Game Thread: WVU Assessment after the first 7 games

[WvuDieHard]

Been a while since I have posted on here but after last nights debacle, I couldn't help from expressing an opinion at this time. First of all, I have liked the Holgorsen offensive system but something has gone awry.
Sure we just came through a brutal stretch but if you think TT, Texas, KSU is gonna be easy--you are just kidding yourself. This group has clearly quit. Holgorsen has proven that he is not a leader. An offensive coordinator maybe but not a head coach. His message is not getting through to the players and it may be a result of his approach. The major issues on this team that makes me believe we go 1-4 and finish 4-8 are as follows:
1) the stack defense---this bullshit will never work in the Big 12 because you never get any pressure on the QB. If you don't get pressure on the QB in this league--they will shread you.
2) the Offensive Line--this group has got to be the worst I have seen at WVU in 20 years. Guys standing around and giving minimal effort on run plays and making half assed attempts to block on passing plays.
3) Wide Receivers--3 dropped balls last night for TD's and poor route running underneath
4) Corners-- when Joseph went down, it really crippled the secondary because you have to cover when you get no pressure on the QB. We have a couple of guys back there that are not that tall or fast.

I am not sure the program can afford a 4-8 season from a recruiting stand point and a fan stand point. The Texas Tech game will have the boo birds in full force if this team doesn't at least compete. I don't feel like we have put up a competitive effort in the last 4 games. Hard to gauge the first 3 games in terms of effort because all of those teams were not that good anyway. So in conclusion, tough times in Morgantown and they most likely will get tougher.

 

[bbwvfan]

Nice seeing you post here again!

 

[Slaton10]

Here is a few of my many thoughts on where the team is...

They are not competitive in the Big 12 conference...maybe never will be on a sustainable basis..

They are going backwards based off what they have displayed these last 3 weeks..its one thing to lose, its another thing to get blown off the field..

BBW and I have had this discussion...we see it a bit differently..but my take is when you have decided to burn a red shirt on a true freshman QB and play him out of position and in the grand scheme play 3 QB's on the field at one time seems to me an act of desperation on the HC's part........

Shell has quit on the team........he should be benched for the rest of the year...and tell me if you are going to give the two other QB's a shot to get on the field what happened to 4 star recruit Thomas-Williams his shot in the backfield?!?!...

The notion that losing Joseph has had this enormous impact...losing the "Heart and Soul" of the team...that's High School BS!!...Everyone one of these kids was THE GUY growing up...they should all relish the opportunity to step up when its their time!..

Ugh...#frustrated

 

[bbwvfan]

First off... you are spot on. The OL is a joke! I hate to watch them standing around their man while he is picking his ass up off the turf. They were manhandled last night by a bunch of first time players. It is a joke that they didn't pound TCU's inexperienced ass into the ground.

The dropped passes are so puzzling. These kids are so tight, they cannot do the simple things they've done a 100 times. They didn't have any trouble making those catches against Maryland or GSU.

I hated watching WVU's defense last night as much as Casteel's early days. Once again, stop TCU's running game... but, let Boykin throw for over 400 yds. Give him tons of time to make plays, and keep one of your least athletic guys to spy? Rush 2 fucking linemen? Forget how to tackle?

I'm beyond frustrated. However, I don't think a new coach will do much better. The talent pool from our general recruiting area will not provide the kind of talent needed to compete in this league. Every team WVU plays has kids on the DL and OL who are bigger/stronger than our kids. It is men among boys in the trenches. The Ohio St and Penn St leftovers ain't gonna cut it. The boys from FL who don't want to play in the ACC ain't gonna cut. UF and the SEC get all of the other top talent out of FL.

But, if the AD decides it is time to move on. I'll be all in. It is the way I roll...

The Big 12 gonna kick WVU's butt. At least we can get a better concession stand at MPS...

 

[WVUDAD]

I am tired of reading about the B12 like we have joined the NFL. The issue we are having has nothing to do with who we are playing, or the talent level of the kids on the field, it has to do with piss poor coaching. Five years ago NOONE wanted to play WVU, we could play with ANYONE. The team played with every single B12 team during our time in this league at one time or another. The right coach would have us winning, even with the stupid play calling, lack of effort, giving up, and everything else, if a dozen passes had been caught, we would be 5-2 or 6-1 right now. TCU was playing MUCH weaker competition than we were prior to joining the B12, yet they have adjusted just fine.
The other teams have stronger linemen because they have an effective strength and conditioning program, which we haven't had since Barwis left, other teams kids are being taught proper technique to tackle, block, pass, catch, carry, run, etc, with our current coaches, a kid is what he is, no progression is made other than natural aging and experience.
Holgorsen targeted the kids on this team, they are not rejects from ANY other program, they are who he selected to run his offense.

 

[Mike]

I agree with most of your post, I don't think the entire team has quit, I think the receivers are inexperienced, and Howard is just not that good. I don't think Shell has quit, maybe he has an injury, my take on him is that he has poor vision or can't think fast enough to hit the open hole in the line. The O'line was blocking good on the run, I think they are wearing down from this brutal schedule of games. I agree the O'line has sucked in the pass blocking, which may make Howard look worse then he really is.

I also hate the 3-3-5 stack, I said as much earlier in the year when others were bragging about it and the ones of us who hate it were wrong. I think the D is wearing down also, Joseph is not the only injury in the backfield, Chestnut has been banged up, Rumph has been banged up, I have not read anywhere but I'm betting Worley is playing hurt, he has not regressed this much from the two years before. I know the score was bad last night, but I thought the D actually played ok, but they were on the field a long time and wore down. They were also put in some bad situations by the Offense.

I think there is a lot of frustration right now with the players and coaches, and both are pressing to hard.

Going into this season who thought we would go 4-0 in October? I thought 2-2 was a possibility but 1-3 was more likely. I'm a little bummed about going 0-4, but have not given up and hope the players and coaches have not either.

I don't think we will go 1-4 the rest of the way, I think we will go 3-2 with an outside shot of going 4-1. I think we will lose to either Texas or TT and KSU, I think all 5 of the rest of the schedule is winnable.

I also don't think GA Southern is complete trash, but they didn't have their starting QB when they played us, also Maryland may be trash but we beat them a hell of a lot worse then the #1 team in the nation did in Columbus.

Glad to see you post again, always have respect for your opinion.

 

[DCWV4life]

Fire the coach is the only way to go, after that we will be winning NC's year in and year out. .

 

[bbwvfan]

At least Nehlen got WVU to one MNC game.

The next coach should get 20 years to see if he can pull off the same kind of success!

 

[DCWV4life]

I am a little surprised about the hate for the OL after this game, they did not give up a sack last night and avg'd 4.5 a rush.

 

[DCWV4life]

At least Nehlen got WVU to one MNC game.

The next coach should get 20 years to see if he can pull off the same kind of success!

LOL no doubt.

My biggest disappointments so far:

Defense
Skyler
Worley
4th down attempts
DH's growth as HC

Biggest surprises:
DL
Special Teams

I am all over the place today, but in the end we have 5 more games and I will be rooting them on to win.

 

[Slaton10]

Fire the coach is the only way to go, after that we will be winning NC's year in and year out. .

LOL!!..Maybe!


But in all honesty, I feel that I have been consistant in my view that you need to asses at different waypoints when a new staff takes over.. 5 years is a fair sample to stop and see where you are...I would have to say that other than recruiting that has significantly improved the results are not showing up on the field...can you say Ron Zook??

Feels like we are living it a little bit..

10 points is all they scored last night...10 points! against an average defense at best.its a sad comentary..but BBW is right at least we have new concession stands being built!..

 

[DCWV4life]

LOL!!..Maybe!


But in all honesty, I feel that I have been consistant in my view that you need to asses at different waypoints when a new staff takes over.. 5 years is a fair sample to stop and see where you are...I would have to say that other than recruiting that has significantly improved the results are not showing up on the field...can you say Ron Zook??

Feels like we are living it a little bit..

10 points is all they scored last night...10 points! against an average defense at best.its a sad comentary..but BBW is right at least we have new concession stands being built!..

We left 28 on the field lol I do agree that 5 seasons is enough....but I will hold off the firing thing until the end of the season. IF and it is a big IF we go on a 5-0 or 4-1 run he is safe. 3-2 maybe 1-4 or 0-5 DONE.

 

[bbwvfan]

TCU had a below average rush defense. They had a kid who weighed about 150 lbs playing middle linebacker. Pankey couldn't block the wind last night.

Very disappointing...

 

[bbwvfan]

Look at eastern football...it is dead man walking right now.

When WVU competed against top 25 ranked teams in the past... PSU, Miami, Pitt, VT and SU. How did they do? How many times did WVU beat Miami? How many times did WVU beat PSU? How many times did WVU beat Pitt in the 70's thru the mid-80's?

Where are all of those programs today?

Is there a reason BC sucks? RU sucks? MD sucks? PSU sucks? Pitt sucks? SU sucks? Miami sucks?

If eastern football was producing kids like it did in the 70's and 80's, I would be optimistic that a coach could build something at WVU. That ain't reality...

As I posted after watching the CFP NCG last year, I was bummed by what I witnessed. The talent I saw on the field is not attainable at this time in Morgantown.

 

[Slaton10]

We left 28 on the field lol I do agree that 5 seasons is enough....but I will hold off the firing thing until the end of the season. IF and it is a big IF we go on a 5-0 or 4-1 run he is safe. 3-2 maybe 1-4 or 0-5 DONE.

We are on the same page...beating KSU for once may count as two wins!!

 

[Slaton10]

Look at eastern football...it is dead man walking right now.

When WVU competed against top 25 ranked teams in the past... PSU, Miami, Pitt, VT and SU. How did they do? How many times did WVU beat Miami? How many times did WVU beat PSU? How many times did WVU beat Pitt in the 70's thru the mid-80's?

Where are all of those programs today?

Is there a reason BC sucks? RU sucks? MD sucks? PSU sucks? Pitt sucks? SU sucks? Miami sucks?

If eastern football was producing kids like it did in the 70's and 80's, I would be optimistic that a coach could build something at WVU. That ain't reality...

As I posted after watching the CFP NCG last year, I was bummed by what I witnessed. The talent I saw on the field is not attainable at this time in Morgantown.

Can't disagree with anything BBW posted ( Want to though!) You dissect all of the teams that one time played in the Big East Miami, VT, BC, Rutgers, Syracuse, PITT, Cinncy. Rutgers, USF, UConn and through in the independents like PSU and add Maryland, Virginia, Temple..it's a sad commentary...They all have one thing in common..they all currently suck!!..except for Temple??

 

[WVUDAD]

Nehlen had us in the MNC game in his 9th year, not 20th. He also did quite well against ranked teams, much better than most do. I can deal with losing to better teams, no shame in that, but we are now where we were in the late 1970s, losing to unranked teams that had no business beating us. If you recall, Luck hired Holgorsen BECAUSE he could get us to "national championships". The right coach can not only win, but dominate at WVU. Holgorsen has brought in some great recruits, but can't coach them. Fraud had a roster full of two star kids, he demanded their best, and gave HIS best, and WON. Holgorsen is NOT a HC, and I don't think he ever will be, he doesn't teach anything. If we were still in the AAC, we would be in a similar situation as we are now, losing, finishing in the middle of the pack. The coach IS the team, a team takes on the personality of the coach, and Holgorsen's is one of apathy. WVU CAN win, but it takes a committed coach.

 

[Slaton10]

Nehlen had us in the MNC game in his 9th year, not 20th. He also did quite well against ranked teams, much better than most do. I can deal with losing to better teams, no shame in that, but we are now where we were in the late 1970s, losing to unranked teams that had no business beating us. If you recall, Luck hired Holgorsen BECAUSE he could get us to "national championships". The right coach can not only win, but dominate at WVU. Holgorsen has brought in some great recruits, but can't coach them. Fraud had a roster full of two star kids, he demanded their best, and gave HIS best, and WON. Holgorsen is NOT a HC, and I don't think he ever will be, he doesn't teach anything. If we were still in the AAC, we would be in a similar situation as we are now, losing, finishing in the middle of the pack. The coach IS the team, a team takes on the personality of the coach, and Holgorsen's is one of apathy. WVU CAN win, but it takes a committed coach.

Well it must be happy hour there were DAD is...and you were doing so good at being somewhat rational!..one more time..this is not 1965 the Nehlen era is over...Luck hired Dana due to his belief the program was going to stagnate under Stewart ( And He was Right BTW..see Jeff Mullen) he saw that the air raid /Spread Offense was the future and hired the the hottest coach available..nothing about winning NC's ever came out of his mouth...and no the right coach can't dominate at Wv..100 plus years of history and NO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS will tell you that..and yes Dana can coach.he has a successful resume that is inidicative of that....saying he is apathetic is a joke...I have no question the guy pours in hours to get this thing turned around...for whatever the reason things are not clicking in Morgantown for him...and its a a shame...

 

[WVUDAD]

Oliver Luck: 'Our goal should be winning the national championship'

 

[Mac_Bridger]

WRs dropped 21 points last night.

We lost 4 games to 4 top 20 teams. 3 of whom are now top 10 I believe. It was a brutal stretch. Let's see what happens from here on out. We played good competition. We played poorly, but maybe it will improve... We can only hope.