Reign of Troy ranks WVU #20

OK, so our friends over at the So Cal blog Reign of Troy has ranked the Mountaineers 20th in their pre-season rankings. Man, their school has nothing to play for and is still putting in more work on their blog than I am on mine. Anyway, here’s what they had to say:

20. West Virginia Mountaineers [Big East]

2009 Record: 9-4

Key Games: @LSU, v.Cincinnati, @Pittsburgh, v.Rutgers

Star Players: RB Noel Devine, FS Robert Sands

Outlook: West Virginia could be a dark horse to take the Big East and dance on the BCS stage. They return 19 starters: 9 on offense, 9 on defense, and the kicker. With Noel Devine in the backfield, the Mountaineers have a player that can score every time he touches the ball. However, the big question mark is at quarterback. Can sophomore Geno Smith take hold of this spread offense? Defensively, West Virginia should boast a stout unit. Of the eleven projected starters, only one is an underclassmen. The early game against LSU will be a tough test for Smith. If the Mountaineers can survive an early visit to Baton Rouge, Smith will build confidence and Morgantown will be in for a successful season. In conference, they have the pleasure of hosting defending champion Cincinnati, but they must visit a tough Pittsburgh team.

My take: This is a very nice write-up considering that they probably don’t have much exposure to the Big East. Like I mentioned in the comments section, Geno Smith has the inside track to start at QB. However, he could experience the “Adam Bednarik curse” by getting injured and opening the door for Coley White (r-S0.) the same way Pat White got it. Or, Coach Stewart could look at Jeremy Johnson (Texas) or Barry Brunetti (Tennessee.) Coley gained some valuable reps during the Gold-Blue game where he was the ONLY quarterback (he played for both teams) and he finished 22-for-36 for 189 yards with three touchdowns and led the Blue team to a 38-0 victory over the Gold in WVU’s annual Gold-Blue Spring Game. Smith was injured at the time, and there were no other scholarship QBs on the roster. If Smith can survive the Baton Rouge, LA crowd in September against LSU, then he should have that confidence built up when the Mountaineers play Pitt and Cincy. Noel Devine will be, well, divine. If his stats are top-notch this year, he could be considered for a Heisman.

I still they they over-rated Pitt. They ranked Pitt at #18 and have them projected to win the Big East. We’ll disprove them (but they can’t help it… it’s that lack of exposure to the Big East out there in SoCal.)