HORRIBLE

[WVUDAD]

I still have my WVU shirt and ballcap on, and will wear them every day, just like I always have. BUT I have watched a VERY poorly coached team for the last few years. The wasting of timeouts continues, the turnovers continue, the ST play is PATHETIC, the team has no fire on offense. I have seen ONE bright spot so far, the defense is playing HARD. We are in for a LONG season, I have already been questioned about the lack of defense last year, the offense falling off so bad, why the STs keep getting worse. shut out by a middle of the road ACC team, says it all. I said it when he was hired, and many other guys said it when Stewart was hired, WVU is of a stature to be able to hire a PROVEN head coach, instead of untested assistants. Fraud had several years of HC experience before becoming OC at bigger schools, Nehlen as well was HC at Bowling Green prior to being an asst at scUM. I hope Holgorsen learns fast..........

 

[WvuDieHard]

PS; Maryland is not a middle of the road team. They are well coached and will give Clemson and FSU a run for their money. Getting shutout was embarrassing and a result of a lack of talent and/or coaching. Tough days ahead when you cant score points.

 

[WVUDAD]

Diehard, UMD won only four games last year, so it is hard for me to say they are anything special. Edsall IS a pretty damn good coach, and surrounds himself with good assistants, though, so we will see how the season plays out. I was pleased with the effort the defense put forth, but I do NOT see hard play from the offense or the STs. The coaches need to sit down and figure out what they want the kids doing, I see a LOT of confusion and a lack of concentration, poor decisions on the field. Its a sad day to be a Mountie.

 

[Mac_Bridger]

PS; Maryland is not a middle of the road team. They are well coached and will give Clemson and FSU a run for their money. Getting shutout was embarrassing and a result of a lack of talent and/or coaching. Tough days ahead when you cant score points.

I'm not sold that the Terps are anything more than mediocre yet. WV is their best win and the combined record of their opponents is 4-11. All of those wins come against FCS schools or those just moving up. I want to see them play somebody before I sing their praises.

I can wholehearted agree that they are well coached. Randy Edsall earned a ton of respect for what he built at UConn out of nothing.

 

[WvuDieHard]

Time will tell here on the Terps. I have to believe that they will beat VT and have a good chance of beating Clemson or FSU. So we will see here soon enough. Regardless of that argument, there is no argument that WV is a very bad football team right now. I hope they can fix it and get some respect. I have serious doubts about winning more than 2 games on the rest of this schedule.

 

[CoolBeans]

I had said on anotehr post Maryand is my darkhorse pick in the National Title race. They remind me a lot of the '93 team, not extrememly talented, but excellent chemistry and a schedule that comes together perfectly. All "big" games have an easier game or bye week surrounding it.... no back to back toughies. Remember, Alabama lost to A&M after back to back to back toughies. This Maryland team has a legitmate shot at 13-0 or 12-1. This year, 12-1 could get sneak you in the mix.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

I still have my WVU shirt and ballcap on, and will wear them every day, just like I always have. BUT I have watched a VERY poorly coached team for the last few years. The wasting of timeouts continues, the turnovers continue, the ST play is PATHETIC, the team has no fire on offense. I have seen ONE bright spot so far, the defense is playing HARD. We are in for a LONG season, I have already been questioned about the lack of defense last year, the offense falling off so bad, why the STs keep getting worse. shut out by a middle of the road ACC team, says it all. I said it when he was hired, and many other guys said it when Stewart was hired, WVU is of a stature to be able to hire a PROVEN head coach, instead of untested assistants. Fraud had several years of HC experience before becoming OC at bigger schools, Nehlen as well was HC at Bowling Green prior to being an asst at scUM. I hope Holgorsen learns fast..........

Very poorly coached over the past several years, that must include your former man love HCBS. Keep in mind that over those years we have produced two BCS wins. Nehlen had bad years, Fraud had bad years. Stewart really did not have any bad years, but lost fan support from a fanbase that constantly expects over performance.

 

[WVUDAD]

Very poorly coached over the past several years, that must include your former man love HCBS. Keep in mind that over those years we have produced two BCS wins. Nehlen had bad years, Fraud had bad years. Stewart really did not have any bad years, but lost fan support from a fanbase that constantly expects over performance.

EVERY coach has an area where he is lacking, hence they hire assistants who are specialists. Nehlen had a great defensive staff MOST of the time, and an offensive staff that got it done. His major shortcoming was that he was a B11 guy who liked to play B11 ball, meaning he competed head to head with OSU, UM, as well as PSU and Pitt for the same player. Fraud found a niche offensively, where he could take a quick two star kid and beat the big boys with the kids that they didnt think were big enough, HIS major shortcoming was that he didnt care about defense, Casteel evened that out. Stewart was a lot like Nehlen in that he wanted to play ball control pound it out offense, and great defense, Mullen had a different idea on offense, a LOT of scripted complex plays that were hard to teach. They all tried to mold the team into their era's idea of what makes a team great, there were failures at times with all three, but there was success most of the time. Holgorsen is a complete question mark to me, Most players on the team are his recruits now, but cant do what he wants, the kids are not buying into what they are being taught, the coaches (except Patterson, HE has fire) seem to just go through the motions. The team has no identity, no one can see any continuity from one series to the next. I just scratch my head wondering.

 

[Mac_Bridger]

Dad, Nehlen excelled at taking kids nobody wanted and coaching them up. He and his staff could take 2 star recruits and turn them into 4 star talent. Shit, he took walk ons and shaped them into pro talent.

Hot Rod ran an ACC offense. Speed, speed, speed. It caught everyone but the ACC off guard. It was brilliant really. Spread them out and then hit them right up the gut.

 

[bbwvfan]

EVERY coach has an area where he is lacking, hence they hire assistants who are specialists. Nehlen had a great defensive staff MOST of the time, and an offensive staff that got it done. His major shortcoming was that he was a B11 guy who liked to play B11 ball, meaning he competed head to head with OSU, UM, as well as PSU and Pitt for the same player. Fraud found a niche offensively, where he could take a quick two star kid and beat the big boys with the kids that they didnt think were big enough, HIS major shortcoming was that he didnt care about defense, Casteel evened that out. Stewart was a lot like Nehlen in that he wanted to play ball control pound it out offense, and great defense, Mullen had a different idea on offense, a LOT of scripted complex plays that were hard to teach. They all tried to mold the team into their era's idea of what makes a team great, there were failures at times with all three, but there was success most of the time. Holgorsen is a complete question mark to me, Most players on the team are his recruits now, but cant do what he wants, the kids are not buying into what they are being taught, the coaches (except Patterson, HE has fire) seem to just go through the motions. The team has no identity, no one can see any continuity from one series to the next. I just scratch my head wondering.

I love Don Nehlen, and he had some outstanding teams... we all know about the '88 and '93 teams that went undefeated in the regular season.

But, he had some duds too. There were a bunch of teams with losing records... teams that could not compete against the big boys... at all... struggled against MAC teams

Most of his teams had little to no depth. That is why we saw seasons like the '84 season when they beat PSU for the first time in 29 years go on to lose at season's end embarrassingly to teams like Rutgers and Temple.

 

[bbwvfan]

And, I bring up the duds because it compares to what we are seeing today.

Dana took over the WVU program with some talented playmakers. But, it was sorely lacking depth. As a result, he was forced to play a large number of true freshmen and RS freshmen on his defense last year.

Since WVU does not get the 5 star recruit who is often ready for the playing field right out of high school, the freshmen forced to compete are not ready at times. There are exceptions to the rule... but, that is why it is referred to as an exception.

Some want to label a situation... which is fine. If they were to dig deep the current situation at WVU... they would likely react differently.

Unless they have an agenda... then every result which supports their agenda stands out.

 

[WVUDAD]

And, I bring up the duds because it compares to what we are seeing today.

Dana took over the WVU program with some talented playmakers. But, it was sorely lacking depth. As a result, he was forced to play a large number of true freshmen and RS freshmen on his defense last year.

Since WVU does not get the 5 star recruit who is often ready for the playing field right out of high school, the freshmen forced to compete are not ready at times. There are exceptions to the rule... but, that is why it is referred to as an exception.

Some want to label a situation... which is fine. If they were to dig deep the current situation at WVU... they would likely react differently.

Unless they have an agenda... then every result which supports their agenda stands out.

BB, we all know that most kids right out of HS are not ready, and we know that many kids have left the program over the past few years. My concern is the kids who are there do not seem to grasp or buy into what the coaches are coaching. I see a team that is not any better at the end of a season than at the beginning. I have seen one game under this coach where the WHOLE team was completely ready to play. Some say the cupboard was left bare, yet those bare cupboard kids won ten games in 2011, and set up 2012 to be THE year, until the wheels fell off the offense against TTU and KSU, and the swagger was lost. Had Holgorsen hired even a DECENT defensive staff after Casteel left, or had the two got along and he stayed, last year could have been VERY special. We are in year three of this coach, and I expect to see a different team at Thanksgiving than I see now, but from what I have seen the last two years, we will not see that. As to agenda, the people who said how easy it was to coach out turnovers three years ago, but NOW say that they are just kids making mistakes are the ones who had an agenda.

 

[bbwvfan]

BB, we all know that most kids right out of HS are not ready, and we know that many kids have left the program over the past few years. My concern is the kids who are there do not seem to grasp or buy into what the coaches are coaching. I see a team that is not any better at the end of a season than at the beginning. I have seen one game under this coach where the WHOLE team was completely ready to play. Some say the cupboard was left bare, yet those bare cupboard kids won ten games in 2011, and set up 2012 to be THE year, until the wheels fell off the offense against TTU and KSU, and the swagger was lost. Had Holgorsen hired even a DECENT defensive staff after Casteel left, or had the two got along and he stayed, last year could have been VERY special. We are in year three of this coach, and I expect to see a different team at Thanksgiving than I see now, but from what I have seen the last two years, we will not see that. As to agenda, the people who said how easy it was to coach out turnovers three years ago, but NOW say that they are just kids making mistakes are the ones who had an agenda.

Gotta give you credit. You have not changed your spots...

You go way over the top.

I will not argue that the offense struggled against both TT and KSU. It did.

But, last season was more about the defense than it was about the offense. And, while it is just my opinion... I do not believe Casteel's defense would have performed that much better. With Casteel in charge of the defense, I think WVU wins the OU and TCU games... as I don't believe his prevent style of keeping a cover 3 in place would have allowed the late TD's in each of those games which resulted in the loss.

But, the issues that affected the performance in losses to TT and KSU mostly involved the offensive line's struggles to stop a 4 and 5 man front. Both teams could do as Maryland did last weekend... drop 6 and 7.. shutting down the passing game.

 

[bbwvfan]

How many TO's did WVU commit last year? How did that compare to when Stewart was coaching?

 

[bbwvfan]

Dad... you're a big the Ohio State fan... right?

Do you remember this game?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhgxpbHygmE&feature=player_embedded]1987: Ohio State v. WVU (Drive-Thru) - YouTube[/ame]

We have no idea how Maryland's season will end. We do know that the 1987 Ohio State team finished 6-4-1.

Major Harris making his 2nd start of the season, went 2-10 for 17 yds and 2 INT's. The offense accounted for 197 total yds.

West Virginia at Ohio State

 

[bbwvfan]

As I have posted today... Nehlen had some struggles. The video introduction of WVU mentions their 4-7 record from 1986. This came on the heels of a solid run through the early 80's.

A young inexperienced QB came into the Horseshoe and struggled big time. WVU had 8 TO's in the game.

Had the 1987 team... one with all of Nehlen's recruits failed to buy in? Was his offense struggling to find an identity?

 

[bbwvfan]

What happened when Major and his offense... and the WVU defense had another year of maturity?

Yeah... that's right...

 

[bbwvfan]

I found a thread on BlueGoldNews.com making this reference... and, I thought it was perfect for inclusion in this discussion.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

EVERY coach has an area where he is lacking, hence they hire assistants who are specialists. Nehlen had a great defensive staff MOST of the time, and an offensive staff that got it done. His major shortcoming was that he was a B11 guy who liked to play B11 ball, meaning he competed head to head with OSU, UM, as well as PSU and Pitt for the same player. Fraud found a niche offensively, where he could take a quick two star kid and beat the big boys with the kids that they didnt think were big enough, HIS major shortcoming was that he didnt care about defense, Casteel evened that out. Stewart was a lot like Nehlen in that he wanted to play ball control pound it out offense, and great defense, Mullen had a different idea on offense, a LOT of scripted complex plays that were hard to teach. They all tried to mold the team into their era's idea of what makes a team great, there were failures at times with all three, but there was success most of the time. Holgorsen is a complete question mark to me, Most players on the team are his recruits now, but cant do what he wants, the kids are not buying into what they are being taught, the coaches (except Patterson, HE has fire) seem to just go through the motions. The team has no identity, no one can see any continuity from one series to the next. I just scratch my head wondering.

Dad:

Holgerson is still a question mark to the rest of us also. How long did it take Nehlen to get a win over Penn State? Fraud had some terrible seasons before making his mark. Stewart had losses that had the entire fanbase shaking their heads. whether the kids are buying into it is something we do not know. I am sure you cannot see what coaches have fire as those guys are rarely seen on TV. Watching Dana on TV last week, he looked disinterested but people who were at the game and saw him the entire time saw a different picture. You are making comments on thinks for which you possess no information!

This is an off year but WVU will be back. Nehlen did it, Fraud did it am I am confident that Holgerson will do it too. But just like with Stewart, he will need the backing of the fans, including you, so he can bring in the recruits that we need to improve.

 

[WVUDAD]

Dad:

Holgerson is still a question mark to the rest of us also. How long did it take Nehlen to get a win over Penn State? Fraud had some terrible seasons before making his mark. Stewart had losses that had the entire fanbase shaking their heads. whether the kids are buying into it is something we do not know. I am sure you cannot see what coaches have fire as those guys are rarely seen on TV. Watching Dana on TV last week, he looked disinterested but people who were at the game and saw him the entire time saw a different picture. You are making comments on thinks for which you possess no information!

This is an off year but WVU will be back. Nehlen did it, Fraud did it am I am confident that Holgerson will do it too. But just like with Stewart, he will need the backing of the fans, including you, so he can bring in the recruits that we need to improve.

Nehlen was a head coach prior to being an assistant at UM, he took over a team coming off four losing seasons, went 6-6 his first year, 9-3 his 2nd year, with the BIG bowl win over UF, 9-3 his third year with the HUGE win at OU. Fraud had ONE bad year, his first, he REALLY did inherit a bare cupboard, there were VERY few kids who could play his style ball on the roster, and many kids bailed out his first year, but nonetheless, he went 3-8 in year one, 9-4 year two, 8-5 year three. Both of these coaches played a tougher schedule than we play now, or during Stewart's tenure. ALL four coaches mentioned here have had losses where you scratched your head (wins too!!!!). Just as I think Luck will be judged for the Holgorsen tenure, I think Holgorsen will be judged for this coming offseason, I do not see us going to a bowl this year, and if Efore is still on the staff when we play Alabama, I WILL be screaming for Holgorsen to be fired.

Guys, TV is what MOST recruits see, and the team looked like they didn't give a shit, Holgorsen didn't either. Patterson is the only one who looked like he had ANY desire to be there Saturday, and his unit played with fire.