will enjoy your trip, win or lose.

Offensively, this team was NOTORIOUS for taking entire halfs off last year. My figuring on it is, after watching alot of games over the summer, was three things.

A) The O-line was a mess. 9 of 10 of the 2 deep from last fall return this year healthy, where-as it was a patchwork group last year with injuries and schematic challenges for “run first” guys to adjust to. As the season wore on, they got better.

B) Everyone else learning entirely new stuff. 3 FR running backs entered camp last fall, with just Shawn Alston really being the only experienced guy we had serviceable in the backfield. He was hurt in the spring, missed until late-Oct, with a pinched nerve. Try coaching all freshmen running backs with a bad offensive line and a QB and WR’s learning a new system, and you have the makings of a lot of headaches.

C) Several games WVU had a sizable lead (ie 31-7 Maryland at halftime, 2TDs at Cinci, ect) and if you know the team and watched the games, you saw them working on stuff that they hadn’t had in previous gameplans. Working in new players, new plays, variations, ect… Its easy to look at scores and records and “HAHA THE BIG LEAST” [/2005]… but watch all the plays of all the games over the course of a season, they were doing things in the Orange Bowl that was nothing new if you did your homework. Not a single play. That tip pass Tavon Austin scored 3 touchdowns on, was in the playbook from game one. The deep cross stuff they ran to all October long. The jerk route that scored right after halftime scored on LSU in the second quarter. It was nothing NEW, as much as it was spending a season finding what worked, what didn’t, and adjusting to it with a month of practice.

Oh, and if you think Geno Smith is overrated, you need some glasses. With 2 different O-coor’s, across two systems, he’s been remarkable. He’s thrown for 56/15 TDs/Ints in 2 years as a starter + a spot duty as a FR (31 games played in). You cant fake that production. And its even more astonishing, that take 2 games against Syracuse out of the equation and that erases 6 of those picks!

- Defense

Jeff Casteel, long-time defensive coordinator and holdover Holgorsen was stuck with because of the late head coaching change, was the most “bend but dont break” coordinator ever. The goofy 3-3-5 would always give up a 3rd and 7 versus giving up a touchdown overhead (ignore the Syracuse game, I cant make any excuses for that). I’ve never seen, in his 10 years there, a defense play aggressively and attempt to rush a passer or jam WRs, except maybe a bowl game or two.

Joe DeForest coming in, switching schemes to something easier to learn and play, and some key parts on the back-end actually coming back, its not as bad as it seems. Bruce Irvin, 15ht pick in the NFL draft, wasn’t even playing every down for this team by late in the year, so don’t let the losses on that side of the ball fool you. Najee Goode is being replaced in the MLB position, and Kieth Tandy, one of our more reliable CBs, but there were young guys opposite him that looked to have potential last year.

Say what you what about stats, where did OSU’s defense end up last year and by how much did they beat Texas? And OU? Not saying defense doesn’t matter, just saying that stats are misleading in college football when comparing defenses that don’t play common opponents.

1. Our defense is TOTALLY a question mark. In a league known for its offensive football, our defense better be able to handle the attacks of Oklahoma, KSU, Texas, TCU, etc.
2. The Orange Bowl was ONE game. Granted we smoked them, but that game totally turned when our defensive player forced a fumble at the goal line and returned it 99. Besides, it’s Clemson. The ACC in general is pathetic.
3. I still want to see how Geno reacts in big game situations and he’s going to have many more this season than last year. Our schedule for years was a nightmare for our fans. I sometimes wonder if the players didn’t “get up” as well. Every team wanted to beat WVU in the Big East, period.
4. “Tavon Austin should be a Heisman candidate. He is a splitting image of Percy Harvin to me” —Kirk Herbstreit
5. See #1
6. See #1 and #5
7. See #1, #5 and #6
8. See #1, #5, #6 and #7
9. See #1, #5, #6, #7, and #8
10. See #1, #5, #6, #7, #8 and #9

Where should I stay? SoCo, Downtown? We will be on foot.

I’m a die-hard Mountaineer, but I’m not going to predict a Big 12 title in our first year. We have a history of falling over our own feet when we shouldn’t. However, we have great leadership right now and the potential is incredible. It isn’t exactly a ‘pipe dream’ to think that WVU may win it all. If I was putting money on it I’d bet that WVU will loose a game that they shouldn’t and we finish 2nd or 3rd in the Big 12. Which I will take all day long. Our offense is solid. I think our defense will struggle at first but will come together because we are running a defense that all of these kids saw in high school and should know already. Plus our defensive staff is very well acclimated to the Big 12.

No matter the outcome I’m stoked to be in the Big 12 where we don’t have to make the strength of schedule argument because we play in one of the toughest conferences in the nation!

As a WVU fan, it’s odd that they’re getting so much media love. It typically seems to be quite the opposite. In the past, the underdog mentality - often fueled by the perception of not being appreciated by the media and nation at large - has defined not only the program, but the entire state of West Virginia.

Last year was an odd season. I think many people forget that Holgerson wasn’t named head coach until June, and that the coaching situation was a circus. The team had no time to prepare. Perhaps that alone can be attributed to some of the uneven play. Conversely, once they had a season of experience, and a month of practice before the Orange Bowl, they looked a lot better.

That said, it’s great having lively debate with a great fan base. I look forward to Austin!

I am a WVU alum, and I sort of agree with the post, but he left a bunch of things out.

To call WVU “just plain average” last year is pretty unreasonable. They DID win a BCS conference (go ahead and smirk, fans of unranked Texas), and won their BCS bowl game. On the other hand, the 70 point outburst is making folks a bit crazy, and that should be dialed back.

Yes, they were certainly inconsistent, a lot of that can be attributed to changing head coaches AFTER spring practice. The defense this year is going to suffer some of that too, but probably not to the same extent. Still, WVU’s defense is probably going to get shredded quite a bit, and I expect them to lose some games because of it.

However, WVU is going into year 2 under Holgorsen, and that in and of itself is going to eliminate some of the inconsistency on offense. The reason the offense went from good to scary between the end of the regular season and the Orange Bowl was a month of extra practices. Practice and repetition is the entire key to the Air Raid. Now they are going to have that, plus spring ball, plus fall camp. To think this offense isnt going to light it up is, i dunno, hubris. Texas’ defense isnt LSU’s defense, sorry, its not. Not even close.

So looking at the schedule, i see a few games that WVU should crush, and obviously a few games that can go either way. I see zero games that WVU will be heavy underdogs in and the ONE game that really worries me is in Morgantown, and it’ll probably be at night.

I watched much of the LSU and Clemson games.

Here’s why WVU doesn’t scare me:

The basis of their excellence is that teams cannot handle the stresses that the offense can place, primarily through Bailey, Austin, and Geno’s excellent command of the AirRaid concepts.
Additionally, Holgorsen is a master of turning little cracks and mismatches into avalanches.

BUT, the mismatches that WVU can exploit with those players and concepts don’t really exist against Texas. We can play man-coverage and put a future NFL player on a slot receiver while leaving our starting corners on the outside. We can play nickel and dime sets that flood the perimeter with athletes, pass-rushers, and coverage guys.

Ultimately, against a team with the athleticism of Texas (or OU or OSU) in the back 7, you have to be able to punish them for playing exotic dime defenses by pounding the ball up the middle with Inside Zone, traps, or draws.

I don’t think this WVU OL can do enough damage with run concepts against a dime Texas front to prevent us from playing our safeties out in the flats and leaving 5 in the box.

Against the rest of the league, that won’t matter as much because they’ll still be overwhelmed by Geno, Austin, etc. I think WVU, right now, is at about the level of 2003-2007 Texas Tech.

2008 Tech was able to run the ball well enough to force Texas from a Dime front into a nickel 4-2. Also, they had a good defense.
WVU is maybe another 1-3 years away from that. We’ll see how Deforest does.

As a kid- even going back to the Major Harris for heisman campaign when I was probably like 6 or 7 years old.

It’s going to be fun to have them in the conference- I love trading Mizzou for them (TCU is our Aggie trade and we did well with that too- imo).

Looking forward to them coming to Austin and joining the big 12. I agree with the author that some folks need to tap the breaks. This isn’t something we haven’t seen before in this conference, they (WVU) seem to lose 3 or 4 every year, and that’s with playing a big east schedule, and they are undoubtedly stepping up in weight.

I see them settling in as a notch below Texas and OU, but on par with OSU’s last 5 years and Tech’s middle of the last decade years- solid bowl team, need things to break just right to win the conference.

Either way, I predict games with them will be fun. Glad we get them in the ATX this year.

I believe that we could go undefeated, but I also believe that we could go 5-7. And the more hype and good press we get, the more I expect the latter. I’d much rather be predicted to be just ok.

Deforest was a position coach at Okie State