Post by cviller on Oct 3, 2007 13:03:37 GMT -5
Shawn Falkenstein
Morgantown, W.Va.
Fear not Mountaineer fans, in the immortal words of a 11-year-old red head with freckles, "the sun will come out tomorrow."
I know it’s cliche, but it’s true. I woke up Saturday morning and the sun rose in the East and it set in the West. By then I was feeling much better about West Virginia’s 21-13 loss to South Florida. Maybe it was because Florida, Oklahoma and Texas lost or maybe it was because Notre Dame was beat down for the fifth straight week.
You see, it’s all a matter of perspective.
I’m not about to throw the trump card of war, poverty and famine in your face, but I will say this, in the world of college football, it could be a lot worse. A whole lot worse. You could be a Notre Dame fan.
I heard the word "depression" and all it’s forms many times this weekend, and I will freely admit that Friday night’s loss dampened my outlook on life. But, it’s not going to stop me from looking, as Van Morrison puts it, on the bright side of the road.
In all, five top ten teams lost this weekend. No. 3 Oklahoma lost to Colorado, no. 4 Florida fell to Auburn, no. 7 Texas was upset by Kansas State and no. 10 Rutgers lost to Maryland.
In all of Division 1-A (that's right I said Division 1-A not football bowl subdivision) there are ten teams still searching for their first win. There are 47 out of 119 teams with losing records and just 15 that are still undefeated after five weeks.
That’s a lot of numbers, but what does it all add up to?
Well, hopefully it adds up to some hope. You see, it’s not over by a long shot. West Virginia still has a realistic chance to win the Big East conference and go to a BCS bowl. Is there anyone outside Tampa who believes the Bulls are going to run the table? They are a good team, but even after Wet Virginia handed them a gift basket full of turnovers South Florida could only manage 21 points. Rutgers is sitting in the cat bird’s seat and Louisville has so many problems not even Dr. Phil can help. So, that leaves West Virginia with a realistic chance to come back and win the league.
Maybe the national title hopes and dreams have been dashed, but with the season so young even that is not out of the realm of possibility. If West Virginia can finish 11-1 the Mountaineers could be in the national title discussion. If not, a third straight eleven win season is not so bad. That brings me to my next point. We’re all spoiled.
West Virginia did not get beat down Friday night, they beat themselves. The Mountaineers turned the ball over six times and still had a chance to tie the game at the end. Six turnovers and they were still in the game? Are you kidding me? South Florida should have won by 30, but they didn’t because the Mountaineers never quit and they have the talent and skill to stay in games even when they play horrible, and that was about as horrible a game as I’ve seen since 2001.
Over the last five years West Virginia has had more success than any other five year stretch in the history of the school. They've won 51 games to just 17 losses (including a 4-1 record this season) with only four losses since the start of 2005. The Mountaineers are 2-3 in bowl games over that period and have finished ranked in the polls at the end of three of those seasons.
All that has added up to great expectations, and with great expectations come great letdowns. But, really, do things ever live up to their expectations? Sometimes, but more often than not high expectations are only set ups for failure. Look at Tennessee, eight years removed from a national championship and the Phil Fulmer is constantly on the hot seat. Alabama fired a coach that won ten games in 2005 and paid $4 million dollars for a coach because it can’t stand losing to Auburn. Larry Coker was run out on a rail for averaging 10 wins a year at Miami.
There’s no reason to believe that West Virginia can’t compete for a national title next year or the year after. By every indication this program is going to be very good for many years to come. So, don’t let success ruin you, revel in the good times and don’t let the bad times hurt so bad.
Always remember there is a fine line between success and failure and we must all keep everything in perspective.
