Slaton10's Monday Musings..Week 4

[Slaton10]

Good Morning Men....hope you all had a great weekend..mine was exceptional outside of the Steeler loss yesterday...

MIKE TOMLIN~!

Okay...back to the Saturday and your Ol Pal Slaton10 had a few takeaways...

The SEC...is it just me but has the SEC regressed?...Outside of a decent Georgia team and of course the 10,000LB gorilla in Alabama is there a team in the SEC that is any good? I truly believe top to bottom The ACC, Big12, PAC12 and Big10 in no specific order are better than the SEC this year...been waiting for this day when the cycle would finally come around.. still trying to figure out how KSU laid an egg at Vandy..

Butch Jones...should be unemployed by today...Tennessee totally in reverse and too much talent..Jones, like his buddy at ASU snake oil salesmen..

Pac12 Football...is it real or a mirage?...is it because the games come on so late that I can't tell if they are playing a physical or finesse brand of football?

Speaking of the Pac12 how about a quip from our ol buddy RICHROD...and there are some that want this guy back as HC..say what you want about Dana...he doesn't come off like this...back to his old tricks of blaming everyone but ol RICHROD!..LOL

WATCH: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona players discuss loss to Utah

Still can play for the Pac12 championship? Now he's become delusional!..looks like he broke up the band down there to, only 3 left from his posse unless you coount Coach K's son as a legacy!


I am beginning to come around to think that Houston maybe a good fit for the Big12...

I am convinced that Cinncy is not..no matter how that helps Wv travel schedule...because thats all they would be good for..


Well...on to your West Virginia Mountaineers....

Yep DAD get ready I am going to be my usual self and be an apologist for the team..

As usual I was texting BBW my thoughts and observations in real time..

First thing you have to take into consideration is that football like many things is about repetition and schedule..time you wake up, to your first crap in the morning, to getting to class, going to practice and so on...it might not seem like anything but playing a football game at 11:00am in the morning is throwing a team out of sync..there is no way during the week because of school, can they simulate that kind of early start..

Add to that it looked like they had 5 people sitting in the stands, this had to be one of the strangest environments to play a football game in.( Looked like a Scrimmage Game attendance wise for a pop warner team!) ..I probably would have left my energy for the first half of the game on the bus to!..There DAD my apologist analogy!!

Seriously though what a weird environment to play in and add in the 100 plus degree temps on the field..the game was setup for an upset!....but that didn't happen..

Positives: I said this to BBW during the game as Will started out a little shaky..that he could have stayed in that head space...especially as his receivers once again this week dropped easy catches..he grinded through..he literally "WILLED" a win (yes pun intended).. We have seen other kids at the QB position either just go thru the motions or start forcing things...Grier did neither..he just elevated his game...the mental toughness of this kid is off the charts... his stats for the day Completed 69% of his passes for 347 yards and 2TDS..51 yards on the ground and 2 TD's..

I thought the backs ran hard...both #25 and #4 had above average days...team rushed for 288 yards!...

Oline..another solid outing...

And OH BY THE WAY..Wv Offense ranked #2 in the country at the moment..

Defense...

Well...where to start...

The front 3 again just can't get off their blocks and can't seem to get any push ...at all!...that spells doom for this 3-3 defense...it spells doom for any 3 front look defense..what makes it worse they seem to get tired by mid 3rd quarter, not sure if the heat had anything to do with it?...LB play maybe some of the worst I have ever seen at Wv..no gap accountability...Benton?.yes he led the team in tackles, which he should from that position..I really have no idea what he sees or what he's doing sometimes..Kansas plays a zone blocking scheme you can't get caught up in watching the flow of the line because you will get setup for a counter run which Kansas did...ALL DAY LONG!...

Attrition took over from there.6 starters on defense..but I would suggest the kids that came in played exceptionally well..( See Javonni Stewart and Kenny Pitts) couple that with 2 interceptions ( one a pick 6) and a fumble recovery there were some good moments..

Trust me I am not trying to put lipstick on a pig, I know this defense will need to play much better against a very physical TCU team who can run downhill on offense..


But games like this happen..see Oklahoma/Baylor..OU easily outclasses Baylor but should have lost in WACO this past weekend.. .let's not forget that Wv WON the game by 3 Touchdowns and covered the point spread on the road! As mentioned they are the #2 ranked offense and #3 ranked scoring offense in the country and they get 4 starters back plus those banged up for the TCU game..

Let's hope Gibby finds the right combination or waves a magic wand over the front 3...they will be the difference in that game...

 

[bbwvfan]

No doubt the LB play has been tough to watch. Our kids are simply too small on the DL, and the LB's are having trouble with gap control. It appears to me they are forcing things too close to the LOS, but I'm not a coach nor a former player.

I think getting David Long back will be huge; however, he will require time to get into game shape. Not sure how big a loss Ferns is at this point, but it means someone is going to need to step up from the reserves.

Meacham took over and surprised Gibby with some counter trey option... this after installing the Air Raid and throwing it all over creation the first 3 games. Gibby said he had to go basic in the 2nd half when he was down 6 starters and had to play a bunch of freshmen.

Ugly look for the defense, but there are a couple of weeks to get kids like Gross, White, Long, Avery and Daniels healthy and back on the field.

 

[Slaton10]

No doubt the LB play has been tough to watch. Our kids are simply too small on the DL, and the LB's are having trouble with gap control. It appears to me they are forcing things too close to the LOS, but I'm not a coach nor a former player.

I think getting David Long back will be huge; however, he will require time to get into game shape. Not sure how big a loss Ferns is at this point, but it means someone is going to need to step up from the reserves.

Meacham took over and surprised Gibby with some counter trey option... this after installing the Air Raid and throwing it all over creation the first 3 games. Gibby said he had to go basic in the 2nd half when he was down 6 starters and had to play a bunch of freshmen.

Ugly look for the defense, but there are a couple of weeks to get kids like Gross, White, Long, Avery and Daniels healthy and back on the field.

I went back and watched the game again..saw the same things I witnessed in real time like gap accountability for the LB's but actually liked the way the back end of the defense played..Kansas is ranked 20th in passing offense so far this year..and their QB looked like he could sling it...and needing to really throw the ball late to play catch up the #2's held their own.i think they got quality rep's..this can only help as the year goes on...

Forgot to mention Special Teams earlier...didn't see anything great there...our kickoff team or more like our kickoff specialist is .......HORRIFIC... This team needs a kid that can consistently stick a COLLEGE FOOTBALL in the end zone...

I should have given more props to the running backs both over 100 yards, this team likes to take into the A gaps which if you like power football should give you a woody!...the Center and Guards are playing at a high level..and they get Buccigrossi back for TCU..

Unsung hero ...Wellman..kid had a strong game...

 

[Slaton10]

A little bit of What if's to wrap up the Musings this week...

Our good friend Tricky Ricky Petino is out of a job down in Louisville...you have to tip your cap to a guy that has been able to duck and dive, bob and weave all the trouble he's been able to allude down there...amazing really!..dude had literally 9 lives he must of felt like Teflon!

Just think about it...how in the HELL does a guy like Tom Jurich have both Petino and Petrino on your staff and not think something like this was NOT going to happen?...rumor mill is that Petrino has been seen in the Louisville area on a Harley again!..( sorry, fake news I just threw that in there)

Sorry I digress...just hit me this morning about WHAT IF's..I go back to 2005...got to believe Tricky Ricky had this stuff going on for years..especially the hookers..should Wv been playing someone else?...should they have been playing in the NC game?

 

[bbwvfan]

As many sports writers have recently stated, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Petino is out, there will be more to follow.

Of interest, at least 3 five star recruits have decommitted in the last couple of days... 2 from UofL and 1 from AU.

I need time to look up the articles from a few years ago blasting the Big 12 for taking WVU over UofL. Time for the fuckers who wrote that shit to own up and eat some fucking crow.

 

[Anotherwvufan]

As many sports writers have recently stated, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Petino is out, there will be more to follow.

Of interest, at least 3 five star recruits have decommitted in the last couple of days... 2 from UofL and 1 from AU.

I need time to look up the articles from a few years ago blasting the Big 12 for taking WVU over UofL. Time for the fuckers who wrote that shit to own up and eat some fucking crow.

Laugh at Louisville and Rick Pitino if you want, but your school could be next

Bit of history. A few years back, Huggins shocked the world when he took over the Kansas State job and landed one if not the top recruiting class in the nation. I always wondered how he accomplished this feat at that school. Was he involved with Nike or Adidas at the time?

When Huggs left, his assistant coach, Frank Martin, stayed. Martin took the job at South Carolina. South Carolina implicated in pay for play. This is awfully close to home.

More investigations to come. I do not expect this to be over soon.

 

[Slaton10]

As many sports writers have recently stated, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Petino is out, there will be more to follow.

Of interest, at least 3 five star recruits have decommitted in the last couple of days... 2 from UofL and 1 from AU.

I need time to look up the articles from a few years ago blasting the Big 12 for taking WVU over UofL. Time for the fuckers who wrote that shit to own up and eat some fucking crow.

Seriously what is going on in College Athletics....it seems that instead of learning from the SMU scandal all the way back in the day, schools would do serious checks and balances..instead they have just worked harder to find other ways of corrupting athletics.... Between North Carolina ( Not even sure how they came out of this unscathed) to the infamous Miami days, The Penn State's , Baylor ( Who Covered up a Murder!) , to Baylor AGAIN, and now Louisville...isn't Baylor religiously affiliated to BTW?

 

[Anotherwvufan]

Seriously what is going on in College Athletics....it seems that instead of learning from the SMU scandal all the way back in the day, schools would do serious checks and balances..instead they have just worked harder to find other ways of corrupting athletics.... Between North Carolina ( Not even sure how they came out of this unscathed) to the infamous Miami days, The Penn State's , Baylor ( Who Covered up a Murder!) , to Baylor AGAIN, and now Louisville...isn't Baylor religiously affiliated to BTW?

Criminals learn from the criminals who have been caught. They figure out new ways to work the system. Coaches stay in the background while shoe companies funnel money to the parents of the player. Parents of star recruits get jobs to help land their kids to scholarships. With all this money being thrown around corruption is inevitable.

What really has changed is that the FBI is involved. they can issue Subpeonas, tap phone lines, set up surveillance, etc. The NCAA has never had close to the investigative power that the FBI has. From releases, it appears that the NCAA knew nothing about any of this until the FBI got involved.

The lesson to be learned from this will be much greater than SMU. Coaches will go to jail and that will get their attention. However, as long as the money incentive is there, this will not stop.

Back to my former suggestion; allow players to accept money for marketing themselves. This will cost the schools nothing. Star players will more likely accept legal money than take the risk to take money illegally.

 

[bbwvfan]

Laugh at Louisville and Rick Pitino if you want, but your school could be next

Bit of history. A few years back, Huggins shocked the world when he took over the Kansas State job and landed one if not the top recruiting class in the nation. I always wondered how he accomplished this feat at that school. Was he involved with Nike or Adidas at the time?

When Huggs left, his assistant coach, Frank Martin, stayed. Martin took the job at South Carolina. South Carolina implicated in pay for play. This is awfully close to home.

More investigations to come. I do not expect this to be over soon.

Huggs was able to bring in the top recruiting class to KSU because he was out of work for a year; therefore, did not have to follow NCAA rules. He took full advantage of being able to have contact with recruits without restrictions.

 

[Slaton10]

Criminals learn from the criminals who have been caught. They figure out new ways to work the system. Coaches stay in the background while shoe companies funnel money to the parents of the player. Parents of star recruits get jobs to help land their kids to scholarships. With all this money being thrown around corruption is inevitable.

What really has changed is that the FBI is involved. they can issue Subpeonas, tap phone lines, set up surveillance, etc. The NCAA has never had close to the investigative power that the FBI has. From releases, it appears that the NCAA knew nothing about any of this until the FBI got involved.

The lesson to be learned from this will be much greater than SMU. Coaches will go to jail and that will get their attention. However, as long as the money incentive is there, this will not stop.

Back to my former suggestion; allow players to accept money for marketing themselves. This will cost the schools nothing. Star players will more likely accept legal money than take the risk to take money illegally.

Forgot throw in USC BTW!...but I like the concept of kids branding themselves and monetizing it somehow..I am sure there would be some red tape if the kid signed some crazy endorsement deal that would go against what the program was on board with...interesting though..

 

[bbwvfan]

As Pat Forde wrote earlier this week, UofL should expect the death penalty. SMU has yet to recover. I would expect the Cardinals to face a similar path.

 

[Slaton10]

As Pat Forde wrote earlier this week, UofL should expect the death penalty. SMU has yet to recover. I would expect the Cardinals to face a similar path.

I don't know...it would put the NCAA under a huge microscope...they would essentially be saying this is worse than what happened at Penn State...they would have a shit storm on their hands....and referring back to what happened at North Carolina...not much difference really and they got off with absolutely nothing...

For the life of me I can't understand how Penn State did not get the death penalty...and then what sanctions they were hit with...got rolled back!

 

[bbwvfan]

Couple of things.

PSU - there are no rules/regulations in the NCAA rule book covering the crimes committed by those involved with Sandusky and the attempted cover up. It was a criminal case, but did not break NCAA rules.

UNC has an accreditation problem for the entire university. While they have admitted bogus classes and improper handling of those classes, they were not established for the exclusive use of student athletes. 50% of the students who took those classes were regular students. The NCAA had no rules/regulations over such matters. They voted in '16 to cover such issues.

What UofL has done is a direct violation of NCAA rules. They are currently on probation and were on probation when the player received his $100K offer from Petino through the Adidas rep.

UofL will receive the death penalty...

 

[Anotherwvufan]

Couple of things.

PSU - there are no rules/regulations in the NCAA rule book covering the crimes committed by those involved with Sandusky and the attempted cover up. It was a criminal case, but did not break NCAA rules.

UNC has an accreditation problem for the entire university. While they have admitted bogus classes and improper handling of those classes, they were not established for the exclusive use of student athletes. 50% of the students who took those classes were regular students. The NCAA had no rules/regulations over such matters. They voted in '16 to cover such issues.

What UofL has done is a direct violation of NCAA rules. They are currently on probation and were on probation when the player received his $100K offer from Petino through the Adidas rep.

UofL will receive the death penalty...

While they may deserve it, I don't expect a death penalty. The NCAA really lacks balls in enforcement these days. Some coaches may go to jail, but there will be new ADs new coaches and the game will go on.
Too many teams involved to give anyone a death penalty. According to the FBI, this is just the first part of the investigation.

This years NCAA tourney could be hit hard by teams imposing self probation after having coaches or assistants indicted.

 

[GoldRusher]

Ed Hardin: Why did the ACC ever invite Louisville?

 

[mad2mc]

Hardin: Louisville's move to ACC is about athletics first

While hindsight is 20/20, this Ed Hardin dude didn't seem too upset that Louisville was joining the ACC. He takes a small swipe at Petrino and Louisville academics, but seems to feel that they could improve the academics. Now he takes a hard stance. He better hope nobody else in the ACC is in this mess. I've got my fingers crossed that there isn't any dirt in the Big 12's backyard.

 

[mad2mc]

While they may deserve it, I don't expect a death penalty. The NCAA really lacks balls in enforcement these days. Some coaches may go to jail, but there will be new ADs new coaches and the game will go on.
Too many teams involved to give anyone a death penalty. According to the FBI, this is just the first part of the investigation.

This years NCAA tourney could be hit hard by teams imposing self probation after having coaches or assistants indicted.

Would be interesting if they did hand out death penalties or strong penalties to the teams involved in this. The companies providing the money should have provide free clothing and equipment to all college basketball programs. They have to be punished in some way in an effort to discourage this in the future.

 

[mad2mc]

Huggs was able to bring in the top recruiting class to KSU because he was out of work for a year; therefore, did not have to follow NCAA rules. He took full advantage of being able to have contact with recruits without restrictions.

Also heard Huggins say that he would never put himself in a position that somebody would have something over him. He said that if these allegations are true, he just didn't understand how somebody could put theirself in this position.

 

[bbwvfan]

Yeah... Huggs said if one of those schools who paid HS kids was involved in the recruiting of a target they simply quit recruiting the kid.

Much recent speculation today why the staff announced they were no longer recruiting Harris who is currently a URI lean.

Makes you go hmmmmm...

 

[Slaton10]

Couple of things.

PSU - there are no rules/regulations in the NCAA rule book covering the crimes committed by those involved with Sandusky and the attempted cover up. It was a criminal case, but did not break NCAA rules.

UNC has an accreditation problem for the entire university. While they have admitted bogus classes and improper handling of those classes, they were not established for the exclusive use of student athletes. 50% of the students who took those classes were regular students. The NCAA had no rules/regulations over such matters. They voted in '16 to cover such issues.

What UofL has done is a direct violation of NCAA rules. They are currently on probation and were on probation when the player received his $100K offer from Petino through the Adidas rep.

UofL will receive the death penalty...

A little more to the UNC Story..

Former Agent Terry Watson Pleads Guilty to Giving Cash to Ex-UNC Players

Apple to Apples with Louisville's issues..

and USC..

A timeline of USC turmoil, scandals and coaching upheaval
and-coaching-upheaval