—–

Truck had just turned the ball over and there was 13 seconds left in the game. West Virginia held a slim 3 point lead over Huggins old school, the Cincinnati Bearcats and then the inevitable question was asked by one of the announcers: to foul or not to foul.

The premise behind fouling, as many know, is that you only get 2 shots and you don’t need to be mathematician to know that 2 points does not make up a 3 point deficit. Of course, many things can happen and you can still find a way to lose despite fouling.

In this particular game, Huggins chose not to foul. UC decided to take the quick 2, but missed and the game was essentially over at that point. It worked out not to foul this time.

Against Baylor, WVU held a 3 point lead late and again chose not to foul. Baylor sank a 3, the game went to OT and the rest is history.

Two games, the same decision in the end and two different outcomes.

My assumption is that Huggins simply trusts his defense to get the job done…thus no foul.

Personally, I think I would take the chance and foul in these situations, but this Huggins guy has 700+ wins to his credit so it’s hard to argue with his decisions.

So which way is best – fouling or relying on your defense when up by 3? For the answer to this question, I have to turn to a place that is much smarter than I am: Harvard.

The guys over at the this unique blog focused in on the ’09-’10 college basketball season. Here were their findings:

In the 2009-2010 season, I found 443 instances where a team held the ball down three points during their last possession of a period (either the end of the 2nd half or an overtime period). In 391 of those cases, the team leading did not foul. In 52 cases, the team chose to foul. While the unequal sample sizes aren’t ideal, the 52 cases of fouling are significantly more than found in Winston’s NBA study (27).

Of the 52 teams that committed a foul, six lost the game for a winning percentage of 88.46%. Of the 391 teams that did not foul, 33 lost the game for a winning percentage of 91.56%. Both a two sample t-test of proportion and a Chi-squared test fail to reject the null hypothesis that there is a difference in winning percentage between the two strategies. In this sample, teams that did not foul won slightly more often. For the less statistically inclined, this means that there is no significant difference between the two strategies.

There you have it folks. This study basically concluded that it really doesn’t matter. Despite the numbers, I believe that I would still roll the dice and foul when up by 3. What would you do?

True, our historic Orange Bowl victory is only a few weeks old, the basketball team is still in the midst of league play and we’re not even half way through winter yet… but Mountaineer Nation can’t wait until September.

70 points? Are you kidding me?

All season long, we’ve seen hints and clues of what this offense was capable of. We knew it was a group of players, combined with an aggressive system, that could light up the scoreboard like nothing else we’ve seen in Morgantown.

We knew that if everything fell into place, and our boys played up to their full ability, then we could see something special. But 70 points? And with plenty of touchdowns left on the field out of pity for our opponent?

Granted, Clemson is from the ACC, and they seemed to give up after the initial onslaught, but putting 70 points on any team is an amazing accomplishment. And it bodes well for next year…

We all know how things are shaping up on offense. While it’s true that we’re losing a few weapons, this is definitely going to be a year in which we “reload” instead of “rebuild.”

Take a look at the following list of players:

Geno Smith – Jr.
Tavon Austin – Jr.
Stedman Bailey – (r)So.
Ivan McCartney – So.
Ryan Nehlen – (r)Jr.
Dustin Garrison – Fr.
Andrew Buie – Fr.
Shawne Alston – Jr.
J.D. Woods – (r)Jr.

Yep, all of these guys are coming back. As I mentioned in the Targets and Catches article, the Austin/Bailey/McCartney trio made up 62% of our receptions this year and 67% of our total receiving yards.

In fact, when the Mountaineers take the field next season, we will be returning 78.4% of our total receptions and 77.2% of our total receiving yards from 2011.

Add to that list an ever-improving stable of incoming freshmen recruits which includes multiple talented receivers such as Deontay McManus (4 star), Devonte Mathis (3 star, out of “WVU South” aka Miramar High School) and Darreall Joyner (an absolute speed demon, also out of the Miami area).

With this many weapons on the team, the big question becomes – what kind of offensive line will we have next year. After all, we all know that without an adequate O-Line, this offense simply won’t work.

As you probably remember, our offensive line had its ups and downs during the 2011 season. But, regardless of what anyone says, our linemen did their job when it was all on the line. This much-maligned group of “hogs” put up with the constant sniping and criticizing that was flowing out of the fanbase (myself included) and “did work” when all the chips were on the table.

For that reason, I have complete faith in O-Line coach Bill Bedenbaugh, and I fully believe that next year’s offensive line will be more than just “ok.”

Joe Madsen will return for his senior year at center, and Jeff Braun will be back as well. Josh Jenkins (who, if you recall, was a 5 star recruit) will retake the field after redshirting a year and Quinton Spain (a 4 star, by the way) will be just a redshirt Sophomore.

So there are four solid, experienced linemen who will have another year of the airraid offense under their belts. You’ve also got Pat Eger and Cole Bowers who have both seen significant playing time, as well as a few others who have game experience.

While I know it’s rare for freshmen to get much playing time on the O-Line, we’ve also got Tyler Orlosky (4 star) and Tony Matteo (3 star) coming in as a new recruits.

So, we’ve got the weapons, and we’ve got a decent O-line. And, maybe just as important, we’ve now got confidence in the system. Holgorsen, himself, said that it took most of the season to get the entire team to buy-in to the system and start playing as a cohesive group. Putting 70 points on the board against the ACC conference champs will do wonders for the team’s poise and conviction that, if they play hard and listen to their coaches, then they can do some pretty amazing things.

Defensively, we will be young but talented… and I’m not sure things look as bleak as some folks would have us believe. (More on the defense in a follow-up article in the near future.)

In terms of conference play, I think we’ll be set up for success regardless of which way the courts rule. If we return for another year in the Big East, I fully expect us to run the table. If we play in the Big 12, then it will certainly be tougher. However, I think the conference is shaping up to be just tough enough to keep us on our toes… it’s certainly winnable – with Baylor’s RG3 heading to the NFL, Texas still rebuilding, Weeden and Blackmon leaving Ok. State, and Oklahoma being not quite up to its usual standards.

2012 is shaping up to be a huge year for the Mountaineers! It’ll be time for spring football before we know it, and then just a few short months before the Fall season gets underway.

I can’t wait!

Interesting stuff, but here’s the part you’re probably interested in.

Targets = receptions plus incompletions targeting a given receiver. (NOTE: there is no target data for passes that were intercepted or for some throwaways. In the end, about 85-90 percent of passes have target data. I thought about adjusting for that in some way, but since it is the same for every team, I did not. Just keep that in mind.)

Catches = receptions.

Yards = receiving yards

Catch Rate = catches / targets

Yards Per Target = yards / targets

Target % = the percentage of a team’s passes targeting a given receiver.

Target No. = the rank of a given player in terms of his team’s targets.

And, of course, I shouldn’t need to remind anyone that the top 3 targets are returning next year. Those three guys, alone, accounted for 62% of our receptions this year and 67% of our total receiving yards.

“Can’t Wait!”

Mike Smith, who was a linebacker at Texas Tech while Holgorsen was there, has been unofficially named the linebackers coach. It is unclear at this moment, but it appears that he will also have a hand in coordinator duties.

Previously, Holgorsen announced the addition of Joe DeForest from Oklahoma St. DeForest will have a hand in special teams, likely will coach the safeties and will also likely be a co-coordinator.

This morning Football Scoop announced that Daron Roberts will move over from being the WR coach to coach the corners. Couple that trio with holdover Steve Dunlap and you’ve got the defensive staff in place.

—

Mike Smith joins the Mountaineers after being an intern with the NY Jets for 1 season. Before landing with the Jets, Smith spent 1 season as a linebackers coach with the University of Hawaii. Smith essentially has 2 seasons as a coach.

The flip side, though, is that Smith appears to be an “up and comer” and a guy with a great work ethic. He studied under Rex Ryan with the NY Jets. Ryan, as many know, is known as a defensive mastermind. He probably couldn’t have learned from anyone better.

DeForest comes to WVU from Ok St where he worked wonders with the special teams and also coached the safeties. But Mike Gundy hired a new defensive coordinator in ’05, ’07 & ’09 and DeForest wasn’t given a shot. I wonder why? The guess here is that DeForest’s role will be more so with special teams and the safeties and less with the coordinator duties, but I could be completely wrong.

Did Holgorsen make the right call going with two guys to run the defense with so little experience? It’s probably a bit of a risky move, but when other alternatives were out of WVU’s price range then Holgorsen has to turn to plan B.

The good news is that both Smith & DeForest have a guy in Dunlap that they can turn to should they need help or have questions. Dunlap, as many know, has been a defensive coordinator for many years. He led the Mountaineers ’96 defense to the #1 total defense ranking. Quite an accomplishment for little ole West Virginia who doesn’t get their pick of recruits.

—

What grade would you give Holgorsen for his defensive staff hiring?

“This is a particularly challenging time in intercollegiate athletics, given the chess moves that are being made,” Luck said. “I’m not sure, even as the dust settles, there will be a permanent solution to conference realignment. We need to make sure to protect, as best we can, West Virginia athletics and build onto what is already a great foundation.”

Those were the words spoken by Oliver Luck the day that he was named the Athletic Director at WVU.

It was clear from that moment up until the day that WVU was invited to the Big 12 that Luck was trying to provide WVU a better conference home.

Then why not the ACC? They seem to be a better geographic fit than the Big 12. The ACC was still interested in expansion since they invited Syracuse and Pitt in September of this year. The ACC also has more of our traditional rivals in VPI, Maryland, etc. It just made sense.

We’ll never know the real reasons, but rumors were that the ACC just wasn’t interested in us. Huh? So they were more interested in the raucous crowds that turn out for Pitt games? Um, yeah. Or more interested in the 43-77 combined record of the Syracuse football team over the past 10 seasons?

WVU has 3 BCS wins. The entire ACC conference has 2 BCS wins. TWO! Yet, WVU was unwanted.

The ACC had a chance to add to their total this season when the conference champion, the Clemson Tigers, played the good guys in the Orange Bowl. Well we all know how that one turned out. Kind of embarrassing, don’t you think ACC?

Ok, so maybe the ACC was more interested in adding basketball schools. Well, guess what? We provide that as well – we were just in the Final Four in 2010! We have a history of winning, just look up the numbers.

But if the ACC was really interested in adding schools for basketball reasons well they should know that just doesn’t work…does it John Marinatto?

Perhaps it was markets that the ACC wanted. Well, they went for markets the first time around when adding Boston College. BC sucks at all sports – you think anybody in Boston gives a crap about the ACC and is tuning in for games? VPI, which the ACC was politically forced to take, was the best expansion move they made.

Who wouldn’t want to add a school with this on their resume: ’06 Sugar Bowl win, ’08 Fiesta Bowl win, ’10 Final Four & ’12 Orange Bowl win. Not many programs can claim that amount of success over the last few years. WVU can.

ACC – what were you thinking?

2011 was a great year for our humble site, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2012.

Overall, we saw a 59% increase in traffic for 2011 (over 2010). And, if you look specifically at the August thru December timeframe (our busiest time of year), we saw an incredible 75% increase in traffic.

Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of our visitors come from the US. But, there is a small and loyal contingent from the UK and Canada. Overall, in 2011, we had noticeable amounts of visitors from 40 different countries, a number that balloons to 100 countries if we’re counting EVERY country that had at least one visitor.

Within the US, WV leads the pack in terms of sheer number of visitors from each state. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina round out the top 5. Florida, New York, Georgia, Washington DC and Texas make up the rest of the top 10. It’ll be interesting to see if/how these rankings change once we’re in the Big 12.

Additionally, we received significant amounts of traffic from EVERY state – Maine to California, Alaska to Louisiana. Mountaineer Nation truly stretches from coast to coast.

If we look at which cities sent us the most traffic, it’s no surprise that Morgantown is at the top of the list, but our top 10 includes Washington DC, New York City, Chicago and Pittsburgh. Our top 20 includes Houston, Columbus, Charlotte and Richmond.

In terms of “technology”, IE was (by far) the most popular browser, followed by Safari and Firefox. The iPhone is the most popular mobile device used to access the site, followed by the iPad, HTC EVO 4G and the iPod Touch.

Ironically, the most searched for phrase that brought traffic to our site was “wvu to sec.” Other popular search phrases were “conference realignment”, “wvu to big 12″ and, strangely, “bob huggins house.”

Facebook has been pretty good to us throughout the year, but so has wemustignitethiscouch.com and rivals.com.

I could go on and on with the details of our far-flung and diverse visitor base, but I think the above info does a good job of showing how our site has grown. It’s truly a labor of love.

So, cheers and thanks for the great year. But, be sure to buckle up – 2012 is shaping up to be a huge year… for WVU and for us!

With a team loaded with freshmen you’re going to have an up and down type of season like that. Nice wins and head-scratching losses. The big question that I have is if this team can get to 20 wins on the season.

I have a bet with fellow Pressboxer, Shane – I think we get to 20, but he disagrees. I realize that we have a team full of freshmen, but I have so much faith in Huggins that I think we can get it done.

Looking ahead at the remainder of the schedule, I have to admit that I think it’s going to be tough to pull out 20.

Out of conference, West Virginia still has to play Baylor, which will be a very difficult challenge and Marshall. Hey, don’t laugh – the Thundering Herd field a reputable b-ball squad this season and could very well make the NCAA Tournament.

Let’s assume they lose both of those games and win the other 3 out of conference finishing their out of conference schedule at 9-4. That would mean that we would need to go 11-7 in conference to get to 20.

It’s certainly feasible. Currently there are 6 ranked schools in the Big East. West Virginia only plays one of the schools twice – Pitt. If we lose all of those games we would have to win the remainder to get to 11-7. Included in those other 11 games is a home tilt against Villanova, a road game at Rutgers (always a tough place to play despite Rutgers never having much of a team), a road game against Seton Hall (who is playing really well so far this year) and a road game at Notre Dame (a place that we always struggle for whatever reason).

I still believe that we get to 20 simply because of Bob Huggins. The guy can just flat out coach and I think we will win a game or two against our ranked foes even though we may drop one or two against the unranked bunch. I’m also not giving up on the Baylor game – I think we’ll give them a run for their money. And I’m definitely not chalking up Marshall as a loss as of right now, so I believe that we’ll have more of a buffer coming into the in conference schedule.

Who wins the bet – me or Shane? Break the tiebreaker and share your opinion.

I could somewhat understand the disrespect against a program like Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. We had just blown our chance at a National Championship game appearance and our head coach had just left for “greener” pastures. Even I had my doubts that we would be able to pull out a win in Arizona.

I don’t recall seeing a poll prior to the Sugar Bowl, but I suspect it would have looked similar to this one with WV being the lone state picking the Mountaineers to pull out a victory. After all, we were playing the mighty SEC Champion, the Georgia Bulldogs. The tragic events of Hurricane Katrina forced the game to be played in Atlanta so the Bulldogs essentially had a home game. Also, West Virginia was the Big East’s BCS representative. The Big East, you may recall, had gone 0 for 4 in bowls leading up to the Sugar.

All we did was go out and win both games. Nobody believed, but us.

—

Just how good is Clemson?

Clemson made a steep climb in the polls early in the season with consecutive wins against 3 ranked opponents: #21 Auburn, #11 Florida St & #11 Virginia Tech. The first 2 games we’re at home.

Auburn returned 4 starters from last years team and finished this season at 7-5 (which should have been 6-6 with a loss to Utah St had they not choked). Florida St. was coming off of a loss to Oklahoma and was playing with their backup QB, Clint Trickett. Despite that the Tigers only beat FSU (who finished the season at 8-4) by 5. And Virginia Tech was the last win.

Many will argue that Tech is the best team that Clemson played this year, but I will argue that they were not. Tech’s out of conference schedule consisted of: Appalachian St, East Carolina, Arkansas St. & Marshall. Not exactly murderer’s row there. In conference, Tech didn’t even play the highest rated ACC school in the preseason in Florida St. Their best win arguably is against 8-4 Virginia – A school that hasn’t been to a bowl game since the 07-08 season. One could also argue that their best win came against Georgia Tech, but they’re only an 8-4 team as well.

Speaking of Georgia Tech, that same 8-4 football team handed Clemson their 1st loss of the season, 34-17. Clemson would go on to lose 3 games on the season, one a head-scratching blowout to NC State. The 3rd loss, also in blowout fashion, was to rival South Carolina.

Look I’m a realistic person and fully understand that anyone describing our Mountaineers could make this same argument against them. The point I’m trying to make is that we’re not playing the ’85 Bears here. This game is not so one-sided that 3 quarters of America – and every state in America except one – should choose Clemson to win.

—

Our backs are against the wall again Mountaineer fans. It’s time to prove America wrong one more time.

Before I dive into the numbers let’s take a closer look at our opponent, Clemson University.

- Located in Clemson, South Carolina, they play their home games at Memorial Stadium (affectionately known as “Death Valley”) in front of 80,301.

- Clemson is a founding member of the ACC and holds 14 titles, most of any ACC school. The most recent championship is from this year where they hammered former Mountaineer rival Virgina Tech.

- This will be Clemson’s 4th Orange Bowl appearance. Their last visit to Miami was in 1981 in the National Title Game against Nebraska where they won 22-15 for their only National Title.

- Clemson is led by Head Coach Dabo Swinney. Swinney took over midway through the 2008 season following the departure of WVU Alumnus Tommy Bowden. Swinney owns a 28-16 record at Clemson, including a 10-3 mark this season. Swinney played wide receiver at the University of Alabama for Gene Stallings.

- Swinney is 1-2 in bowl games as head coach at Clemson. Clemson lost to USF in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last season and Nebraska in the Gator Bowl in ’08. Their lone bowl win under Swinney came in ’09 against Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

- Clemson and WVU have only met up one other time on the football field in the 1989 Gator Bowl, with Clemson earning the 27-7 win over the Major Harris led Mountaineers.

Now, onto the numbers…

My first thought in looking at the numbers was “wow!” Vegas has Clemson as a 3.5 point favorite so I expected the statistical categories to be more evenly matched, but of the 16 categories Clemson only has the edge in 4. I honestly didn’t expect that.

None of the 4 that Clemson has the edge in bothers me at all (except 1). Scoring defense is essentially a push so I don’t necessarily see that as an edge for Clemson. Rushing offense? Sure, I think it’s important for Holgorsen to be able to run the ball, but I don’t think this category will make many Mountaineer fans cringe at all.

I fully expected Clemson to have the edge in punting, but really this is a push too (despite the Clemson being 11 spots ahead of WVU, the difference is less than a yard – 35.07 compared to 34.59 for WVU). The only category that Clemson has the edge that gives me pause is turnover margin. Turnovers have again been a problem for West Virginia again this year and in order to come away with a win in the Orange Bowl we’ll need to win this very important statistic.

When Clemson lost this year the opposing team managed to get pressure on Clemson QB Tajh Boyd. Clemson gave up a combined 12 sacks in the 3 games that they lost this year. WVU ranked 30th in the nation in sacks and had 10 in one game against Pitt.

Defensively, Clemson doesn’t appear to be special at all. Aside from the 2 games against Virginia Tech, all of their opponents except 1 scored at least 19 points (5 scored in the 30′s & 1 in the 40′s).

Individually, true freshman Sammy Watkins is their go-to guy. He ranks 16 in the nation in receiving yards per game and is 4th in all purpose yards. Watkins also checks in at 21st in kickoff returns per game – this will be a key area to watch.

Overall, based on the numbers, I like our chances of coming away with a win. Get pressure on the QB, win the turnover battle and don’t do anything stupid on special teams and we’ll leave Miami as the Orange Bowl Champions.

It was written by Bob Hertzel for the Times West Virginian and was so incredibly foolish that I had to take a few minutes to respond.

If you haven’t read it yet, I would certainly encourage you to do so… if for no other reason than to see just the kind of backwards, timid, weak willed, xenophobic thinking the WVU administration is up against.

The point of the article is -

This is about a leadership group of President Jim Clements and athletic director Oliver Luck taking West Virginia where it doesn’t belong, moving into places where it does not fit.

…

This is about an attitude that has permeated the entire athletic scene at West Virginia, an attitude that has everyone believing it is something it is not. It is not Texas or Oklahoma, not Michigan or Ohio State.

It shouldn’t want to be any of those, either, yet that is what we are all caught up in.

So, you can already see how this article is going to unfold. Hertzel is claiming that WVU should not even desire to be among the ranks of the winningest programs in the history of college football. You see, being a big time school with a big time program is simply a place that WVU “doesn’t belong” and “does not fit.”

He continues:

Athletics at West Virginia has come to be about building facilities instead of building teams. It is about television instead of education and money instead of victories.

Yes, it has. In other words, it has kept up with the times. Name a school that hasn’t gone this route that is still relevant in today’s world of college athletics.

It’s about fancy uniforms instead of fancy championship rings, and that is what’s wrong. We sing “Country Roads,” but we seem to be yearning for the glitter of the big-city lights.

That first sentence really kills me. He’s insinuating that because WVU is upgrading its facilities, uniforms, etc, then it’s focus on championship rings has diminished.

First, what kind of championship rings are we talking about? National championship rings? If so, well, how did the old style of thinking work out for us? You know, back before we were so overly focused on fancy uniforms? I’ll tell you how – it got us a position as the winningest program in college football without a national championship.

Are we talking about conference championships? If so, then Rich Rod (whom many see as the epitome of what’s wrong with college sports) got us a few of those rings, while laying the foundation for the “fancy uniform” focus.

There is nothing wrong with reaching for the stars, but not if it takes you out of your element…

Wow. Just let that one sink in for a minute. Go ahead, reread it.

Hertzel is saying that you should only “reach for the stars” if you’re nice and comfy in your own little element… you should only take chances if you’re firmly ensconced in familiar surroundings and actions. In other words, don’t risk anything too crazy, don’t take any chances – comfort and familiarity trump great risks and rewards.

I mean, seriously? At the risk of sounding like a political talking head, is there anything more un-American than that statement? What an absolutely pathetic view of things. “Ohhh, be careful guys, don’t rock the boat while chasing your dreams. It’s much better (and safer) to just keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

It is this line, out of the entire article, that enraged me to the point of wanting to write about it.

I could quote any number of brave, strong, important figures throughout history that would invalidate Hertzel’s sickeningly timorous comment. I could go on about how I think this type of thinking is symptomatic of much bigger, national, problems… but I think the statement stands on its own as a shining example of just how weak and timid many people have become.

It literally makes me want to spit.

But, he isn’t done with his limp-wristed whining.

West Virginia was successful running the football because running hard is physical and that is the way of life in the area. This is the land of the pickup truck and the hunting rifle, a land of coal miners and coal mines.

Who, exactly, does he think is playing on the field? News flash – it isn’t a bunch of good ol’ country boys from the valleys of West-by-God-Virginia. It’s mostly kids from urban and suburban Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And, of course, a lot of playmakers from Florida. (Miami, no less… the antithesis of WV.)

These kids couldn’t care less about pickup trucks and hunting rifles. Most of them don’t particularly care about coal. They’re here to play ball. Now, since I doubt Hertzel has ever gone to a football game outside of WV, I’ll give him a pass on this next point. But, in all the states that matter for recruiting – FL, TX, OH, PA, etc., they don’t usually run a lot of hardnosed offenses. There’s a lot of speed, there’s a lot of spread… and, believe it or not, there’s a lot of passing.

You don’t win athletic events if you are recruiting players to whom having a fancy $24 million practice facility is an important item, one that would sway them to go elsewhere if you didn’t have it.

Athletes who are happy you gave them a pair of sneakers are far more likely to give their all for the alma mater.

Tell that to the programs that have fancy practice facilities and who are, oddly enough, winning most of their games.

God, this ridiculous line of thinking is unbearable. He apparently believes that if we just go back to the way things were thirty years ago, things will magically fall into place. Hell, who needs four and five star recruits anyways? I mean, only teams like LSU, Alabama and Ohio State are concerned with that kind of stuff, and we all know how they turned out… oh, wait a minute…

Any coach will tell you “it’s not about the X’s and O’s, it’s about the Johnnies and Joes.” In other words, it’s about personnel. And, while it’s true that even lowly ol’ WVU can stumble across a superstar two or three star recruit – the proverbial diamond in the rough – your chances are much better if you actually bring in the highly rated players. To do that, you’ve got to have nice facilities.

Like it or not, recruits pay attention to this kind of stuff. (Did you catch the ESPN segment about the head coach offices in places like LSU and Alabama? About how they’re designed to impress recruits?) We can talk about Mountaineer Pride all we want. But, the reality is that kids want high-tech, whiz-bang facilities and programs.

You want to play in the Big 12, which probably means your recruiting base is going to move westward, but there isn’t a kid in Oklahoma or Texas who emotionally cares about or follows West Virginia any more than there is a kid in West Virginia who cares about or follows those Big 12 teams.

Again – So what? We’re not getting our recruits from WV. Do you think any of our Florida recruits “emotionally cared” about WVU before they arrived? Additionally, none of our existing recruits are likely to have any deep-seated reverence for West Virginia, anyway. True, they may grow to appreciate the unique situation that is WVU football, but none of them “emotionally cared” about the state or the university when they committed to play there.

Plus, Texas is one of the premiere recruiting grounds in the nation. Joining the Big 12 opens that pipeline up considerably.

We can’t go back and change anything now, but the situation has to be addressed at the highest levels, for West Virginia is what it is and that is said not to point out what it isn’t, but simply to emphasize that it is a way of life, an attitude, something that cannot be allowed to slip away.

Another enraging bit of idiocy. According to Hertzel, we’re stuck where we’re at… it’s no use trying to improve our station in life. After all, WVU “is what it is.”

I could ramble on and on about the problems I see with this kind of thinking. But, it’s probably bad for my heart to get my blood pressure this high. So, allow me to wrap this up…

Look, I’m just as upset about our football performance as everyone else is. And, as one of the most vocal anti-Stew snipers on the web (and, one with a sizeable platform from which to spout my opinions), I’m particularly sensitive to how our new head coach is doing.

But, I know the program is moving in the right direction. Notably, the scramble to get out of the Big East. Granted, the Big 12 isn’t ideal, but it’s much, much better than the alternative. Additionally, we’re finally getting away from the “aw shucks, we’re just humble ol’ WVU” mentality and trying to morph into a program that acknowledges its roots, but also recognizes the fact that we absolutely must keep up with the other major players across the country.

The only thing that truly frightens me about WVU’s future is the constant yearning from many in the media to return to the way things used to be. Luckily, I think we’ve got people in charge who can see beyond the emotional nostalgia-based nonsense and guide us to where we need to be.