Post by cviller on Oct 1, 2007 7:42:50 GMT -5
By BLAINE MYERS, Monday Morning Quarterback
Parkersburg News
MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia Mountaineers have not been able to carry the burden of high expectations.
In three of the last four seasons, WVU began the year ranked in the top 10. Each year began with optimism about a Big East championship, a possible undefeated season, a BCS bowl, and even thoughts of the remote possibility of playing for the national championship.
In 2004, a 6th-ranked WVU squad lost at Virginia Tech, helped by a defensive score for the Hokies. In 2006, the Mountaineers carried a No. 3 ranking to Louisville, and in a disastrous few minutes of the third quarter saw the game, and their season hopes, unravel. Later last season West Virginia had returned to a number 7 ranking, but again gave up a defensive score in a shocking upset loss to South Florida.
But last Friday night may have been the most disappointing of all. The Mountaineers wilted under the pressure of their high ranking and huge expectations. From the beginning of the game, they played tight. Passes the previous week which were on target were now being thrown at the ankles of receivers. In the first quarter, WVU committed three turnovers, and tallied a nightmarish six for the game.
And the center snap — one of the most fundamental aspects of the game — turned into an adventure. One bad snap led to a lost fumble. And then with WVU at the South Florida 2 with a chance to cut the deficit to 14-7 near the end of the half, a snap was airmailed over the head of quarterback Jarrett Brown. West Virginia had to settle for a field goal, and a chance to turn the momentum was lost. The only recent season in which West Virginia exceeded expectations was in 2005, when the Mountaineers finished 11-1 in a year in which they began the season unranked, and finished with a big win as an underdog over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
What do we conclude from all of this? Maybe the Mountaineers just weren't quite as good as we all thought and hoped they were. It is clear that they play better when not carrying the pressure of high expectations. If my theory is correct, this team will now relax, play well, and win all of its remaining games.
The irony of the loss was that the defense, which WVU fans might have expected to be their downfall, actually showed improvement and played reasonably well. There was the mistake in coverage leading to a long touchdown in the second quarter, but the defense created four turnovers itself, and yielded only 14 points. Most of us would have thought that would have been good enough to win.
Anytime you are competing against a team that touts the game as the biggest in their football history, you know it is going to be a tough night. Turning over the ball six times is not a recipe for success in those conditions.
But we must also give the Mountaineers credit for all the adversity of the turnovers and losing Pat White to injury —-they fought back and had a chance to tie the game in their final possession.
WVU was not alone. If you saw the long faces in the crowds of Oklahoma and Florida fans Saturday, you realized that winning them all in college football is very difficult indeed. Six of top 13 ranked teams went down to defeat. It should be noted that the perpetrators of the two biggest upsets —Colorado (over Oklahoma) and Auburn (over Florida) —are on the West Virginia schedule in 2008.
This Saturday: Syracuse University has had a fine football tradition. For some reason, the Orange wanted to run coach Paul Pasqualoni out of town after 15 pretty successful seasons. Since his departure, the Syracuse 6-22. Syracuse began the year with three one-sided losses, shocked Louisville in an upset, but returned to form last Saturday, losing at Miami (Ohio) 17-14.
The Syracuse defense does not have the team speed we saw from South Florida last Friday night, so I don't see them holding down the Mountaineer offense. West Virginia 38 Syracuse 17.
