As Luck would have it.....WVU in the Black

[Slaton10]

Well... since you asked...

IMO, we are seeing improved pass defense in the Big 12 this year as more teams are going to press coverage... using a lot of cover 2 zone and cover 2 man.

Casteel's defense relied on cover 3 zone. While this defense was good at protecting the deep ball... it left the defense vulnerable to short passes... think wide open TE's... or in today's Big 12 offenses... inside slot. And, with only 6 men committed to the LOS, it is easier to have success running the ball against it.

Casteel did have success against OU; however, it was a defense that was dominated by upperclassmen.

Communication in any defense is key to its success. Communication within Casteel's defense appears to rely even more on this factor. Last year, WVU had a true freshman playing free safety. We saw him get burned in the passing game more than a few times last year. I do not believe his performance would have been much better under Casteel. The free safety is kind of like the QB of the secondary.

From what I understand, DeForest tried to implement too many intricacies into the defense last year. He made it too difficult for the kids to grasp. That is why we saw such poor play out of them.

Patterson has gone back to the basics with the kids, and I think that is why they're performing better this year.

Actually Deforest tried to do alot of what Casteel's defense called for...the only difference is how the nickel back was used...and in Deforest's version it left too much responsiblity to LB's being able to cover the middle box....

 

[mad2mc]

MAd, you are correct in saying that WVU is not Ohio State, ND, Alabama, etc. No shit, there are very few truly ELITE programs, maybe about 8. WVU is now #14 in all time wins, and is #25 in winning percentage, so hardly second rate. In the move to the B12, I expected WVU to be a winning program, #3 in the league, possibly #4, behind OU, UT, and the hot hand of the year. Someone on here the other day said WVU had played a crap schedule until lately, then gave props to UM for playing a B11 schedule............ As to your piss pouring on Stewart, every word you say against him could also describe the current coaching staff, handed some great players and pissed it away. You ridicule Mullen, yet Holgorsen had a stockbroker coaching the DBs last year, the position that caused the most problem. I applaud Holgorsen for making the change at DB coach, but question him keeping Efore.
I think Stewart would have done about the same in the B12 as Holgorsen has done, because Casteel would have stayed on, and in my opinion, his defense would work well against most of the offenses in this league. I think that Fraud would have done much better than either, as his teams were some of the best conditioned kids out there, played a much more physical game, AND he would have still had Casteel coaching defense, and McGee on offense. THAT is the big difference between Fraud and Holgorsen, the offense we saw Pat White running was McGee's, NOT Frauds, we are now seeing Dawson trying to run Holgorsen's offense with Holgorsen holding veto power. I think the best thing for the offense right now would be for Holgorsen to either take back over as OC, or hire a different guy and turn the offense completely over to him.

And how has being #14 in all time wins help in giving them a name brand to pull recruits. You act as if WVU is a Tier 1 school. What is your definition of an Elite team because I think we are way different in definition, just like being a Tier 1 school and a Tier 2 team? Elite teams are those who can have a losing record and still pull in top recruits without having to try and having a storied history. I don't think we make that list by saying we are #14 in all time wins. Woo-hoo.

You keep saying that the Big XII is less of a conference than the old BE. So why wouldn't you expect WVU to be #1 or #2 in the Big XII instead of #3 or #4? Not sure what you are talking about with UM. Why is it when I say something that I believe about Stewart, which what I stated was not a shot at the man, but my opinion. You come on here a state your opinions all the time, but nobody states that you are pouring piss on anybody. But since you want to go that route, I feel that Stew could not coach, like you feel about Holgorsen. Since it was us (WVU) against the world during the Fiesta Bowl, his rah rah speech before the game hooked me and I was excited about the possibilities of Stewart keeping the WVU in the spotlight. I was wrong. There was no reason for this team to be in the Meinke Car Care Bowl in White's senior year. None. But I was happy we even made a bowl because I was spoiled by RR.

You want to pour piss on DeForrest? Did WVU defense suck last season? Yes. Do you think it was all due to DeForrest? You do. I don't. I think it was a combination of things and Patterson provided better instructions and teaching of the defensive positions. Why was Casteel's defense so hard for players to understand and run? I do not think that Casteel would have done a better job last year nor this year than what we already have on the field. He would have faced the same thing DeForrest and Patterson are facing now. A young team on defense last year and with the difficulty level of learning the 3-3-5, we could have been burned worse than last year. How is it working in the Pac-12, so you keep on believing what you believe.

I don't get your logic on making Holgorsen the OC if he already has veto powers for the offense, similar to your claim on McGee and RR. RR had the final say just like Holgorsen. Oh I get it. You want a coaching change or have things back to what they were when Stewart and Mullens were around. Call it pouring piss again, but like you, I'm expressing my feelings on what I saw during the Stewart & Mullens show. Don't forget, your man of character poured piss on a lot of people within the program. Your man could not make the changes when instructed by his boss. Weak.