LACK OF FIREWORKS MEANS NO BURNT COUCHES AT WVU

by Zach Smart


Just call me the “couch torch man.”

This Halloween, I’m bound to replace Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger (who may have the second longest fingers on this planet, second only to Syracuse freshman forward Mookie Jones), and Pacman Jones as the scariest beings to hit the wild Morgantown landscape.

The couch torching that takes place this Halloween will mostly be out of exasperation for the Mountaineers shortcomings on the gridiron.

There are no ghosts, goblins, or any other evil spirits haunting the West Virginia football team. No lingering effects of Rich Rodriguez’ loss. Nothing that Bill Stewart has really done to cause the Mountaineers’ stock to dip the way it has this season.

Nothing but a few pairs of size 13+ cleats, none of which are too easy to fill. Steve Slaton is running into new territory, establishing himself as a significant cog in the Houston Texans offense.

Noel Devine’s yards-per-carry have dipped from 8.6 to 5.7, and while his receiving numbers have dipped, significantly, there’s more to it to that in the backfield. Devine is less explosive. The holes aren’t wider than the Sargasso Sea, as they seemed to be at times last year.

The pyro-maniacs who lit up the “Devine Hype TNT” early this season did not take it account the lack of running room that he may have. An absence of some significant players and an offensive line that’s playing smaller has led to this. Those diehards and college football gurus alike projected that Devine would burst up the middle, sweep to the outside, and rip through the runways. They said that the pint-sized back would stake his claim as the NCAA’s fastest man.

Not so fast.

The loss of Slaton (A 2007 Heisman candidate), coupled with the loss of Owen Schmitt, has given Devine less running room while lowering the efficiency level of the spread offense. Schmitt, who’s now on the Seattle Seahawks, was a unique threat because of the fullback’s ability to execute key blocks and run the football. Thus, the NFL draft and 2008 graduation claimed many VIPs and thoroughly cleansed some essential components of the roster. Darius Reynaud, whose dynamic mix of brute strength and speed helped him emerge as Pat White’s favorite targets, has also been sorely missed.

It puts more of the onus to lead and produce offense on White, who thrown for 590 yards and hit his receivers at a 75-for-103 clip this season.

While Bill Stewart’s skeptics have certainly surfaced this fall (the cut-throat Mountaineer fans didn’t really give Rodriguez a memorable sendoff either), you can’t point the blame on the coach. There games where it seems the ‘Neers just flat-out haven’t been working hard enough.

Take, for instance, the East Carolina upset. WVU, blessed with an early no.8 ranking and college football odds looking good for WVU in the Big East after walloping Villanova, the 'Eers got clubbed 24-3. They looked lackadaisical on defense, allowing Patrick Pickney to throw the ball down their throats (22-for-28, 236 yards). Pickney has been lights out this year, but against Colorado, the pattern of matador defense continued.

At the scenic, Boulder, CO, the ‘Neers gave a career day to true freshman Rodney Stewart. Stewart, who hadn’t eclipsed 38 yards in the first two weeks, erupted for 166 yards on the ground.

As a Mafia man would say, “not (bleeping) cool, bro.”

The Mountaineers need to resuscitate itself and revive the season. While wins over Marshall and Rutgers (oh, how the mighty have fallen) injected some confidence, they need to run the table over these next few games.

An Oct.23 under-the-lights date with no.20 Auburn looks like a real litmus test for them.

If anything, it should be a chance to rehydrate the mindset they shouldered for much of last year.

Right now, the chances of the WVU faithful burning couches (out of joy) is about as likely as Ron Jeremy being warped in a dry spell during the mid-eighties.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/ncaaf_video/2008/10/07/tour.guy.wvu.SportsIllustrated/index.html

This is not good.