Post by cviller on Aug 28, 2007 9:29:46 GMT -5
By Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor
MORGANTOWN -- The nation's third-ranked team doesn't expect to have the 109th-ranked pass defense this season.
With Western Michigan visiting West Virginia to open the 2007 football season here Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Mountaineer Coach Rich Rodriguez said he is "excited" about the No. 3 Mountaineers' defense.
He isn't alone.
"We're a lot deeper in the secondary," WVU defensive backs coach Tony Gibson said Monday after the workout at Mountaineer Field. "I'd imagine, counting safeties and corners, we'll play 8-10 guys on Saturday.
"Last year in the opener, it may have been only 5-6 we were really comfortable with ... We're deeper in talent, and the schemes (WVU has tweaked) helps, too. It's a combination.
"We've got guys who have been around now, veterans, and getting a player like (Michigan transfer safety) Ryan Mundy, who's played a lot in big games, only adds to that. We can play a lot of combinations back there."
On the Big East Conference coaches' weekly teleconference, seventh-year coach Rodriguez said the WVU defense "has played pretty well" in preseason drills. ""I'm really excited about some of the things we've been doing scheme-wise, defensively."
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WESTERN Michigan Coach Bill Cubit's teleconference segment through the Mid-American Conference made it clear he doesn't expect his Broncos -- the MAC preseason pick for the league title -- to be awed at sold-out Mountaineer Field.
"It will be a monumental challenge," Cubit said, "but our kids are excited about going down there.
"I feel good about our guys. I think we'll play hard.
"Kids around here traditionally have been pretty good in these types of games. Even in the first game we ever played here (2005), Virginia was ranked in the Top 25 and Western was coming off a 1-10 season, and we took them down to the wire."
Cubit's first two WMU teams finished 7-4 and 8-5, including an International Bowl loss to the Big East's Cincinnati last January. He said that only one of his players was recruited by WVU. The Broncos, like most MAC programs, have rosters populated by players who weren't on the radar of Bowl Championship Series conference teams.
"There's always that underdog thing -- a little chip on your shoulder," Cubit said.
Cubit, whose team took host Florida State to the wire in a 28-20 loss before 78,000 last season, said Western will have more than the WVU crowd with which to cope.
"I think the scheme that Rich (Rodriguez) runs is outstanding," Cubit said, calling the Mountaineer philosophy one of the best offenses he's seen in the three decades since he graduated from Delaware's wing-T. "He's got kids that can run it. It causes a lot of issues because of space, and he's got guys that are really good athletes."
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WHILE CUBIT expressed concerns about coping with WVU's no-huddle spread offense and 3-3-5 odd stack defense, WVU has its own questions about the Broncos, who will start redshirt sophomore quarterback Tim Hiller.
Hiller sat out last season due to injury as Cubit's son, Rutgers transfer Ryan Cubit, finished his career as the WMU starter. The 6-foot-5 Hiller started five of his seven games in 2005 as a true freshman.
"He threw for 20 touchdowns with only three picks (interceptions) and completed 65 percent that season," WVU defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel said of Hiller. "Of course, we don't have any film on him. We could struggle a little bit with that."
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IT WAS another day, another poll for the Mountaineers.
WVU ranked third in the Football Writers Association of America preseason Grantland Rice Super 16 poll, revealed Monday. Southern Cal and LSU ranked 1-2. USC got 109 of the 133 first-place votes from FWAA members.
WVU had two first-place votes. The other Big East team in the Super 16 was Louisville, at No. 10. Rutgers just missed, placing 17th among the FWAA pollsters. All 16 teams in the poll were from BCS conferences.
Following USC, LSU and WVU in the rankings, in order, were Michigan, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Ohio State, Cal, Georgia, Auburn, UCLA and Tennessee.
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FINALLY, COAL Bowl II was announced as a Sept. 8 sellout at Edwards Stadium on Monday, as WVU visits Marshall for only the second time in history, the first since 1915.
Last week, Rodriguez made his seventh annual appearance at Muriale's restaurant for a combined meeting of the Rotary and Kiwanis in Fairmont. He was in his best preseason form in his off-the-cuff remarks about his No. 3-ranked team.
"We've sold out two stadiums this year," Rodriguez said. "Ours and Marshall's."
