As I dive into this 24th and final regular season blog I have a confession to make.  Up until today, I haven’t attended a WVU regular season game since September of 1997.  In case you’re wondering, guys like Amos Zereoue and Mark Bulger were the stars of the team back then and of course Don Nehlen was head coach.  Confessions and nostalgia aside, the 23rd ranked Mountaineers (9-3, 5-2 Big East) did what they had to do this afternoon by whooping Rutgers (4-8, 1-6 Big East) 35-14.

Once again the Mountaineer defense stole the show as time after time they forced the Scarlet Knights into three and outs.  Also, from what I saw in section 100 (corner of the South End Zone), it seemed like the WVU defense was just to fast and athletic for the Rutgers offense.  Case in point, Rutgers quarterback, Dodd, would often drop back to pass only to find no one open and or himself in the arms of a WVU defender (Bruce Irvin was a shear beast today).

While the WVU defense indeed dominated the day, I have to give props to quarterback Gino Smith who once again had a great statistical day.  Smith, who completed 23 of 28 passes, for 343yds, and 1TD, seemed like a shopaholic at Macy’s with unlimited credit as he picked apart the Rutgers defense apart.  Now, if I’m giving props, I also need to give out a little criticism of my man Gino.  Smith absolutely has to be more decisive and run with more authority in the situation that call for him to run.  It just seemed like he was tip toeing down the field and once, he even fumbled going into the end zone because of it.

With their regular season over and what I understand to be at least a share of the Big East title (I’ll never understand how a title can be shared) WVU know plays the waiting game.  They have to wait and see how UConn fairs against USF later tonight.  If UConn wins, in my view they are the outright Big East Champs and deserving of a BCS Bowl.  Should UConn lose, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be couches burning in Morgantown tonight.

The end of the 2010 regular season is about to come to a close for the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3, 4-2 Big East) but not without plenty of drama.  Riding on what would seem like a meaningless game against Rutgers (4-7, 1-5 Big East) is the 2010 Big East Championship and a BCS birth (more than likely the Fiesta Bowl).  That said, everyone in the state of West Virginia are hoping for two things to happen this weekend; a WVU win and a Connecticut loss.

Based off of what I’ve seen, WVU should not have a hard time beating Rutgers this Saturday.  But, then again, we are talking about the Mountaineers who have not been the most consistent bunch of ball players in the world. As for the Connecticut loss, that may just happen because USF is a scrappy little team.  Also, what better does USF have to do than play spoiler of Connecticut’s “Cinderella Season”?  The answer to the aforementioned question is of course nothing, not ta, zilch, etc..

One final thought, tied into this game is also the WVU coaching future of Mr. Bill Stewart.  While it may look like I’m drumming up controversy, I’m really not.  You wouldn’t believe how many “fire Stewart” comments you read in the paper even after a win.  Not only that, people have been saying that WVU athletic director, Oliver Luck, wants to take the program to the top 10 level.  Sorry, but you can’t reach that top 10 level with 8 or 9 wins a season.  Theory is that after this season, Luck lets Stewart go, brings in a guy who’s a proven winner or has a big name, and begins the process of moving WVU football into the top 10.  Once again the outcome of this week’s game may determine the outcome of WVU’s current coach.

This season’s “backyard brawl” was more like a “backyard maul” as the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3, 4-2 Big East) dominated the Pitt Panthers (6-5, 4-2 Big East) 35-10.  With the win, West Virginia takes temporary possession of first place in the Big East championship hunt.  Of course, Connecticut is now in the drivers seat because the Huskies have wins over both Pitt and West Virginia this season.

Putting the Big East title aside for a second, I just have to confess that I can’t figure this West Virginia football team out.  Here’s a bunch of guys who barely beat Marshall, lost to both Syracuse and Connecticut but yet they go into Heinz Field and beat the brakes off Pitt.  If in inconsistency needed a picture to go beside it’s definition in the dictionary I’d be forced to offer up the Mountaineer team photo.  For whatever reason, it seems as if this team only plays when it wants to play and really can’t be motivated by any coach or sports blogger.

So, in spite of the major inconsistencies, West Virginia is in the best case scenario for a team that at one time was 2-2 in the conference.  All they have to do is beat what looks like a poor Rutgers team next Saturday and then root for Cincinnati or South Florida to knock off Connecticut.  I mean, if I’m allowed to confess twice in one blog, I was almost sure that West Virginia’s Big East championship hopes were destroyed after the Connecticut game.  For once, I’m glad that I was 100% dead wrong (I hope my wife, Kim, doesn’t read that I admitted to being wrong).

As I mentioned previously, up next for West Virginia will be the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers.  I believe the Knights just received a beat down of their own compliments of Louisville 40-10.  Indeed, it seems like Rutgers can’t buy a break having to follow up the Louisville loss with a trip to Mountaineer Field.  Even though I’m officially retired from the prediction business, I will say that this one could get ugly.  But then again, we are talking about the West Virginia Mountaineers who are the new prime example of inconsistency.

West Virginia (7-3, 3-2 Big East) and Pitt (6-4, 4-1 Big East) will meet for the 103rd time this Friday afternoon in what is known as the “backyard brawl”.  This rivalry game was given its nickname in part because of the two schools proximity to one another (about 75 miles apart).  Other reasons for the nickname include recruiting (both schools recruit heavily in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania), mascots (Mountaineers like to hunt big game such as Panthers and likewise big game, if hungry enough, would eat a Mountaineer), and school colors (both schools have a blue and gold thing going on).

This seaon’s “brawl” will be just as intriguing as the previous 102 (I’ve only seen about 23 total) before it because once again there are major Big East Championship implications involved in this game.  If Pitt wins this week and then goes on to beat Cincinatti next week they’ll be your 2010 Big East Champs cut and dry.  Now, if West Virginia wins, then goes on to beat Rutgers, and Connecticut loses to either South Florida or Cincinnati, then West Virginia will be your 2010 Big East Champs.  So, let’s just say that players on both teams want that Big East title as much as they want to beat their rival.  Oh, and keep in mind that the Big East still has a BCS bid and these two schools. like Connecticut, would love nothing more than to play in the Orange Bowl this January.

Overall, I think this one will be a rather low scoring contest with the winning team, which I refuse to predict, scoring no more than 17 points.  Both teams bring in outstanding defenses that from what I’ve seen are built on two different qualities.  West Virginia’s is built primarily on speed and thus the Mountaineers use their signature 3-3-5 alignment.  Pitt’s is built primarily on strength and therefore the Panthers use the ole

Despite all the grumblings about this WVU team and it’s head coach, Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers (7-3, 3-2 Big East) for the last two weeks have done what’s most important, win.  With this afternoon’s 17-10 victory over the Louisville Cardinals (5-6, 2-4 Big East) have now positioned themselves to earn at least a share of the Big East title.  Individual stars for today’s game were Noel Devine for West Virginia (23 carries, 58yds, 1TD) and J. Burke for Louisville (12 of 24, 145yds, 0TD, 0INT).  Honestly, this one was much closer than I expected it to be primarily because of the WVU offensive line.

For those who’ve been wondering why such a talented and speedy team is struggling through the Big East (which is the weakest BCS conference) look no further than the “hogs” up front.  Time and time again WVU quarterback Geno Smith finds himself under duress or scrambling around for his life.  I mean, sometimes he can’t even finish the second step of a three step drop without having someone right in his face.  The troubles upfront are not only during pass coverage but in the running game as well.  Devine was WVU’s offensive star of the day with 58yds on 23 carries.  Broken down, that’s a meager 2.5yds per carry (just enough for a 1st down on 4 carries).

OK, now that we’ve identified WVU’s main problem let’s jump back into this Big East Title chase that’s turned out to be quite interesting.  Boiled down, Pitt is in the driver’s seat with an overall conference record of 4-1 plus, the Panthers control their own destiny.  Unlike the other two teams with a realistic shot, WVU and UConn, all Pitt has to do is win out and the Big East Title will reside in Pittsburgh.  That said, I’m predicting next week’s “Backyard Brawl” at Heinz Field will fill more like a Bowl game than a regular season conference game.  Also, I’ll go one step further and say that the winner will end up being outright Big East Champ.  The “Big Ketchup Bottle” will be shaking because of the crowd noise next week for sure.

Here we are heading into the fifth game of the Mountaineers (6-3, 2-2 Big East) seven game Big East schedule and the homies in Morgantown sit squarely at .500 in the conference.  This week’s game will be another road test as they travel south west to Louisville, Kentucky to battle first year head coach Charlie Strong and the Cardinals (5-5, 2-3 Big East).  From what I gather, the Cardinals are a much improved team from last season and should put up a good little fight against the Mountaineers.  With home field advantage and the Mountaineers enjoying a cake walk against Cincinnati last week, who knows what will happen Saturday

This much I do know about the Big East, as a league, it has flat out been terrible this season.  I know, I’m just another “Sunday morning QB” or “Couch head coach” who’s repeating everything Jesse Palmer, Mark May, and the other ESPN analyst say.  Folks, I’m here to tell ya I’ve watched a lot of college football this year and there has been no comparison between the Big East and other BCS conferences.  Honestly, the only other BCS conference that I think the Big East could even compete with is probably the Pac-10 (no offense west coast homies, but outside of Oregon I’ve yet to see another dominant team).

After writing the previous paragraph, I ran upstairs to show it to my beautiful wife, and Mountaineer fan, Kim, to read and she gave me the reaction I expected.  She defended both WVU and the Big East and told yours truly that I needed more evidence to support these claims.  Well, I would now like to present exhibit A: The AP Top 25.  According to www.sports.ap.org/college-football, the poll for week 12 Not One Big East Team is currently ranked.  Heck, only One, Syracuse, even recieved any votes from the pollsters.  I’d also like to present exhibit B: Big East vs. Top 25.  To date, the Big East is collectively 1-6 against Top 25 competition (my brother’s Orange get credit for the conferences lone Top 25 victory having beat WVU back in October).

Once again I’ve managed to digress so let me bring this blog back to the WVU and Louisville game.  Believe it or not, WVU has a legitimate chance of winning the conference championship should the Mountaineers run the table.  Actually, Louisville has an outside shot at a share of the title should they win out as well.  So, for all the Big East bashing I’ve done, I’m forced to admit that there’s plenty of parady in the Big East (can’t quite say the same of other BCS conferences). 

One last thing, should the Mountaineers find themselves in the loser’s column for the fourth time this season, listen for the announcers to talk about Bill Stewart’s job security.  While it may sound like I’m subliminally trying to bring about a coaching change, I’m really not.  Stewart seems like a nice man and I could honestly care less who’s coaching in Morgantown.  I’m just trying to keep you, my prosportsblogging homies, up to date with what I hear in these West Virginia streets.

After Scoring a combined 35 points their previous two games the West Virginia Mountaineers (6-3, 2-2 Big East) were able to score 37 points in today’s much needed win(37-10) over the Cincinnati Bearcats (3-6, 1-3 Big East).  Showing signs of the offense Mountaineer fans loved during the first 3 weeks of this season, Gino Smith and company were able to score an amazing 28 points in the first half (the defense added a safety to make the total first half output 30).  Speaking of Smith, he once again had a phenomenal day under center.  Smith completed 15 out of 25 pass attempts, threw for 174 yards with 4 touchdowns compared to 1 interception.

As for Smith’s counterpart, Zach Collaros, who entered the day as statistically the best quarterback in the Big East, didn’t have as good a day as Smith.  Collaros completed 25 out of 45 pass attempts, threw for 221 yards with 2 interceptions and no touchdowns.  Most fans in Cincinnati will probably put a good portion of the blame for this loss on Collaros but, truth is the Bearcat defense was no where to be found in the first half.  The front four only applied a little pressure and the secondary didn’t stay with receivers long enough to make a play that would benefit the Bearcats.

While  we’re on the subject of defense, let me just say that in my 22 years of watching WVU football, this has to be the best overall defense I’ve seen in Morgantown.  If I may quote a line from “Remember the Titans”, this D is “agile, hostile, and mobile!”  The best dual threat quarterback in the Big East was held to an average of 4 yards per completion and didn’t have 1 single yard rushing (-26 with a long of 6 yards on the day).  Now, tell me that’s not impressive and I’ll tell you to rewind the DVR and then come holla back.

Today’s win over Cincinatti gives the WVU offense a much needed boost in confidence and Head Coach Bill Stewart at least a little more time on the sidelines.  I still hold to my belief that if this Mountaineer team loses one more game that they’re not supposed to lose (pretty much any Big East game or Bowl game against a non-top 10 team) Stewart will add to the 9.7 percent of the American public that is unemployed.  But, for now, Stewart and his crew are not so much worried about unemployment as they are the Louisville Cardinals and their new Head Coach, Charlie Strong.  Louisville (5-5, 2-3 Big East) just lost in overtime to South Florida 24-21 and will be ready to get back on the right track next week at Papa John’s stadium. 

Believe it or not, Louisville with three conference losses has just as good a chance to win the Big East as West Virginia with just two conference losses.  It seems like every time I turn on my TV or computer, the team that was leading the Big East loses to someone else in the conference (Pitt losing to UConn on Thursday is a prime example).  Thus, as cliche as this may sound, the WVU @ Louisville game (as well as every other game in the Big East) will be a very important game in regards to the outcome of the Big East.

As of 10:15pm EST the Memphis Grizzlies season record was 4-5 with the big bears having lost moments before to the visiting Dallas Mavericks 106-91.  In case you’re wondering, Jason Terry lead the way for the Mavswith 25pts, 1reb, and 4ast.  While Zach Randolph, aka “Z Bo” lead the Grizz with 23pts, 9reb, and 4ast.  With the particulars of this last game out of the way, lets get down to the nitty gritty in Memphis, Randolph’s contract.

See, this is the final year of Randolph’s contract in which is is set to make about 17 million dollars.  Now, that’s not a bad piece of change folks (wish I made an eigth of that amount).  But the thing is, like all top notch athletes, ole “Z Bo” wants more money.  Quick side note: I don’t know who originated it, but I love the nick name “Z Bo”.  Whoever thought to create a derivitive from one of the most popular extra characters in pop culture history, “D Bo” (the bully and Ice Cube nemisis from the film “Friday”), is a pure modern genius.

OK, back to the issue at hand, Randolph is reportedly asking for a 3 year 64 million dollar deal from the Grizzlies.  Last time I checked, neither side had anything new to report on the deal.  Once again I have to say that contrary to what my boy Ron said on facebook, I am no kin to Cleo the Psychic.  But, I will predict that the Grizzlies some how, some way, sign Randolph to a new deal by season’s end.  Here’s a guy who’s proven for the past 2 years that he is a legitimate All-Star caliber player.  I mean, just a few days ago he put up 23pts and grabbed 20reb in a 109-99 win against Phoenix.  On the year, Randolph is averaging 18.3 points and 15 rebounds per game.

With other key Grizzlies like Mike Conley and Rudy Gay already signed for multiple seasons, it only makes since to place the corner stone with them.  Albeit the Grizz are still a below .500 team with “Z-Bo” as its leader things would be much worse without the big fella.  GM Michael Heisley seems like he’s got the right idea by building a young/athletic team around the post talents of Randolph.  Let’s just hope he keeps his team as is, for the most part, in 2011.

Dual Threats await the West Virginia Mountaineers once they step into Milan-Puskar Stadium for their first football game in 15 days: Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros and a hot seat with Bill Stewart’s name on it.  Stewart is more focused on the former but I can tell ya, the average fan wearing blue and gold is more focused on the later.  Honestly, we all need to  become a little more bi-partisan and worry about both.

The Bearcats (3-5, 1-2 Big East) stroll into Morgantown fresh off a 2 week layoff as well.  Prior to their mini vacation, the Bearcats were molly whopped by Syracuse 31-7.  To be fair, Collaros did not play in the Syracuse game because he had suffered a knee injury the previous week against South Florida.  At last check Collaros was reported to have recovered from the bruised knee and should be close to 100% Saturday.  Collaros’ return is super important to the Bearcat football squad because he leads the Big East in every important QB statistic (he’s thrown 20 TD and only 4 INT).  Plus, with Collaros at the helm the Bearcat offense averages over 30 points per game.

As for the Mountaineers (5-3, 1-2 Big East) there couldn’t be a more puzzling team east of the Mississippi (Utah has to be the most puzzling west of the Mississippi after being destroyed by TCU).  Loaded with speed and all conference caliber players on both sides of the ball, the Mountaineers enter Saturday’s game on a two game losing streak.  The most recent loss, a 16-13 overtime heart breaker at UConn, has really made that “Fire Stewart” fan club grow 100 fold.

At the end of the day, neither the Mountaineers or coach Stewart can afford another loss.  The way the Big East is playing out, another loss and Mountaineer fans might as well say good bye to the 2010 Big East title.  Also, another loss will all but guarantee that we’ve seen the end of  Bill Stewart in Morgantown.  We often here sports analyst refer to a certain players as “dual threats” but, come Saturday afternoon, the Mountaineers will have to take on the “dual threat” of losing both the Big East title and their Head Coach.

The West Virginia Mountaineers will look to move forward following their stunning loss to unranked Syracuse 19-14 just six days ago.  Standing right in front of the Mountaineers are the hungry UConn Huskies who are looking for their first Big East win of the season.  Needless to say the Mountaineers really don’t have to remain hung over after having orange moonshine dumped down their throats by Syracuse (I used the orange moonshine analogy because after having tried raspberry moonshine, I’m sure it doesn’t taste that good).

UConn enters this Friday’s game with a 3-4 overall record (0-2 in the Big East) and arguably the league’s worst quarterback situation.  To give you the short version, UConn began the season with Zach Frazer, a senior transfer from Notre Dame, starting at QB.  Apparently he didn’t perform up to Head Coach Randy Edsall’s standards and was replaced with the troubled junior Cody Endres, who had started six games last season.  Endres then gets suspended from the team for reportedly failing a drug test.  With both veteran quarterback’s sidelined, Edsall went with redshirt freshmen Mike Box to lead the Husky attack.  At last check, Box went 4 of 12 passing for 35 yards and threw an interception in UConn’s 26-0 loss at Louisville.

If things look bleak for UConn at the quarterback position they only look a little better for the Mountaineers.  My man Gino Smith, aka “Junior Clutch”, was nowhere near his normal self during the homecoming loss to Syracuse.  For the first time in his short career as a starter, Smith threw for fewer than 200 yards and had more interceptions than touchdowns (1 to 3).  Also, add to the previous facts that Smith at times looked confused by the coverages the defense showed and held on to the ball to long resulting in either in completions or sacks.  Case in point, on the Mountaineers final play against the Orange, Smith took a sack instead of throwing the football into the end zone (Syracuse only rushed 4).

Despite all of the WVU offense’s flaws I still think its offense is better than UConn’s.  However, I will give the Huskies this much, they have a great tailback in Jordan Todman, who’s 140 yard per game average ranks him 5th nationally in that category.  Oh, I obviously have to give a nod to the Huskies’ O-Line because it’s nearly impossible to average so many yards without the big guys up front.  Still, I just think Smith, Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, Tavon Austin, and the rest of the Mountaineer offense will get back in sink and pile up a lot of points against UConn come Friday.

Not to slight anyone’s defense with this blog, I just fill like both offenses have something to prove in this game.   Believe it or not, this is a really huge game for the Mountaineers as they still have to play fellow Big East powers, Pitt and Cincinnati.  A loss here could quite possibly cost the Mountaineers a chance at the 2010 Big East Championship.  Moreover, a loss would also make the “Bill Stewart Haters Club” grow by a couple thousand members.  But, let’s not jump to far ahead, for now, WVU just needs to go up north and handle its business.  If the Mountaineers do that, all should stay calm on the West Virginia front.