Keys to victory for WVU

• Get ahead early. Don’t allow ECU to build any confidence. With all the internal issues going on in their locker room, create doubt early.
• Force field goals. Kicker Ben Hartman is two for six this season – all misses under 39 yards.
• Rely on the ground game until the Pirates commit eight in the box, and then pass them out of it.
• Sound pass defense. Force Patrick Pinkney and Chris Johnson to run and make a statement to the national pollsters that the D is as scary as the O.

Keys to victory for ECU

• Force WVU to pass the ball by putting eight in the box and shutting down the run.
• Play assignment football with great open field tackling. White and Slaton will force you to play well in space with the sophisticated spread offense, or look real silly, real fast.
• Go to the air early. Create doubt on the sidelines by exposing an unproven defensive secondary.
• Slow down the game. Keep your offense on the field as long as possible and limit the number of possessions WVU has the football.

..and he’s a WVU FAN!!!!! Now I can die a happy Mountie fan. Er, wait, that might be Devine.. sometimes I get the two confused.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then don’t worry about it.

I found this on Pinfall Marks site, so I’m not sure who the pic belongs to ( if the author of this pic is around, please email me) but I had to post about my favorite WackPack’er and now my favorite Mountaineer fan. God, I hope he’s coming to Morgantown this weekend. Click the image for a more glorious view of the my main Pimp BeetleJuice.

Zoltar tell me what to think.

MountaineerBob’s Picks for Week 4:

My Top Ten Picks:

1. Washington 14 - USC 34
2. South Carolina 27 - LSU 32
3. Florida 38 - Mississippi 17
4. Oklahoma 28 - Tulsa 32
5. WVU 54 - ECU 17
6. Arizona 30 - Cal 38
7. Rice 10 - Texas 58
8. NorthWestern 7 - Ohio State 34
9. Iowa 14 - Wisconsin 24
10. Penn State 7 - Michigan 34

I’m pulling for a couple of upsets this week to get WVU back in the big 4 and to knock the Penn State folks back to earth.

My Big East Picks:

• UConn 23 - PITT 27 (line: Pitt -10)
• Syracuse 14 - Louisville 42 (line: Louisville -37)
• UNC 17 - USF 36 (line: USF -13.5)
  
• Marshall 12 - Cincy 54 (line: Cincy -24.5)
  

Looks like all home teams win in the Big East this week. (bye: Rutgers)

JWilson’s Picks

1. usc over wash
2. South Carolina over LSU in upset of the week
3. Fl over Mississippi (unfortunately)
4. OK over Tulsa
5. WVU over ECU
6. Cali over Az
7. Texas over Rice
8. OSU over NW
9. Wisc over Iowa
10. Michigan upsets PSU (I want Michigan to win because I want them to feel like it is a wasted win)

Big East

• Lou over Syr (are they in the MAC yet?)
• SF over NC
• Conn over (under the arm) pitt
• Cincy over Marshall

WVU 48 - ECU 21

Hate our picks? Think we are full of it? Then feel free to post your picks.

Got this story from the wire this morning. Looks like coach Rod is feeling generous (or realizes we might need these guys down the stretch)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia reinstated cornerback Ellis Lankster and linebacker J.T. Thomas, who were arrested last month for receiving stolen property, after the two agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program.

A pretrial diversion program often involves a tradeoff of no jail time and a dismissal of all charges if a defendant stays out of trouble for a certain period. Details of the agreement weren’t released Thursday.

Coach Rich Rodriguez said both players will be in uniform for Saturday’s home game with East Carolina but won’t start.

Rodriguez suspended them indefinitely after Thomas, a redshirt freshman, and Lankster, a junior, were charged Aug. 19 with transferring and receiving stolen property, which police said was a laptop computer.

The pair were arrested after an 11 p.m. curfew set by Rodriguez. Both players apologized Thursday in a statement released by the university.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

I’m hoping Lankster can add some depth to the D, which seems to be improving with every game. Maybe he’ll have something to prove? Do you guys think they should have been reinstated?

My take on Herbstreit’s Top 5 after Week 3

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. Penn State

1. USC
Why he’s right: Loads of talent on both sides of the ball, they absolutely destroyed Nebraska at home, and Pete Carroll
Why he’s wrong: Pac-10 is a two horse race at best with USC and Cal, AGAIN…maybe Oregon can make some noise, but the Trojans’ road ahead is looking pretty soft, esp. with ND still looking for its first win…and offensive TD and UCLA getting trounced by the Utes. The Bruins’ loss has to be just as bad for USC as the Louisville loss was for WVU.

2. LSU
Why he’s right: They’re the best team in the best division in the nation’s best conference. They’re efficient and lethal on offense and the D is just sick. Not to mention one of their best defensive players, Glen Dorsey, is back in the line up. Their first true test is this weekend. Can they sustain their dominance against the Ol’ Ball Coach and the Gamecocks?
Why he’s wrong: They should be #1.

3. Florida
Why he’s right: Reigning champs, Tim Tebow and the spread offense. Hugh conference win against arch-rival Tennessee, although the Vols are quite what they used to be…still an impressive win.
Why he’s wrong: Not sure there’s much competition in the SEC east.

4. Oklahoma
Why he’s right: Potent offense mixed with a fast, dominant Defense.
Why he’s wrong: OU probably has one of the softest schedules of the top ranked teams. The Big 12 is the fourth best conference, barely a step above the ACC. Their toughest game MIGHT be against Texas, but I think they won’t be challenged until Texas A&M.

5. Penn State
Why he’s right: Got to have a Big 10 team in the top five, otherwise it just wouldn’t be right. Right?
Why he’s wrong: 3 Reasons: 1. Schedule, schedule, schedule… FIU (120), Temple (119), and Buffalo (109) plust Notre Dame, whose offense is ranked near the bottom of Div. I. 2. Schedule, schedule, schedule…Their toughest games are at home with OSU and Wisconsin. 3. West Virginia, Ohio State and Boston College.

Notables:
Herbstreit says WVU misses out of the Top 5 because of their Defense. I can’t argue with the too much, we’re giving up too many Red Zone TDs and passing yards…but HOLD THE PHONE…I saw something different with the D in the second half of the Maryland game. After allowing Maryland to pass at will in the first half, the Defense made adjustments and shut them down in the second half. We’ll see if this carries over into the ECU game. The D should be up for the challenge against a far better QB than what MD had.

What are your thoughts? Agree/Disagree?

Who’s your Top 5?

In honor of National Talk like a Pirate Day I thought it would appropriate to share a few rumblings from within the ECU Pirate Ship…or Pirate Nation as they call it.

The athletic director Terry Holland is dealing with some mutiny.

Head Coach Skip Holtz is bashing on the skaliwags:

“Though there were some nice individual performances, I don’t think anyone really played for four straight quarters. We came into the game wanting to start fast and we had our best offensive opening drive of the season. However, we drove down the field only to miss the field goal. Our focus was where it needed to be and the crowd helped out with that. I don’t think we handled the momentum swings in the game very well and in the second quarter, everything seemed to be against us. We regrouped at halftime and came out like gangbusters but again didn’t handle the momentum swings very well, especially the third down they converted to keep that drive alive at the end of the quarter. We need to be able to stop 3rd-and-15 if we want to get a win.

And threatening people with “shwabbing the deck duty”:

It’s time to start holding people accountable. We are in the midst of discussing some changes right now at a couple of positions. If we can’t create a winner three weeks in a row it’s time to ask if we are playing with the right people.

I hope they keep up this fight over the booty up while the Mountaineers are busy taking it on Saturday.

Not literally, but with Louisville dropping the ball on Saturday, the Mountaineers may as well be 3-0-1. This has become obvious as WVU continues to drop in the rankings (it feels like WVU could go 12-0 and be ranked 13th at this rate). I’m not one to put a lot of faith in polls this early in the season, but unfortunately they are important to national exposure and the BCS. For instance, if WVU wasn’t ranked where they are, there is no way that ESPN would have moved the game to show it on Saturday against one-win ECU.

It’s bad when non-Mountaineer fans realize how painful that loss was. I don’t make it a secret that I am a WVU fan living in South Carolina. Hats, ties, license plates, flags… so anytime someone has a comment about WV, I hear it. Fortunately, it has been mostly positive and you would be surprised the number of “flying WVs” I see around Charleston, SC (no one is really from here, I think the WVU fans just missed the Myrtle Beach exit). Lately, the word has been… “I can’t believe Louisville lost, you guys are $%@*$ed.” Even Sports Illustrated pointed out the importance of the Louisville – WVU game in their college preview edition.

It would be different had they lost to USC/LSU/Florida/Oklahoma… but Kentucky? Before the game the Cardinals had a five year winning streak on their in-state rivals, and not since 1977 have the Wildcats beat a top 10 opponent.

Not only was it important for Louisville to be undefeated for the November 8th matchup, but Brohm needed to continue his Heisman run. He may not be out of the picture yet, but with so many teams with the potential to go undefeated (including TV Tebow), WVU fans need Brohm to keep play well …same with Rice and Rutgers. What is good for them, it great for the Big East, and in turn excellent for the Mountaineers chances of playing in the National Championship.

I’m not saying buy a Louisville hat, but we should be hoping Brohm and company take out their frustration on Syracuse (are they in the MAC yet?).

If you were thinking of getting a satellite radio anytime soon, now is the time. I stumbled on a great show dedicated to College Football called Rivals Radio. It is on Sirius Sports 123 at 7am every weekday. Finally, a good daily sports show dedicated to college sports. It’s really entertaining and offers up some great commentary, just like this site!

Oh, and they don’t hate the Big East and LOVE WVU. In fact, I was listening on Friday on the way down to ACC-land and the host was going on and on about how they need to take the Heisman and just give it to Devine right now, and he wanted to even go back the past four years and yank them from the winners and give it to him. He’s all over Devine, it was great to hear someone talk positive about WVU and not about how we like to burn couches.

If you are a cheap bastard and don’t want to pay for satellite radio, you can hear the show on their website. Check it out.

Things are starting to shake out in the Big East finally. After a great 15 - 2 start to the season, the conference is starting to play like the rest of the league… as expected. Of course, you have to exclude Syracuse from this statement, they just suck.

WVU played very solid, although I was a little worried after the first quarter. The “O” line seemed to be asleep. Our halftime adjustments are perfect, in all three games so far this year we have just dominated the 2nd half. Not sure why we can’t get things going earlier. Devine looked incredible. he had the best stat at one point: after just 3 runs his average yards per run was 41.3!!! SICK! Like Russ said in a comment, “Maryland just got You Tubed!” He is going to be so good in the next couple of years, just imagine him as a junior.

Pitt blew a close one to Michigan State, which to me looked like a case of bad coaching and new QB (but to be honest I couldn’t pay close attention to that game because I was in ACC country all weekend and the bar I was at wanted to watch UNC.. ahahah UNC… ). Pitt had too many opportunities to win this one but in typical Pitt fashion they blew it. WVU needs them to finish strong this season and come into Morgantown with a bowl already locked in. I thought they played well with what they have and they should have beat Michigan State.

Lousiville = WTF??? I know their defense looked vulnerable during the Middle Tenn. game in week 2, but honestly I thought they would be able to handle this Kentucky team. The Louisville defense really needs to work out it’s kinks before it opens it’s Big East schedule and has to play WVU, Rutgers, USF, and even now Cincy. Did the “L” end Brohms Heisman dreams? Personally, I think that with the kind of numbers he is putting up, he’s still in the hunt, but it’s going to be hard for him to get the attention needed, but he did his job, it was their horrible defense that blew that game in the last minute.

How ’bout UCONN and Cincy. These two teams were not supposed to be as good as they are this year (jumping the gun a bit i know). Cincy looks great, the new coach must be doing something right. UCONN, sure they are playing cupcake teams like Temple (as will Penn State later this year) but they are still 3-0. Three or four more for each of these teams for a possible bowl. Let’s hope they can keep it up as they roll into Morgantown for a real game.

Got a good rant from Couchburner today

How do we keep dropping in the polls? it’s crazy. friggin’ PSU is 10th now after beating three opponents that are worse than the three we’ve played…and they’ve all been home games. crap i tell you, total crap. The only justice i see is Wisconsin dropping two spots after barely beating the Citadel. Alabama goes from not ranked to 16th after squeaking out a win against #24 Arkansas.

He’s right, more biased voting coming in from the “experts” at the AP and Coaches polls. Screw them, it’s too early anyway.