Near Upset Saturday

So many near upsets...so many upsets that didn't happen. I don't even know where to begin. Maybe with Notre Dame/Michigan State because it upset me the most. And it wasn't because I had to hear the ND football players sing after the game despite how very, very badly they sing.

Michigan State had Notre Dame pretty much on the ropes. All they had to do was "take care of business" and finish off the game. Instead, John L. Smith turned into Don Nehlen and decided to run a conservative offense that quickly allowed ND back in the game. Michigan State just melted down...and it was just very bad coaching. Of course, if you didn't know that, you could watch Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Charles Woodson (?!?) on the Gameday wrapup on ESPN and they would tell you how Michigan State always melts down and blows the big ones.

Other than that, Georgia needed a last second touchdown to beat a horrible Colorado team. The Hokies pulled away late from Cincy. USC didn't necessarily look that great against Arizona...only getting 20 points. Actually, the theme for just about every game Saturday was start slow and then pull away late...I could say it about Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, West Virginia.

Now, speaking of West Virginia...here we go. I was pretty disappointed in the way the Mountaineers played Saturday. Due to our poor offensive play calling, Slaton only had 80-yards on the ground. Pat White had a career high in passing yards, which some people are going to say is proof is arm is improved but a majority of those yards came off screens or swing passes and not any good strikes down the field. Maybe that's the spread offense but I wasn't overly impressed because you don't need to play off a receiver or give any room at the line if all passes are going to be within 2-3 yards of the line. I'm not saying White didn't show some arm strength and accuracy, I just want to see the field spread North/South instead of East/West.

I think the offense is okay though. Some concerns but I think we can put up points. I just didn't like the variety of plays. As for defense, I'm not impressed. If ECU had a few better players, they would have taken that game to the end. Receivers were constantly open and the 10 yard cushion we give receivers will eventually be tore apart by some team. A team like Louisville will love the soft coverage we play. If Pinkney can throw for 247 yards, Brohm or Cantwell can surely throw for more. On a positive, the rush defense was stout, only giving up 41 yards.

Overall, I can't say I was happy with the ECU game. I have yet to see this Mountaineer team play 4 good quarters of football against any team. I'm not sure we have it in us to play 4 tough quarters. This is the major disadvantage of this easy schedule...we're not battle tested like Louisville has been by Miami. I'm not saying we can't win and can't put it together...I just haven't seen it yet. Hopefully we will by November 2nd.