Slaton10's Monday Musings Week 2

[Slaton10]

Well week 2 is in the books and what did we learn...here is my take...

First and most important, how is it possible for a school like Oklahoma in the middle of nowhere to find that many stripper hot Cheerleaders with the prerequisite that you have to be a blue eyed blonde to qualify?

OU Spirit - Cheer

It was an amazing day for football weather wise , was jealous of anyone that made it to Morgantown for the game...

It seemed like every Big12 game was on television so I was having the time of my life going from game to game to game with the grand finally the OU ASS KICKING in Columbus.

Needless to say we ain't winning in Norman unless injuries or an act of God plows the road to an even remote chance of winning....

The Iowa State/Iowa game was entertaining...Iowa State looked more than capable on offense..Hakeem Butler is a handful..but we thing Wv has DB issues...man they should have won the game with ease. That being said I think Iowa State is going to compete in Big12 play this year...they will provide and upset or two..

Kansas ?? Central Michigan??..at home?? Really?....and Baylor? I don't care how jacked up things are down there...UTSA?? Two teams that may not win a ball game this year..

But the other games...there is change coming in the Big12 and yes I think Dana and Wv has everything to do with it...TCU was physical against Arkansas...but it was the OFFENSE that was the physical component.ran for 42 rushes for 195 yards 4 TD's 6.4 yards per carry on the road on the grass in Fayetteville

..Kansas State also played a power game albiet against Charlotte 51 rushes for 304 yards and 6 touchdowns...

.....Texas 59 ruses 406 yards 6TDS

..................Even OSU 37 rushes for 163 yards and 1 TD

I won't bore you with OU's numbers, we all saw it...power football....the BIG12 looks to be going back to what made that conference great when it was the SWC/Big 8...power football...


My Players of the Week: Baker Mayfield ( Kid looked like he should a seasoned high end QB) and our own Will Grier ( He had a FREAK SHOW day) these two are the best QB's by a mile in the Big12..

So on to the Wv game:

The Good ( Actually the Great) BBW was throwing out Grier didn't have a high enough completion percentage last week and others saying he needed to work on the long ball...well 75% completion this past Saturday, could have been higher without again dropped balls and 5tds in 2 1/4 quarters (Should have been 6 with the Sills drop) QBR 99.3 is a pretty amazing day.. The kid is so calm and poised in the pocket...something we haven't seen in awhile..

Offensive Line( Great) - Grier went untouched again and the offense rolled up 600 plus yards before taking the foot off the pedal. yes Chug's was sacked with a second string unit in front of him.

Receivers ( Good) - The group had a really good day out side of again some bad drops, Simms clearly helped taking the top off the defense...but is it just me..I think White should be a bigger force out there than how he plays...kid should dominate and its just not happening..

Coaching (Good) I thought Spivital's play calling was just about flawless, I even think Gibby called a good game, but the defense...well...more to come.

#8 is a BEAST!


The BAD

I was texting with BBW an first and foremost and it tastes bad when it comes out of my mouth, but he was right.....the CB's are going to kill this team in big games going forward...they are forcing Gibby to play Cover 3 and Cover 2 more than I think he would like, yes it worked on the White interception but I Can't believe that's how he want's to play the defense...every time they went to man they got exploited..couple that with a second straight week the DL couldn't get off of their blocks it's not looking good going forward. Last year at this time when everyone was ragging on the defense I was the ONLY one to say I thought the unit would get a lot better and they did... I can't say they same thing about this group..It appears FERNS with all the hype maybe a bust, he can't even get on the field getting beat out by Tonkery..they can't get Long back fast enough..Benton played adequate .but LB play overall on Saturday was average at best..ZERO sacks against a very mediocre offensive line

THE UGLY

This is RAIN MAN speaking since I said it last week...the kicking game will cost this team one if not two more ball games this year...and some ask why Dana makes a call to go for it on 4th down instead of trying a FG...I mean really??.. Kinney..40 yard average this week..up 4 yards from last week..I guess we should take that as win??

Well on to Delaware State...it will be interesting to see what Wv shows before the Kansas game...which by the way...Wv may have Grier throw 60 times against Kansas Central Michigan lit them up for almost 500 passing yards..

 

[Mac_Bridger]

THE UGLY

This is RAIN MAN speaking since I said it last week...the kicking game will cost this team one if not two more ball games this year...and some ask why Dana makes a call to go for it on 4th down instead of trying a FG...I mean really??.. Kinney..40 yard average this week..up 4 yards from last week..I guess we should take that as win??

I had just posted to your week 1 thread, but will repeat it here. I no longer question DH's 4th down calls after seeing just how bad our kicking situation is. Anything beyond 40 yards seems to be out of range, and distances under questionable.

 

[Slaton10]

I had just posted to your week 1 thread, but will repeat it here. I no longer question DH's 4th down calls after seeing just how bad our kicking situation is. Anything beyond 40 yards seems to be out of range, and distances under questionable.

Well the one thing I did leave out regarding special teams it is a different group with Simms back returning kicks...finally showed a return game!

 

[Anotherwvufan]

Gotta agree with most of the Musings. I do think that the LBs did better than stated. Benton was everywhere and Tonkery did well. Unfortunately for the LBs, the DBs cant cover and the Line cannot put pressure on the QB. This will be a long year for the Defense. Kazyr is a monster. I see many shootouts in our future.

Spacial teams- well at least we had a punt return. Is there some second stringer on the soccer team we can take for the kicking duties.

WRs looked great. Will looked great. OL protected well.

Put Grier on ECU and have us start Chuggs, we would have lost. ECU had wide open receivers all day.

 

[bbwvfan]

The ECU RB's must have missed 6 passes on Saturday that hit them directly in the hands.

WVU's pass defense looked terrible against a mediocre VT passing attack... looked just as bad last week.

Combined with our ineffective pass rush, I am very concerned for our defense.

 

[Slaton10]

The ECU RB's must have missed 6 passes on Saturday that hit them directly in the hands.

WVU's pass defense looked terrible against a mediocre VT passing attack... looked just as bad last week.

Combined with our ineffective pass rush, I am very concerned for our defense.

It's odd to say, you would love to see the front 3 get up field, but not even being able to get off their blocks consistently to stop the run is the real problem, with teams like TCU, KSU and even Texas looking to to the run first option they could run right over this Wv football team..

 

[GoldRusher]

Gave up 31 to VT

Delaware only gave up 27

Tell me again about the 3-3-5 and how great it is...

 

[bbwvfan]

Honestly, I didn't see WVU in cover 3 much against ECU. They were in cover 1 for the most part.

In cover 3, it appears the chemistry and communication may be poor. Part of this is inexperience of the secondary playing together. But, guys like Battle... who played a bunch last year... are not seeing the field much.

Daniels, Bailey and Winfield don't have much experience playing with our safeties. Communication may be poor right now.

 

[Slaton10]

Honestly, I didn't see WVU in cover 3 much against ECU. They were in cover 1 for the most part.

In cover 3, it appears the chemistry and communication may be poor. Part of this is inexperience of the secondary playing together. But, guys like Battle... who played a bunch last year... are not seeing the field much.

Daniels, Bailey and Winfield don't have much experience playing with our safeties. Communication may be poor right now.

Trust me...they were...even the announcers were talking about the amount of zone they were playing...if your in the stands its hard to pick up if you sit too low because they don't show it in pre-snap...all four secondary players were in back pedal all day long expect when they brought pressure and then they TRIED to man up...just couldn't do it..

You could be right about the inexperience it has to play a part..but I don't see any Rasul Douglas's out there that make you think this group gets better as the year goes on..

 

[Slaton10]

Gave up 31 to VT

Delaware only gave up 27

Tell me again about the 3-3-5 and how great it is...

They really don't play a base 3-3 like Casteel ran...they are playing a more of a 3-4 look IMHO...#8 is playing more LB than Bandit these days..

 

[Slaton10]

BBW..Listen to what Gibby says..if the corners can't play they "cant do what they do"...which tells you they were in ZONE..and is tentative to bring pressure..

 

[bbwvfan]

BBW..Listen to what Gibby says..if the corners can't play they "cant do what they do"...which tells you they were in ZONE..and is tentative to bring pressure..

Question, when the corners are pressed at the LOS, are they typically in zone coverage?

 

[bbwvfan]

IMO, Gibby is talking about his corners in man coverage having difficulty making plays. They are getting beat all over the place, and if he can't rely on this corners to be in cover 0, he won't be able to go with his cover 0 blitz schemes.

 

[bbwvfan]

Just got done watching video of the ECU game. I tip my hat to Slaton. He was right. WVU's corners dropped into zone coverage quite a bit... more than I believed was occurring.

 

[Slaton10]

Just got done watching video of the ECU game. I tip my hat to Slaton. He was right. WVU's corners dropped into zone coverage quite a bit... more than I believed was occurring.

I don't know about all that...like I said..they disguise at pre-sap really well and unless you are really focused on what they are doing in a play that last 5 seconds and kids are flying all over the place its hard to pick up from the stands sometimes.. I think they tip it sometimes...#8 gets a little too far down in the box too early at times when they are bringing the bandit...

 

[bbwvfan]

What I realized watching the game last night was my eyes stayed focused on the CB's instead of watching the QB as I do at the game. When I'm at the game, I look at the defense presnap, but then I watch the movement of the ball.

Pre-snap... the CB's often showed press, but dropped immediately into zone. Looks like Gibby runs a lot of Tampa 2 as well. When a pass went to a receiver, I saw the defender either dressed on the receiver or attempting to close space. When attempting to close space, I always assumed zone.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

As long as we can put up 70 on everyone, our defense shall be fine.

The offense will be keeping us in games this year. I have been really impressed with Sills at WR. He knows how to set up defenders and always seems to be in the right place. I was worried about losing Shorts last year, but Sills has become our possession receiver. I read about his long TD where he had told Spivital to fake the WR screen and let him run by the saftey on the sidelines. It worked perfectly.

I also have high hopes for Simms. We will be watching him outrun defenses for a couple of years now.

I thought the loss of Durante would hurt. We look fine without him.

No to mention that jennings and White are Frisbee catching dogs.

 

[Slaton10]

What I realized watching the game last night was my eyes stayed focused on the CB's instead of watching the QB as I do at the game. When I'm at the game, I look at the defense presnap, but then I watch the movement of the ball.

Pre-snap... the CB's often showed press, but dropped immediately into zone. Looks like Gibby runs a lot of Tampa 2 as well. When a pass went to a receiver, I saw the defender either dressed on the receiver or attempting to close space. When attempting to close space, I always assumed zone.

That's EXACTLY RIGHT...

They did play that high Tampa Cover 2..and playing Cover 3 looks very similar..its whether the safety's have deep third or deep middle responsibility really..sometimes Wv shows that single safety high and then someone drops back , sometimes bandit, most of the time SS..like I mentioned and I think what GIBBY was alluding to..its' not how they want to play...they want to man up on the corners and bring pressure but no confidence right now...can't say I blame him, but if the DL continues to spend time on their backs he's going to have to risk it sooner or later..my guess is sooner...Henry had 5 tackles 4 solo from the Safety position last week....none of them were near the line of scrimmage....

 

[Slaton10]

As long as we can put up 70 on everyone, our defense shall be fine.

The offense will be keeping us in games this year. I have been really impressed with Sills at WR. He knows how to set up defenders and always seems to be in the right place. I was worried about losing Shorts last year, but Sills has become our possession receiver. I read about his long TD where he had told Spivital to fake the WR screen and let him run by the saftey on the sidelines. It worked perfectly.

I also have high hopes for Simms. We will be watching him outrun defenses for a couple of years now.

I thought the loss of Durante would hurt. We look fine without him.

No to mention that jennings and White are Frisbee catching dogs.

I don't know...as I mentioned in the Musings..they are going to see much improved and very physical defenses this year..this doesn't appear to the Big12 of just 3 years ago...the tide is turning to smash mouth...I hope the offensive line as legit as the one I saw against VT..there are going to need it...