Final and Only Thoughts on Marshall

Sorry to keep using that picture, but for the same reason I haven't written really much of anything lately, I just have to go with that picture.

Anyway, I didn't get to watch a lot of the game because of the gig in Charleston. But what I saw did not impress me. At least Coach Bill agrees with me as far as the special teams are concerned.

"There's no building tall enough in Morgantown to keep me from jumping off the top of because of that kickoff team," said Stewart, also WVU‘s special teams coordinator. "We're going to get down to brass tacks and I'm going to find some guys who will run down that field and smack someone in the mouth."

I agree with that, but at the same time what really bothers me is that we put up 500 yards of total offense and only 27 points. No, I didn't want us to run up the score at the end. I just think there are still issues with clock management when you get to the end of the first half with the ball on the five yard line and manage to run out the clock without any points to show for it.

On the flip side, though, the defense played a heck of a game holding Marshall to 158 yards. That's good no matter who you play! We got over 300 yards rushing, Pat White had a very efficient passing day 17/21...130 yards...and two TDs. It was a dominating game in every way, except on the scoreboard.

And let's not kid ourselves, we make fun of Marshall all the time but this wasn't a bad team that we beat. I'm not saying they are great or anything, but certainly much better than the 115th ranking they received at the beginning of the year. There are a lot of coaches that deserve to be on the hot seat, but Mark Snyder isn't one of them. He was dealt a shitty hand and has made the best of it. I hope Marshall gives him a little more time to turn things around. Because if we are going to play every year, it's in our best interests that they be good. ...Right?...Right!

We'll be doing a Q&A with Bleed Scarlet later in the week as well as other happy fun stuff.

Pat White? Hard to tell if he will be 100% or not.

Week 5 Blogpoll Ballot

We're doing something a little different with the Blogpoll for the rest of the year. I'll put out a preliminary ballot Monday by 10 am, and a final before 10 am on Wednesday. I'll hold off on saying more until there is more to say and point to and link up with and stuff. As always, if you want to rip me a new one over this to help me get the ballot more in line with sanity, that'd be great.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	5
2	Oklahoma	1
3	LSU	2
4	Missouri	3
5	Penn State	6
6	Texas	2
7	Texas Tech	2
8	Southern Cal	7
9	Brigham Young	3
10	Georgia	6
11	Florida	9
12	South Florida	3
13	Utah	6
14	Ohio State	3
15	Kansas	1
16	Michigan State	2
17	Boise State	5
18	Vanderbilt	5
19	Virginia Tech	2
20	Auburn	7
21	Oklahoma State	5
22	Wisconsin	8
23	Fresno State	2
24	North Carolina	2
25	Mississippi	1

Dropped Out: Wake Forest (#10), East Carolina (#20), Clemson (#24).

Alabama is easy to put at #1. They've done it against better competition than anyone else to this point. Oklahoma might not be so slow after all. I hate to think that that is the same team WV killed last year, but maybe they weren't into anything less than a title shot. I feel like LSU is living on borrowed time. Like something bad is going to happen to them, or more importantly, their quarterbacks. They've been solid, but not spectacular. So they move up for now. I think Missouri is going to run into a buzz saw against a competent offense. They might be able to out score every team on their schedule, though. SPREAD HD!! SPREAD HD!! Who cares if they haven't played anyone. Maybe this will make it easier for JoPa to step aside.

Skipping down, I find it very hard to put Texas and Texas Tech ahead of USC, Florida, and Georgia. I think it will all wash out in the end, but those three need to be punished for their play this weekend. Yes, Georgia lost to a monster. But still, 31-0 at the half? As I look down the list, it is mostly a lot of teams that have just managed to keep winning. I do want to say hey to Ole Miss. I don't think I've put you in the top 25 before. It might only be a for a week, but welcome aboard. I wrote a song for you, Colonel Reb. I hope you like it!

Oh, Hey! There's a Game This Weekend?

Life does in fact go on despite the loss last week. However, cleaning up after a 10 day vacation has taken a little longer than planned. I kind of wish I was going to the game, but then again I can only handle so much disappointment in one month.

If you aren't going to the game and live anywhere near Charleston, why don't you join Joseph Henry and myself for a night of music at the Bluegrass Kitchen? 7-10pm which works out well when you consider the Empty Glass is right around the corner and music there doesn't start until around, hey look at that, 10pm!

Spoiled

Honestly, we as a fan base have become so spoiled with success that anything less than dominating victories is considered a loss. Outside of South Florida, over the last three years we've been able to point at the scoreboard to anyone that had anything negative to say about WVU. And that was the end of the discussion.

But now, things are obviously different. The defense? I knew it wouldn't be nearly as good as previous years. But I had no idea the offense would be so bad. How could anyone? With all five starters back on the line, and Pat White and Noel Devine in the backfield it would seem any idiot could conjure up 30 points a game. Maybe that's true, and maybe that's our problem. We may need better idiots! But whether he's the man for the future of WVU football or just a bump in the road, I think calling for Bill Stewart's head already is premature and immature. Include myself in that statement. The anger is understandable (insert your own link), as well as the taunting. We had that coming.

If this is a test of our ability to withstand the storm, we've failed miserably. Life is unfair and all that shit, but it still ain't so bad. I mean look at the fine blogs for Syracuse! Believe me, I don't bring that up to debase them in any way. In fact, I say it as a point of respect. These folks have it a lot worse than I can ever remember WVU football being. But at least the ones you see on the sidebar of this site have all made a contribution to the enjoyment of college football for me. Sure they all take shots at their team and coach, but you never get the feeling that the world is going to end. Nothing close to what we've seen out of Mountaineer fans over the last couple weeks.

So, what to take away from this? Be a good fan in good times and bad for starters. In the same way a recruit should always go to a school because of what the school has to offer them, not the coach, cheer for your school. Be the kind of fan that kids are going to want to play for. Not the kind of fan that jumps ship at the first sign of danger. High expectations are a good thing. But like I've said many times before, if you put too much hope in anything it will let you down.

College Football Songbook From Colorado

The new College Football Songbook is up over at FanHouse. This one is from the tailgate before the WVU-CU game. I had a great time (other than losing the game) and hope I do more stuff like this in the future. And maybe next time I can hold off on the "water" until after I sing the song. Click on that link to check out all the songs, or head over to Songpull.com.

Week Four Blogpoll Ballot

Very busy just getting back from Colorado last night. I'll do a recap of my trip at some point this week. But for now, just imagine a bottle of moonshine passing around the campfire. Leave comments if you think I should change anything. I have until 10am Wednesday to make changes.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Florida	1
3	Oklahoma	1
4	Georgia	5
5	LSU	--
6	Alabama	5
7	Missouri	3
8	Texas	2
9	Texas Tech	2
10	Wake Forest	2
11	Penn State	1
12	Brigham Young	1
13	Auburn	8
14	Wisconsin	1
15	South Florida	1
16	Kansas	2
17	Ohio State	1
18	Michigan State	8
19	Utah	--
20	East Carolina	10
21	Virginia Tech	2
22	Boise State	4
23	Vanderbilt	1
24	Clemson	2
25	Fresno State	5

Dropped Out: Oregon (#17), North Carolina (#25).