Was WVU's season a success?

[Slaton10]

We didn't lose to Texas Tech this year??????

I agree...looking back it was a bid win on the road...I would point to winning AT KSTATE next year as a similar benchmark....

 

[Slaton10]

what I've seen this bowl season showed that those teams we felt were ok losses and great wins may not have been. I really think we have a conditioning issue with our team, the late season fades say that our team lacks stamina. Next year will show the coaches mettle, whole lot of seniors to replace, a QB to find, an OC to hire. Next year will be interesting for sure.

Just ridiculous..

 

[Slaton10]

You make some great points… and, I think all of us could debate them for quite some time.

You feel this season was similar to 2012. Because of the record… because of how both teams were ranked in midseason, and lost enough to fall out of the rankings?

IMO, there is no similarity between the two seasons outside of the excitement that was generated by some early success. In 2012, we knew the offense was capable of doing big things after the Orange Bowl, but it was apparent in the Marshall game that the defense had issues, and the BU game validated what many thought… the defense sucked. Yes… the offense was off two weeks in a row against TT and KSU… but, the offense did enough in each of the remaining games they lost to win… the defense couldn't stop crap.

This year, most of us questioned the naming of Clint Trickett as the starting QB during the summer. You had to question whether he'd make it through the regular season as he was injured a few times last year after taking over the starting role in the 4th game of the season. Clint was amazing in his first 7 games… throwing for over 300 yds per game with a completion percentage near 70%. Then came the TCU game, and we all feel we know what happened in that game… and speculate how it affected him and our offense afterwords. The team narrowly lost to two great opponents, but it wasn't like the defense got blown out of either game as was the case in the 2012 season. It came down to mistakes at crucial times by either the QB… the defense… or ST's.. but these narrow margins reflect the narrow gap between WVU and its new rivals.

Regarding the bowl game this year. I too was disappointed to see our defense struggle. Give credit to Spavital for using his big hogs up front to dominate our undersized DL, and to establish some option running plays with their drop back QB. WVU's offense performed about as well as I could have hoped with a kid starting just his 2nd game. I know… people will point out Jones from tOSU… but… come on… Jones was a 5 star QB with a 12 gauge arm… and for 250 lbs… runs pretty well… and can make a LB pay for attempting to bring him down. Skyler was throwing high as I think his emotions affected his mechanics… he panicked in the pocket too… never as easy to throw on the run as it is to step into it.

What I saw was obviously completely different than anyone else here..( Not Refering to you BB, your comment about Trickett spurred a thought).........what I saw was a HC completley change an offense around ..going from an air raid attack to a more balanced and it could be said power run game...it helped Trickett light it up for the majority of the year and maybe would have continued if he wasn't playing hurt...I saw a defense find some identity for the first time since Casteel left...Witnessed special teams improvement as the year went on after starting out abysmal...I saw a HC change his sideline demeanor and Coaching Staff finally show some coehesion...to me all these things are much more important for long term sustainablity than say a Nehlen one great season then 5 not so good pattern that we have see too much of in the entire 100 plus years of the program... or trying to make heads or tails out of a 7-6 season and how good the wins were.......

I do agree with those who point that the next litmis test is finishing the back half of the year stronger than they did this year........

 

[WVUDAD]

Just ridiculous..

What a well thought out comment. It is funny how people point to bowl wins as proof of a league's strength, but say losses are..meaningless.......

 

[Slaton10]

What a well thought out comment. It is funny how people point to bowl wins as proof of a league's strength, but say losses are..meaningless.......

I haven't said it once....I think it's good bar talk bragging rights..but as far as an indicator of a teams strength?..its an exhibtion game...a nice reward at the end of the season for a program and its fans...most teams have a month off before they play...timing and clicking on all cylinders is next to impossible..the only teams playing at a high level are those David vs Goliath type matchups where the little guy can use it for recruiting maybe..and a coach can use it to put on a resume for another job..the only other teams playing at a high level are those playing for a NC...but look at Florida State..they are not 40 points worst than Oregon...

 

[DBAR4WVU]

You make some great points… and, I think all of us could debate them for quite some time.

You feel this season was similar to 2012. Because of the record… because of how both teams were ranked in midseason, and lost enough to fall out of the rankings?

IMO, there is no similarity between the two seasons outside of the excitement that was generated by some early success.

The Thread asked if I felt the season was a success. Based totally on the question, I felt it was as much of a success as the 2012 season. Obviously, they were totally different teams heading in totally different directions. I expect to see continued improvement next season. I did not expect that in 2013.

 

[DBAR4WVU]

I do agree with those who point that the next litmis test is finishing the back half of the year stronger than they did this year........

Hell - I would just like to see the team finish a season stronger than they started it - no comparison to any previous seasons finish. There is a pattern over the last 3 years where WV starts out looking good and then the fade out begins, culminating in an embarrassing bowl loss. Good teams get better as the season progresses (certainly injuries can take a toll). Even taking Trickett's issues into account the last 2 seasons - there is more at work here than bumps and bruises.