Weekly Preview: The Bye Week we Needed
By alansearles
October 20, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen looks on from the sidelines against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
Dear BFAs,
I really don’t have much to say about the Mountaineer’s this week. Wish I had a witty comment or two, but honestly, what do you say without being incredibly negative? I never truly thought we were a national contender, but was sold on a top ten team, yet we are staring at a substantial meltdown. Go back and read my first email and I certainly warned (so didn’t everyone else) that we could have major problems, but shoot, we look like a bad 1-AA team on defense right now. I’ll stop here, cause I really don’t know what else to say, however here is a good article to read for those of you jumping off cliffs.
Somewhere in Mountaineer field, I feel like there are two asian grounds keepers having this conversation right now.
Sometimes when I get down like this, I just have to turn to my good man, Bill Brasky for a good laugh. If the Mountaineer season does go down in flames and die, I foresee the funeral looking something like this, but with WVU hoodies, haha. How can these classics not bring a smile to your face??
So, as the forever optimist, lets examine who we can be thankful that we are not and give thanks that we don’t suck THAT much:
– We are not Auburn. Gene Chizik is two years removed from a national championship and is 1-6. With an inevitable blowout loss to Alabama, Gene better watch out that Takeo Spikes doesn’t break him and feed him to War Eagle. It would be awesome if they hired Harvey Updike.
– We are not Kansas or Charlie Weis. What a god awful marriage that is anyway. Charlie has to hop around the field with a crutch and his defense gives up more yards per game than Charlie has been able to hobble in his entire life. Kansas is also 1-6.
– We are not Arkansas or John L. Smith. Remember folks, this team was ranked higher than us in both polls to start the year and are now 3-4, their original coach was busted for banging out his employee and breaking his neck, then they replaced him with ole John L., who going through a bloody bankruptcy proceeding in which he is some $40 million in debt. Joe Deforest, you should be looking up to this man.
– We are not Virginia Tech who is 4-4, seems to be on a back slide as a program, and has lost to UNC, Pitt, and Cincy. They will finish the year 0-2 versus the Big East.
– We are not Mizzou who the SEC picked over us, debated how they were better than us on blogosphere, and so darn excited about joining the SEC. Now they are 0-4 in league play and appear destined to join Kentucky as perennial doormats in the East division.
– At least we are not one of the moderators to the presidential debates. Talk about getting your a** beat.
– At least we are not Wyoming, who has a coach that was fined $50k last week for shouting expletives at Troy Calhoun, coach of Air Force. Watch this.
Phew. I feel better after that . . . and no, I don’t feel cheap because I make myself feel better on other’s misfortunes.
Around the Nation
Another week, another win for ND and Ohio State, further adding to my football misery. Seriously, these guys gotta lose. Thankfully both have tough opponents this week. Personally, I will be headed to the Scandal Bowl of the Buckeyes and Sanduskys. If you want to spot me in the crowd, I’ll be that guy wearing gold in the middle of a white out. I have actually been to this game once before, back when Tamba Hali wrecked Troy Smith, and the Lions upset Sweater Vest . . . here’s hoping for history to repeat itself.
Quick round up on the remaining undefeated teams: Kansas State (TT this weekend), Louisville (Cincy), Rutgers (Kent State), Notre Dame (OU), Bama vs Mississippi St, Florida (UGA), Ohio State (PSU), Ohio (Miami of Ohio), Oregon (Colorado), Oregon State (Washington). I wouldn’t be surprised if half of these teams, if not a third lost this weekend, but I would love to see the two Oregon teams survive until the Civil War game at the end of the season. Stuff like that is what college is all about . . . war.
Looking forward, you must start with Friday. Friday night Big East games have largely been a punch line for the past few years, but cincy and Louisville should actually be an entertaining game. After that, one must turn and praise Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson to gaze upon their SEC minions. Alabama gets its first legit competition in a long time in facing an undefeated Mississippi St. I am vary intrigued to see if team cowbell can keep up with Bama or will they be exposed. In the 3:30 spot, the SEC East gives you Florida’s last major hurdle until they face of against Jimbo, as they travel to Athens. UGA will be looking to rectify its blowout loss to Cocky.
In the Big XII, the two teams that have fostered our demise face off at 3:30. Lets hope this turns into a 6-4 game for the comedic value. More importantly, Notre Dame faces off against Oklahoma in Norman. Oklahoma has revived itself from its early struggles and if they don’t pull off the win this weekend, we may be looking at the worse possible scenario of 2012 actually occurring Notre Dame playing for the NCG. Outside all of those games, it appears to be a rather quiet weekend.
Random
I will be posting the NCAA EA Sports predictions until they begin to falter. Going 4-1 last week, and again predicting an Eer loss, these predictions have been hilariously correct.
Props to the Dukies for being bowl eligible. As much as we hate them in hoops, how can you not feel for the little guy? Rutgers has beaten WVU more recently than Duke has been to a bowl. How great would it be to play Rutgers right now for a guaranteed win?
Anyone else hopeful to see a dominant offense like Oregon’s play the SEC Champ in the championship game this year? I mean, I fully respect the league and their defenses, and feel that Bama is the best team, but with all these games being won with under 200 yards of offense, seriously?? Tough to criticize considering where WVU is right now, but you cannot tell me that Florida and LSU are complete teams.
What has this season really missed? The Honey Badger. He was incredibly fun to watch . . . getting busted for drugs, again
This is Awesome. Awesome.
That’s all I got for you this week. Everyone, stay strong and I’ll see ya back in Morgantown next week.
Al