The first game is in the books and the Mountaineers are, as expected, 1-0. Unfortunately, the game (or, more specifically, the first half) went largely as I had feared. After a methodical, if not impressive, first drive the Mounties slumped and struggled to put additional points on the board before halftime.
Our offensive line leaked like a sieve at times, our highly anticipated pass rush only made occasional appearances, and our play selection was certainly less than aggressive…
There’s something to be said for easing your starting QB into the season, but we’re not going to have an easier opponent with which to give him “real game” experience, so why not do it against Coastal Carolina?
There’s something to be said for keeping your cards close to your vest against an inferior foe, so as not to give upcoming teams a glimpse at your playbook, but going into halftime with only a 10 point lead against a bad Div-II school?
Luckily, the Mountaineers began to light up the jumbotron a bit more in the second half, but one has to wonder if that was merely a result of finally wearing the Chanticleers down and not due to some major change on WVU’s part.
As a Gazette article points out – The Mountaineers’ opening Big South victim last season, Liberty, destroyed the Chanticleers 58-13 in 2009.
Oddly enough, I’m not as upset/angry as I thought I would be. I truly believe we’ve got the talent to make a lot of noise this year, and so I’m willing to chalk this one up to an anomaly and give our coaches another game before pointing fingers. Especially when so many other “powerhouse” schools had mediocre days. Anyone that watched the games knows that Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, LSU and others struggled mightily at times.
So, I’ll smile about the fact that we pitched a shutout, acknowledge the good things, and gear up for Marshall, which is sure to be a much better indicator of what our season is going to be like.
John is the founder of WVUPressBox.com and is primarily responsible for the technical (behind the scenes) aspects of running the website. He also contributes to the original content and news links on those rare occasions when he actually beats the other guys to it. 
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The pass rush wasn’t able to get on track due to CC throwing the ball so quickly. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had Reggie White & Bruce Smith we couldn’t have gotten to their QB with them passing that fast. I think we’ll get a better feel for the pass rush in the Marshall game.
The offensive line – geesh! I honestly thought they would be better. I’ve read conflicting reports on how good/bad they were so I am anxious to watch the game again to see if they were as bad as I thought.
We could have easily scored 17+ in the 1st half, but we turned the ball over twice. Turnovers will kill any teams offensive momentum.
The defense looked great! The 3-3-5, speaking historically, is a slow starting defense. It doesn’t seem like we really get into a rhythm until the 3rd game in years past so it is an encouraging sign seeing them play this well this early. Hogan & Sands looked great!
I thought Geno looked good for the most part. I don’t have a big problem with us keeping it conservative in the 1st game. I’m sure the coaches have a feel for what he can do based on seeing him in practice every day and I’m sure they will open it up more later on. I don’t see any reason to let our opponents see our entire playbook in week 1.
Special teams looked great! KO return coverage & punting was very good.
My big concerns from week 1 are obviously the o-line & linebacker health/depth.
Plenty to work on, but also plenty to be excited about as well.
Horrible game!!! I saw nothing to be happy about. The only reason that CC didn’t score is because thet shot theirselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. This team looks worse than last years team at this point. They have alot of improving to do and that is going to be a tough task considering our inferior coaching staff. Let’s hope that things change drastically or we are in for a long season.
LOL!
Typical can’t handle the truth. I have not spoken with one person who was pleased with the game. Of course they have some sense to them.(3 of which were coaches)
You said “I saw nothing to be happy about.” We gave up ZERO points and less than 200 yards. Is that not something to be happy about? I bet even your 3 coaching friends would concede that point.
We won 31 to nothing. We doubled them in yards. Our special teams looked very good. After rewatching much of the game the o-line pass protected very well. Not to mention the defense was solid. There were TONS of positive things in this game. For anyone to say that there was nothing to be happy about is just an ignorant statement and one that will be dismissed by me (after a game like that) 100 times out of 100.
same thing as everyone else – this game answered some questions and created others.
1. special teams vastly improved even if against an inferior opponent. wasn’t it great to see kickoffs go into the end zone? how many years? punting – wow – two downed at the one. perhaps the smartest thing Stew has done is demote himself – but also reading that we put better athletes (starters) on special teams – so whatever it is, keep doing it.
2. defense – very nice to see the zero compliments of poor field goal kicking. biggest threats were shut down. three step drop was a killer which had me wondering why we didn’t play a little tighter on the receivers. they hit the TE some – a reflection on our linebacker flux – and we thought we had depth here. CC helped with bonehead penalties. Sands is a monster. Hogan’s pick was impressive. The D looks mid-season ready.
3. offense – so was Geno checking down? I kept waiting for a little more vertical to give Devine more running room. And I see no reason to save it for later in the season: Geno needs seasoning, pass routes need tweaked in game conditions, rather get some learning out of the way when they game is not on the line, teams have more to game plan for because we will pass – it is no secret. Brunetti heaved it up – went vertical – why not Geno? announcers said Geno had three options – did he predominately choose the safest? O line – protected Geno well – failed to open holes for Devine – have to watch video to see if CC was overloading the box – which is so points back to vertical passing game. still some bone head play calling – Brunetti’s first snap – in shotgun, running back to his left. everybody in the place knows the run is going right. i hope i never see that play again ever. didn’t Noel shine in the I formation?
hoping we let loose more next Friday. Marshall, good or bad, will have their ears pinned back
Someone needs to teach Geno not to telescope his passes. It was a glaring problem this first game.
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I’m still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in your next post thanks