WVU / Marshall

Well, I didn't really get to talk about it earlier because I despise Lou Holtz but the WVU/Marshall game went about as expected. I said it the other day and I'll repeat it: This isn't a rivalry yet. It's only the 6th game between the two teams and the second in 83-years. WVU is 6-0 against Marshall. That doesn't necessarily make a rivalry.

But, if a rivalry is built purely of hate, than perhaps it is. I'm not sure I've ever seen as much unadulterated hatred at a Mountaineer game like I did this weekend. When VTech came to town, or Pitt comes to town, it's similar but this had a completely different feel. I can't put my finger on it but there was hate in Morgantown. I don't think I've ever seen as many shouting matches in the stands as I did during that game. It was really wierd.

And, apparently the teams picked up on the vibe because they came out fired up. I thought we were going to see a fight after the kickoff. Marshall came out extremely thuggish and I do believe I saw a punch thrown. That's the danger of playing teams that have nothing to lose...they can try to bait you into things like that. And I believe that was part of the Marshall gameplan.

But, WVU methodically tore apart the Marshall defense and stifled their offense on the way to an easy 42-10 victory. Steve Slaton was awesome with 203 yards on 33 carries. Pat White's arm looks improved as he threw for 168 yards on a 10-14 effort. The defense looked stout against the run but I still have some secondary worries for later in the season...especially when looking ahead to Louisville. But there is a lot of time to improve before then. All in all, a very impressive effort.

As for the rest of the Big East, it was a good day. Pitt dismantled Virginia and Rutgers defeated North Carolina. Unfortunately Syracuse lost of Wake Forest but the Big East was 2-1 against the ACC...which is nice. Other than the Cal loss, there weren't too many shocking things in college football on Saturday. I didn't believe Notre Dame is the #2 team in the country before last night and I definitely don't believe they are now but that's an argument for another day.

Lastly, in case you missed it, Ben Roethlisberger is out for the opener and will be taken week by week. Emergency appendectomy will do that to you. So, his rough summer continues.

Oh, and please write ESPN and ask them to get rid of Lou Holtz: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/espntv

Oh, and Boston is 8 1/2 behind the Yankees. That's a shame...