Mountaineers end frustrating 2008 season

Thursday 25, December 2008

Andrew Little

As the 2008 WVU football regular season comes to a close, Mountaineer fans are still uncertain how first year head coach Bill Stewart and his staff will fair over the next few seasons. Many fans thought West Virginia was gearing up for another Big East Championship run that would likely end with a BCS bowl appearance of some kind. Many fans expected that our offense would carry the weight of the team as it seemed we’d be winning games by outscoring our opponents in shootouts due to a young and mostly inexperienced defense. Those expectations would turn out to be dead wrong as Mountaineer fans were left scratching their heads each week uncertain of what was to come.

The Mountaineers finished up the 2008 season with an 8-4 record. They finished 5-2 in the Big East and ended the season tied with Pitt for second place in the conference. Before the season started I predicted West Virginia to finish 11-1 and win the Big East, the only loss I had picked was at home against Auburn. Even though I had five games picked wrong in my season preview, to my defense WVU was favored to win every game they played this season. Preseason expectations had (Sr. QB #5) Patrick White as a top Heisman trophy candidate. A website was even made to help promote White, http://www.patwhiteplayshere.com/. Although White’s numbers weren’t as impressive due to the new offense, he still finished with a solid season.

Some fans and many experts consider this season as an indicator that the Mountaineers are on the decline. Those critics also feel that hiring Bill Stewart as head coach the day after winning the Fiesta Bowl in 2008 was a premature move. I believe that it’s still too early to decide what to expect in the coming years for West Virginia. Once WVU is able to get a few recruiting classes in that feature talented receivers, as well as duel threat quarterbacks with strong arms, then we can finally see how successful this new offense might be. The 2009 recruiting class already looks promising with a few top ranking receivers on board so far. The loss of fullback Owen Schmitt to the NFL was a much bigger loss than we expected. Not having a third down back led to many stalled drives and a few failed fourth down attempts in the red zone.

Overall I would grade this season as a B. Although the offense was a disappointment, it’s only because the new style offense takes more adjusting and more specialized personnel than many fans accounted for. The defense on the other hand was a huge surprise and quite possibly prevented this year from being around a .500 season. I think with most new head coaches and new coaching staffs you’ll have a first season when things don’t always go the way you expect. I think with the new system it’ll be a “one step back, two steps forward” type adjustment for the Mountaineers. After a couple years I think West Virginia will be back in BCS bowls and winning conference championships again.

This year the Mountaineers will take on the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Tar Heels finished 8-4 on the year and 4-4 in conference play. UNC started out the season hot but has lost two of their last three games, losing to Maryland and NC State. The Heels are led by quarterback (So. QB #13) TJ Yates who came off a midseason injury to lead the Heels to a winning season. Yates has completed 60% of his passes throwing for 957 yards and nine touchdowns with three interceptions. If Yates struggles, backup quarterback (Jr. QB #11) Cameron Sexton is a capable replacement as he filled in for Yates when he was hurt. Sexton has completed 56% of his passes throwing for 1261 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions.

Yates will most likely look for his favorite target, (Jr. WR $88) Hakeem Nicks. Nicks is UNC’s top receiver with 60 receptions for 1005 yards scoring nine times on the season. The Mountaineer defense will have to key on Nicks throughout the game. If we can stop Nicks then we’ll have a solid chance at shutting down their passing game. If Nicks and the receiving corps are able to exploit the holes in our 3-3-5 defense then it might be a struggle for the Mountaineer secondary.

The Tar Heel rushing game is led by (So. RB #20) Shaun Draughn who has rushed for 801 yards on 181 carries scoring three touchdowns. The defense will have to stop Draughn early and often to try to stabilize the line of scrimmage and control the momentum and pace of the game. .

The Mountaineer defense ranks 14^th nationally in defensive pass efficiency and 9th in scoring defense. Since our defense is our strong point, it’s important for the defense to stop Draughn and Nicks from having stand out performances; all while keeping a solid rush on Yates and not allowing him to have time in the pocket. If our defense can slow the Tar Heel offense and create some turnovers, then I think we’ll have a good chance of winning even if our offense is sluggish.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl marks the final time (Sr. QB #5) Patrick White will suit up as a Mountaineer. White has never lost a bowl game and looks for his fourth straight bowl win. White has finished the season completing 63.3% of his passes throwing for 1510 yards, scoring 18 touchdowns and throwing six interceptions. White has also rushed for 919 yards on 170 carries scoring eight touchdowns. When White isn’t running the ball he’ll look to (So. RB #7) Noel Devine for some ground work. Devine finished the year rushing for 1228 yards on 193 attempts scoring three touchdowns. If the Mountaineers want to have success on offense they’re going to have to let White work his magic with his arm and his legs. If Devine can turn the corner and get into the UNC secondary, then it might be a long day for the Tar Heel defense.

White will likely look to throw to duel threat (So. RB/WR #9) Jock Sanders. Sanders leads the team with 48 completions for 392 yards scoring seven times. Look for Sanders to also take a few of the carries to give Devine a break throughout the game. White will also look to (Jr. WR #82) Alric Arnett and (Sr. WR #81) Dorrell Jalloh for downfield passes. It’ll be important for the Mountaineers to open up a strong passing game to help balance the running game. If the WVU offense can move the ball downfield and convert on third down, then the offense will have a better chance putting points on the board rather than just racking up a bunch of total yards like many games throughout the year.

West Virginia is a 1.5 point favorite to win the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Even though the game is in North Carolina, don’t expect the crowd to be mostly UNC faithful. Mountaineer fans are a well traveled group for bowl games and often represent WVU favorably. When bowl games are within driving distance, Mountaineer fans often show up in droves. With this game in Charlotte, expect to see just as much gold and blue as you see Carolina Blue and white. If our offense is able to be successful then I think WVU has a solid chance of winning this bowl game. However if the offense is stagnant, then we’ll have to rely on our defense to keep us in the game. I’m expecting our defense to show up and slow the Tar Heel offense and force two or three turnovers. I don’t expect our offense to run and throw all over the UNC defense, but I do expect White to have a few breakout runs and big passes. I think this game will be a tough, close game, but I believe that West Virginia will win 24-17.

You can watch this game on Saturday December, 27^th on ESPN at 1p.m.