At some point in the fourth quarter of Friday's Gator Bowl, I looked at my attorney and stated a simple fact.

"We had a lead of at least 7 points in all of our games this season"

Another fact is that we lost 4 games. Oh what could have been. 10 win seasons for any program are hard to come by, but I really think that this team was about 2 plays away from going 11-2 or so.

I could add the Cincy game in there as well, but lets just think that they would have gone on to beat us despite the call at the end there. However, Auburn and FSU were eerily similar in that jumped on them early and failed to finish it when we had them down.

The first play was the fumble that JB had when WVU was by 17 on Auburn in the second quarter or so. On that one play our whole season changed because after that one we were never the same. Up to that point we had been punishing teams for bringing up their secondary. However on that one play JB got sacked, dinged in the head and for the rest of the season he never set his feet and completed a long pass again. Not to mention that after that play in the game we lost all momentum and let Auburn back into the game.

Fast forward to Jan 1. We are gashing FSU at will and looking like the 07 version of the mountaineers. JB throws and inexcusable pass on first down to a well covered man and FSU gets back into the game. Score a TD there and FSU has to go to the air instead of picking on our flats all day. Two plays the difference between a great 11-2 season and an average 9-4 campaign. The win against Pitt was great and the Uconn and Rutgers games were satisfying but in the end I have the next 7 months to wonder about what could have been with this team and have to question whether or not this coaching staff and team will ever figure out how to finish against any opponent.

Lets hope the recent exit of assistant coaches and GA's will not affect as much as anticipated and we can keep the ball rolling. I'm glad that stew has forecasted a championship for 2011, but I'm skeptical if he can bring it home after watching some of the miscues from this season.

Hello From Buffalo

I haven't said anything in awhile, and its been for many reasons but mostly because I've moved halfway across the country again. I'm back now and ready to get some things off of my chest...so here goes.

First and foremost, let me come clean...after the USF loss I was ready throw int he towell and thought that 7-5 was our destiny. After the Louisville game I was sure of it. However, the Cincy game showed me something and since then the team has played much better than I expected. This team is not as talented as ones from the past. Sure we have some great athletes, but the O line has yet to perform well and our d line lacks any kind of depth. The wins against Pitt and Rutgers and basically beating Cincy has made me really want to say some of the things I said about the coach. He has coached with a chip on his shoulder since USF and his team has played like it. Uconn, Pitt, and Rutgers were hard fought wins against teams that were every bit as good as WVU if not better and that is testament to Bill Stewart and staff.

Lots of talk about Playoffs and such by the talking heads and I'm sure Albom and his boys will be screaming for UC and TCU. One question....name one fucing player on UC and TCU. I know WVU fans can name players for UC, but can you casual fans name one TCU player without looking it up real quick? I don't think so. And I don't think Albom or any of those other guys can either. In the sweet 16 we all love the cinderella but we want UK and UNC in the chapionship game with UCLA and Kansas as their final four counterparts, and everyone wants to shill for TCU but they really don't want to see them play bama. Lastly, lets not forget that these are the same people who say Notre Dame being good is great for college football. They're all uninformed starfuckers who should stick to the NFL and pro baseball and leave my sport, god's sport alone the way it is.

Peace..........and the dude continues to abide as the snow falls in Buffalo.

Game 5: Syracuse

I'm not handing out grades or anything on this one because it was just silly. We played a team that is not that talented and has QB that did not play football for four years. They are a joke and yet again instead beating the living shit out of them we just politely pounded them for 2 quarters and then just hung out on the field for the second half. Its getting old. Every now and then you need a good angry beat down. Its been almost two years since I have had one.....

Game 4: The big 12 refs come back for more

For the second time this season the Big 12 refs came to Morgantown to ref a game and for the second job I thought they did a piss poor job. I was actually at this one and got to watch what I wanted to watch instead of having it dictated by the espn camera. I have to be honest...I have been forced to watch Chick Flicks with less holding than that game. There were a couple of times that Josh Taylor's jersey was practically being ripped off by an offensive lineman and there was no call. In the end it was a win on national TV, but the lack of calls and all the fumbles in the first half left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

QB: JB had his worst game on Thursday. His decisions were solid I guess, but the consecutive pair of sacks he took at the start of the third really puzzled me. That's just pocket presence I guess. The worst thing about it was how he missed a wide open Tavon Austin on the play before the sacks. Would have made the game much differently, but I guess that's the six points we gave back from the missed field goals. No interceptions however...that is a good thing. Grade C.

RB: I really think that little Daddy has his best games at night and he really likes Thursday nights. He's doing better at following the blocks and getting up field. The line is also doing better at blocking for him. Ryan Clarke and Mark Rodgers ran well too. Grade A.

WR: By far the worst day of the year for the wideouts. No drops but two fumbles in Colordao territory cost the team at least 6 points and maybe more. I would have liked to have seen Arnett and Tavon lay out on Brown's over throws too.

TE: Wow where has Tyler Urban gone? I guess we are using more FB and more 4 wide sets, but Urban has been quiet the last two weeks. Grade C.

OL: Expect more zero blitzes because its obvious from the Auburn game that Jarrett does not throw the screen well and our line does not pick up the blitz well. I know that eventually we will make some teams pay dearly for it, but as of this point both Auburn and CU accomplished the goal when they blitzed Jarrett with everyone. Grade B-.

DL: Not having scooter hurts for sure. Julian Miller got there just a little too late a bunch of times, but close only counts....well you know. Still need to get more pressure on this team. Grade C-.

LB: Reed played a great game defending at least 5 passes to the TE. He got beat a few too, but he won more than he lost. JT's fumble was a massive bummer, and I think the run defense had trouble with Stewart until they hurt him in the second half. Grade B+.

DB: Tandy and Hogan had tough days defending fade routes, comebacks and in routes or whatever McKnight was running. Good thing Hawkins isn't more accurate. And what kind of defense was that by Hogan on the run to the outside. I guess we now know why WVU doesn't play more man. Glover had some tough balls too where I thought he was in good enough position to defend them and he couldn't come down with the pick. I thought Pat Miller looked OK and maybe we should consider putting him in on 3rd and long situations....then again all of this would help if we had a pass rush however at times we did and still let them complete balls. Fact is the two work off of each other and if you can't cover for two seconds it doesn't' matter if you have the New York Giants D line.

I'm not stoked but for the third straight game we turned it over a bunch and still won. People that want blow outs should know that we will never blow a team out when we play defense like we do and turn the ball over that much. Once they learn how to put a complete game together someone will find the back end of the woodshed. Lets hope its soon.

Game 3: Auburn

I'm not going to write much about this one since it took place about a month ago and I really don't want to think about it. WVU totally let it slip away and everyone is to blame. Would have been a great win too for the conference. Oh well!

Game 2: 16 vs. 11 and we still won.

I didn't sleep well on Friday night, I won't lie. I really thought this was going to be a tough one for us. After one quarter it appeared that I was going to be right and I was not too happy even at the half. However, in the end, WVU pretty much dominated these guys. They only scored when we gave them a short field and the Big 12 refs did all they could to keep them in the game. I'm not into blaming officials on things, but this one had some blatantly bad calls, and its why I titled this one 16 vs. 11 because, at times, it appeared that we were playing against the ECU 11 plus 5 officials.

QB-Jarrett's play was a landmark...really. For the first time since Marc Bulger was here, we were a passing team. And for the first time in 11 years, teams are going to think twice about loading the box on us in order to stop Noel. I can't say how important the pass to Arnett was. In the face of pressure and off of his back foot Jarrett hit his man in stride for a TD. It was an Oh shit moment for ECU to, but they didn't learn their lesson. Jarret would burn them later on a big pass to Starks that was underthrown but still effective and yet again on a beautiful bomb to Tavon. He still runs with the ball too loosely and trusts his arm a little too much sometimes, but I can handle that. Overall I would have to give him an A-....it would be an A but the two turnovers on ECU's side of the 50 dock his grade.

RB-Noel hit the hole better but still danced a little too much. Notice all the plays out of the pistol? I did. I think its a good wrinkle, and I said before that Noel runs better out of the I. Granted its not the I, but he can still line up deep and have a little more time to pick his hole. We are still left side dominant with our running game and even then there were not many wide open holes. I would have liked to have run a little better, but the new regime wants to take what the defense gives ya and if that's 50 yard bombs so be it. Overall grade B-.

WR-In the pro's players tend to do a littler better in their contract years. Chance to get big money so you might watch a little more film, run a few more sprints, etc. Jock Sanders was close to being kicked off the team for his little run in with the law, and he appears to be out to prove something this year. In two games, he has not dropped an easy pass like last year and he is always open. Not only that lil daddy can thank him for an extra 5 yards or so on his longest run of the day because it was jock that was lighting up a corner to help him get the final five yards. Arnett's lack of production is still puzzling. Starks is emerging as a viable 3rd down target. Wes Lyons is back on the ER and I have to think that he can twist an ankle if someone says injury report. Tavon as a slot receiver just adds yet another hell athlete out on the field and makes us even better.. Overall grade A-.

OL-Jarrett saw some defenders in his face and either got rid of it or made them look silly. Some blocks were totally missed on blitzes but that is to be expected. We are still left side dominant and teams know it. So does Noel and he looks for the cut back when running to that side since teams tend to overload against us to that side. We were honestly a few nifty moves away from seeing about a 4 sack day on Jarrett. But it always seems to go that way. We burnt them for it and that is why we won. In the end I still think it could have been better and will have to improve to keep the southern Alabama dirt off of Jarrett. Overall grade is a C.

TE-Nothing other than one TD catch by Johnson. Urban was un heard of. I think he was left to block more often than not because of the blitzes, but I honestly didn't watch that much. Hell he might not have even been in there or he could have been running routes all day long. I just know they didn't throw his way that much. Overall grade C.

DL-With Scooter going down soon and a guy I didn't even know was on the team playing the nose I thought they did ok. Julian Miller will have to be double teamed by most linemen and if we don't develop some sort of third down package that has either Lazear and/or Golbourne coming off the edge than Casteel is seeing something I'm not. We had 5 sacks and could have had about 10 had we been one second sooner. They stopped the run game pretty well, but the added athleticism really is a positive. Overall grade B.

LB-WE still have trouble with short passes and reacting off of play action. JT is a monster. Golbourne, and Goode played in well in relief and showed that our LB depth is not just a facade. I'm still looking for that classic Reed Williams pick this season where he takes the deep drop and stretches all of that 20" vertical to catch a TE bound pass. Hopefully we can see one at Auburn. Overall grade B-.

DB-Man there were a few passes where I thought they had it. Hogan almost got beat a few times and the pass in the endzone that they reviewed forever was a TD I would say. Lucky catch despite it, Hogan got his hand on it. Sands is doing a better job this year at rolling to the coverage. Overall grade B.

ST-If its not one thing its another. For the first time since RR was here we figure out how to cover a kick....now we can't field a punt. And there is nothing worse than stopping a team and then fumbling the punt. Its like getting a hot chica in the sack and being too drunk to get it up. Good thing the redzone D came through. Overall grade D.


Like I said above, if someone told me that we would fumble two punts inside our twenty, spot them an easy TD off a punt return, and have over 100 yards of penalties I would be thinking loss. I don't care how bad they are, but we played like shit and still won easily. That says something. The O line needs to play better and the LB's need to get more aggressive against screens and such for Auburn.

One other thing about the game that I forgot to mention about the game. I had to watch it from home and the camera quality was a little bit better than most of the vintage porns I have had the pleasure of watching. You think we could get something better than that at least.