'BAMA Reloads for 2014

[DBAR4WVU]

Analyzing the 2014 Rivals top 10 team rankings:
Alabama reloads for another run

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...0-team-rankings-alabama-222213977--ncaaf.html

Key statement for me: "It's the sixth time in seven years that Alabama has been atop Rivals' rankings" for best recruiting class.

That speaks to the level of quality that 'Bama players have at each level of tenure - Fresh, Soph, Junior and Senior. WVU simply does not have the depth to keep up with them. At least not over the Dana years, so far at least.

'Bama's 2 and 3 depth players probably rank higher than most of the WVU starters. That's just the fact of the differences between the 2 programs. The 'Bama Defense is going to have a field day with the WVU QB/backfield if our O-Line plays like it did the 2nd half of last season. And the WVU Defense.... I have no idea what to expect there. At least neither will 'Bama.

I admire the fans who think WVU has a chance or even will win.... remarkable confidence (or delusion). But I see this as an ill timed meeting with one of the premier programs in CFB. Much like when we faced Nebraska in the KO Classic after our 11-0 season (with a senior dominated team of over-achievers that watched the game from the bleachers), this team will be over matched against 'Bama and is in for a long, painful day. Think Todd can return for some of that amazing punting?? We may need it.....

 

[GoldRusher]

Meh, Texas usually ranks pretty high too, we do ok against them..

 

[DBAR4WVU]

No surprise - 7 of the top 10 recruiting classes are SEC. That is where the best players want to play.

 

[DCWV4life]

WVU simply does not have the depth to keep up with them. At least not over the Dana years, so far at least.

QUOTE]

Over Danas time???when the heck as WVU ever had the depth of Bama?


They are breaking in a new QB and lost a lot of leadership from last years team, you never know how a team will gel....

Why be a fan of a team if you never think they are never going to beat the big boys, isn't one part of being a fan is thinking your team can beat anyone anywhere? I picked them to lose this game, but that does not mean I do not think they have a chance....

 

[WVUDAD]

WVU simply does not have the depth to keep up with them. At least not over the Dana years, so far at least.

QUOTE]

Over Danas time???when the heck as WVU ever had the depth of Bama?


They are breaking in a new QB and lost a lot of leadership from last years team, you never know how a team will gel....

Why be a fan of a team if you never think they are never going to beat the big boys, isn't one part of being a fan is thinking your team can beat anyone anywhere? I picked them to lose this game, but that does not mean I do not think they have a chance....

The difference is that since the win at Oklahoma in 1982, I have felt a level of confidence in the WVU teams heart and the conditioning. Yes WVU has been overmatched and took some ass beatings, but they played their hearts out. I do not see the devotion to the team or the physical condition now that we used to see. I hope this game turns out like the games where we were supposed to lose big but came to win. I will be cheering hard for our team, but have little hope for a victory, as a rule, Saban usually has his kids ready to play, and being a WVa guy, he will want to show the folks at home what he can do.

 

[Slaton10]

Analyzing the 2014 Rivals top 10 team rankings:
Alabama reloads for another run

Yahoo

Key statement for me: "It's the sixth time in seven years that Alabama has been atop Rivals' rankings" for best recruiting class.

That speaks to the level of quality that 'Bama players have at each level of tenure - Fresh, Soph, Junior and Senior. WVU simply does not have the depth to keep up with them. At least not over the Dana years, so far at least.

'Bama's 2 and 3 depth players probably rank higher than most of the WVU starters. That's just the fact of the differences between the 2 programs. The 'Bama Defense is going to have a field day with the WVU QB/backfield if our O-Line plays like it did the 2nd half of last season. And the WVU Defense.... I have no idea what to expect there. At least neither will 'Bama.

I admire the fans who think WVU has a chance or even will win.... remarkable confidence (or delusion). But I see this as an ill timed meeting with one of the premier programs in CFB. Much like when we faced Nebraska in the KO Classic after our 11-0 season (with a senior dominated team of over-achievers that watched the game from the bleachers), this team will be over matched against 'Bama and is in for a long, painful day. Think Todd can return for some of that amazing punting?? We may need it.....

Hmm...wonder why that is?

 

[WVUDAD]

Hmm...wonder why that is?

What are you guys going to blame the losses on next year? The year after that? 15 years from now?

 

[GoldRusher]

What are you guys going to blame the losses on next year? The year after that? 15 years from now?

This year it's new redshirt guys getting their first chance in the field and possibly a true Frosh QB. Next year it will be the loss of White,Alford, and Smith.

It was in the manifesto sent out by Lucks office, didn't you get yours?

 

[DCWV4life]

Who is this thread has said anything about any L's or what to blame it on?

 

[WVUDAD]

You a lawyer DC?

 

[Slaton10]

What are you guys going to blame the losses on next year? The year after that? 15 years from now?

DAD I know you are in denial...but it is a FACT that Stewart could not fill his recruiting classes...its a FACT that the program was in probation and was short 5 scholarships per year for the last 3 years...how EXACTLY is Holgorsen responsible for that?

 

[DCWV4life]

DAD I know you are in denial...but it is a FACT that Stewart could not fill his recruiting classes...its a FACT that the program was in probation and was short 5 scholarships per year for the last 3 years...how EXACTLY is Holgorsen responsible for that?

I will be happy when we do not have to talk about Stew anymore....he really did nothing for the program right...i mean if we are going to judge him fairly like DH he won with RR's recruits and only left a handful off players for the next guy....

 

[Anotherwvufan]

WVU can put up a team that competes with Alabama. We have seen this many times before. WVU has historically developed lower ranked players into top notch guys. Unlike the Alabamas/USCs.Oklahomas of the world we don't get the NFL ready guys out of high school. Some of our guys develop and grow while here and end up being very good while many of the guys taken by the SEC have already matured and developed near their potential. They get the Manchild and we get the children who can turn out to be men. sometimes it is just a matter of a couple of years. Kahil Mack from Buffalo will be the first LB taken in the draft. Darrien Howard was a great LB in high school and now has grown enough to be a nose tackle. While we still have a young defense, they have experience and there is potential. If we live up to it, we may be able to stop or at least slow down a first time starting QB.

Alabama is in the middle of a Dynasty and has the best roster top to bottom in college football. However, in the first game, depth is not as big an issue as later in the season. They will get to see our best before they get beat up or injured. When we lose a guy, the backup is usually not nearly as good. For Alabama, one 5 star guy goes down, there are two waiting behind them.

Last year, we played toe to toe with Oklahoma who was able to beat Alabama in the bowl. A win is a longshot for us, but we can play on the same field and with strong line play and decent QB play, we can be in this game. It is no automatic win for Alabama.

I'll gladly take WVU and the points

 

[Anotherwvufan]

I will be happy when we do not have to talk about Stew anymore....he really did nothing for the program right...i mean if we are going to judge him fairly like DH he won with RR's recruits and only left a handful off players for the next guy....

Cignetti/Nehlen/RR/Stew/DH should have never been here in the first place. If we are looking to place blame for our program, look back to the Bobby Bowden debacle. After we ditched him, he took a lousy Florida State team and turned them into a perennial powerhouse with multiple national championships. That could have been WVU with the big trophy case. That is what we want. Who was the AD back then? That is who I blame. Granted everyone that Stew was not the guy to get us where we wanted to be. 9-4 seasons don't get us the trophy we want. Why blame Luck for taking an up and coming guy who has a higher ceiling?

 

[DCWV4life]

Cignetti/Nehlen/RR/Stew/DH should have never been here in the first place. If we are looking to place blame for our program, look back to the Bobby Bowden debacle. After we ditched him, he took a lousy Florida State team and turned them into a perennial powerhouse with multiple national championships. That could have been WVU with the big trophy case. That is what we want. Who was the AD back then? That is who I blame. Granted everyone that Stew was not the guy to get us where we wanted to be. 9-4 seasons don't get us the trophy we want. Why blame Luck for taking an up and coming guy who has a higher ceiling?

i think most of us are past the blame game....but you cannot ignore some of the reasons we have struggled and like I said on another thread the Stew recruiting thing is just part of the reason, no way the man deserves all the blame and like him DH does not deserve all the blame as well. It was a combo of things and maybe the biggest reason is we are playing way better competition...even though some want to ignore that. Depth, 1st time HC, Better league...all of the things played into why we struggled last year...still the guy has been here 3 years and we had winning records 2 out of the three and a BCS win, yet some people want to just get rid of him.

I think the team will be improved across the board this year, just the fact that most of them have been together for two years is going to help...think about it we started 8 new guys on offense last year that had never played a down together...makes sense after we saw the product on the field.

 

[DBAR4WVU]

It seems to be requirement to some on this thread that if you want to call yourself a fan, then you have to pretend your team can beat anybody. I have been a WV fan for over 50 years and I am there every year, for every game I can be... and I always HOPE they can win. But I have a brain and I understand the game and I have a habit of letting reality into the equation. So excuse me if I don't belive WV will beat 'Bama. I will tune in, I will hope & pray we find a way to win.... but I am firmly planted in the real world.

I am afraid I have to agree with DAD on this one..... WVU has always had to rely on the guys no one else wanted. This goes for both Basketball and Football. From time to time, we would actually get the guy one of the other big schools were after, but for the most part, our guys were under the radar. But our coaches found a way to build a team out of these guys. They got the most out of them. Nehlen was particularly good at this.

These teams played with heart. They fought valiantly and made you proud to be a Mountaineer and proud to have these guys on the field. Even when they lost - you knew they were fighters and were giving it their all and were bleeding for our team, for our school - for us.

No team epitomized this ethic more than the 1993 football squad. This was a team of over-achievers who fought for every yard gained and punched teams in the mouth on defense and made them earn every inch. Man by man - on paper this should have been another 9-4 squad that wen to a minor bowl. But they believed and they fought and they went 11-0 and fell to Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

This was a common feeling I had about our teams from the early 80's until recently. Even when they lost - I was proud of their effort. I just do not get that feeling from our teams, on the court or on the field, over the last 2 seasons. They seem to be going through the motions with nothing invested. They do not seem to care if they win or lose (in general, not specific players). I do not get the same sense of team pride that I was always so evident.

I can only hope that it is a temporary thing and that it rights itself soon. The basketball team was better this season than last and I can hope the fooball team improves this year as well. They better, or it is likely the last for Coach H. I love my team and want them to succeed. But more than that - I want the players to represent - for the school, for the fans, for the state, for themselves. We deserve as much. But win or lose, that is my team.

 

[DCWV4life]

It is amazing how DH's 7-6 and 4-8 teams have no heart, but all those great 7 wins and below Donnie teams (12 out of 20 years) were just bursting with WVU pride....sounds grounded in reality.

 

[WVUDAD]

It is amazing how DH's 7-6 and 4-8 teams have no heart, but all those great 7 wins and below Donnie teams (12 out of 20 years) were just bursting with WVU pride....sounds grounded in reality.

I just do not get the love for Holgorsen, and the belittling of all things past. When Nehlen was coach WVU was playing a stronger schedule, recruiting was regional, and WVU was relatively unknown, also there was one less game each year to win, compare winning percentage, not number of wins.

All-Time Coaches

 

[TexasExes98]

I just do not get the love for Holgorsen, and the belittling of all things past. When Nehlen was coach WVU was playing a stronger schedule, recruiting was regional, and WVU was relatively unknown, also there was one less game each year to win, compare winning percentage, not number of wins.

All-Time Coaches

Actually, WVU is playing a stronger schedule now and in a tougher conference. WVU will be fine.....

 

[WVUDAD]

Actually, WVU is playing a stronger schedule now and in a tougher conference. WVU will be fine.....

I would argue that the schedule from the early 1980s was tougher than today, this was before WVU was in a league, playing an Eastern independent schedule. PSU, sPitt, 'Cuse, were then on par or above UT, OU and OSU, BC was that eras Baylor, Look at the schedule WVU played from 1982 to 1987 for instance, and before just counting ranked teams recall that there was only a top 20 then, you will see names like Miami, Oklahoma, USCe, VPI, FSU, ND, plus all the teams that became the BE. WVU will be OK, but I do not think we will be with the current head coach.