Bull94

with the way these two offenses are playing, the final score could be 40-39. I think we get our first BE win tonight. definitely take the 13.5. that's an unbelievable number considering the way these teams have been playing lately. 5-1 ATS.

we didn't finish second. UofL finished second. we finished tied for third with rutgers and pitt. they were 5-2 we were 4-3.

exactly. Check out this article where it states WVU runs the ball 73 percent of the time. They have a worse pass offense than we do and I'd put our D up against theirs any time. At 6-1 I'd say they've been pretty successful. I hope we run the ball at least 70% of the time. I hope the coaches don't panic if we get down early. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/preview;_ylt=AvRlUtrBopblxC08RmBvEDQcvrYF?gid=200511020017

I received mine today.

I couldn't agree more. I'll take a disciplined group of overachievers over an undisciplined group of underachievers any day.

I have no problem hiring someone with no experience at the BCS level but to hire someone with no experience at the college level?? He was an OC for one year at a high school 8 years ago. It looks that way too when he panics and goes away from the gameplan when we are only down by 7 with a half to play. Why can't we find someone at any level of college who has any experience? RS needs to learn on the job at the D3 level not BCS level. I have a feeling he is just a lackey for CJL and that may not be a good thing. CJL is a great D coach but that usually means they have no idea how to run an offense.

To bad we don't have Magee running our offense. They have a whole thread dedicated to him on the WVU board about how well he has adapted his offense to their strengths. Interesting how he and Smith switched schools and now both OC. Seems like they got the better of the deal. Come Home Calvin!!! http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGBUCFDF0FE.html

How come my boss won't allow me to dress hip hop? Iverson, guess what they do pay for your clothes and your cars and your houses. You can't afford a decent work wardrobe on $15 mil a year? My boss doesn't give me a clothing allowance either. Get over it.

I agree about PJ not losing us the game. It was R Smith and the horrible play calling and adjustments. PJ did an admirable job considering what we asked of him. I still can't believe they yanked him in order to have an option QB throw 2 passes inside our own 10 yard line. Where is the logic in that? Sorry about the misread on the re-building. I agree that we are building towards something special here.

The problem with this Bulldoug is that if they try and force PJ to play this pass happy spread offense for the 4th year in a row then it will be the same ol same ol. How come we all know that PJs touch is suspect yet the OC thinks he should pass the ball 37 times? I bet PJ himself would admit he doesn't have great touch. Don't you think our talent is in the backfield? We all know that PJ can't carry this offense. He has strengths. Why do we (and by we I mean R Smith) insist he tries to do something we know he can't? The PJ we saw vs. UCF threw the ball 16 times. Hall + Ponton carried it 43 times. The PJ we saw vs UofL threw the ball 9 times. Hall + Ponton carried it 31 times. The PJ we saw vs PITT threw the ball 35 times. Hall + Ponton carried it 22 times. Everyone knows how limited PJ is. How come our coaches ask him to throw it 35 times? The reason he was successful in those games is because they put the load on Andre and didn't expect PJ to carry the team. I will be the first to admit that we should never expect PJ to carry our team but isn't that the coaches responsibility when calling the plays. Its obvious who this loss falls on and its not some 20 year old. Unless they have given him the freedom to call the plays. RUN = SUCCESS PASS = FAIL If they haven't figured that out in the 3 years that PJ has been under center then I'm not sure they ever will. The poor kid is using his god given talents to the best of his abilities. Cut him some slack. Its the coaches responsibility to recognize his strengths and weaknesses and put him in a position to succeeed.

I guess it's possible I just assumed with a broken left wrist he would sit for longer. he stunk it up against Cinci anyway. he's still a RS freshman. 6 sacks, 1 int, 1 fumble against cinci's D. imagine what ours can do.

The plan that would work is RUNNING the freaking ball!! How about if we try that and not worry about the passing game at all. It would be nice to use a top ten RB we already have instead of trying to force an option qb to run the spread offense. If these genius coaches try and pass the ball again I'm going to be pissed. Why waste Andre's talent?

why UCONN? they are down to their 3rd string freshman QB now and they just lost to Cinci.

uconn is down to their 3rd string freshman qb and they lost to cinci. i'll take rutgers.

The scary notion is if our coaches honestly believe that. I for one hope they think that the team will rise or fall on the legs of Andre Hall.

No offense Jake but these are nothing but excuses. We have the talent to win now. I thought JL redshirted some guys on defense last year just to gear up for this season. I'm not talking about tough losses to PSU or UM. I'm talking about a very beatable Pitt team. Ohio beat them!! Excuses are nothing more than a reason to lose. I bet R Smith gives these same excuses when blaming these losses on a 20 yr old kid. "I can't run my beloved spread offense without the proper qb." No kidding. how about adapting to the talent you have and run out of a power formation with a top ten RB in the country. Way to logical. The coaches are who worries me not the players. They don't adapt to the players strengths. It's not so much the loss that bothers me as how it is we lost. If I felt the coaches (who get paid very well to do what they do) had a proper gameplan in place and did their best to have our current players execute it and we still lost then I would feel like we gave it our best shot. They have known for 3 years that PJs strength isn't to throw the ball 37 times a game and yet this is the best they come up with? How about we use that RB who is a potential NFLer and run the heck out of the ball. He did average more yards per carry against Pitt then he did against UofL. As for this being a rebuilding year, I bet the seniors would disagree. I'm sure they don't go out there thinking "oh well, it's only a rebuilding year". By the way all college teams can be considered young. I understand that the recruits will eventually come but I believe you are selling our current players way short. We've had the same problems for the last 3 years concerning this stupid spread offense. I'm not saying it won't work but it is obvious to me that we don't have the right personell. Are we supposed to stand around and use this as an excuse for losing or should we adapt an offense that utilizes our current players strengths? I think the later would put us in a much better position to succeed and win or lose that is all I am asking.

Its funny that they call us a one dimensional offense and our passing game is ranked higher than theirs.

twilly, I would love to have a drop back gunslinger but we don't. the coaches have to realize this. they are trying to force a square peg in a round hole. We all know Pat's weaknesses. I assume the coaches do as well. Why do they expect him to throw the touch passes?Why do we throw the ball 37 times against Pitt? That's about a smart as letting an option QB throw the ball from his own 8 yard line!! (oh yeah that's right the coaches tried that twice) We were in that game until about 5 mins to go. Even then they expected him to throw these dinky touch passes for 5 yards instead of letting him use his obvious arm strength and putting the ball downfield. All teams have weaknesses. It is the coaches responsibility to play towards their stengths. Imagine how horrible Nebraska would have been if Tom Osbourne expected Tommy Frazier to drop back and throw the ball 37 times a game. Would the fans run around saying "man I wish we had a decent QB who could throw the ball?" or would they say "what in the hell are the coaches doing expecting an option QB to sling it 37 times?" I just hope they don't scrap this offense, recruit a pro style dropback QB and then make him run the option!!

So I guess all we need is a near NFL quality QB and then we can have a successful team? I bet R Smith uses that same lame excuse for his inept offense's results. Blames it on a 20yr old kid doing the best with his abilities. Maybe they should wait to run the spread when we do have that level of talent.  How about we use the NFL quality talent we have in the backfield and line up and run the freakin ball instead of asking an option style QB to win it with his arm. Funny how WVU doesn't need to have an NFL quality QB in order to be 6-1. At least they know how to adapt the system to their strengths.

Great post. I agree totally. I hope the coaches are looking in the mirror and realize it is their responsibility to put the players in a position to succeed. Asking PJ to run a pass happy offense is like asking Roger Clemens to play 3rd base. Use him to the best of his abilities. Line up in the I . Smash mouth 2 TE sets. Make use of Hall, Ponton and Simson. Sweeps. Let them get the edge. Then use some play action. Let our 6'5" receivers go up and battle for the ball 30 yards down the field. PJ is not known for his touch, why insist on having him throw little dink passes. Let him use his strong arm with downfield passes. Quit asking him to do stuff that does not come naturally to him. Put him in a position to succeed.

Couldn't agree more. Smith needs to nut up and get a quote in the paper taking responsibility for this loss. It's a shame that PJ feels he has to take it on himself when it was obvious the gameplan and the execution by the coaches was absolutely attrocious.

Not true at all. I bet Nebraska threw about 10 passes in the decade of the 90's but nobody could stop their run. Teams should not try and force opponenents to defend their weakness. Make them stop your strength. Sweeps, 2 TE sets, pound the ball. I bet Baltimore would have never won a Super Bowl if they had to rely on Dilfer's passing to set up the run. Andre averaged over 4 ypc. 4 x 3 > 10. keep feeding him the ball. Run would eventually setup the deep play action pass. I think PJ can throw a decent deep ball every now and again. His weakness' are these dink and dunk passes. Yet this is what we use to try and loosen a D!!! Those stupid passes do not stretch a defense they actually bring the safeties and corners up.

Why is everyone giving UCONN all of this respect? Didn't they just lose to Cinci? Aren't they down to their 3rd string freshman QB as a starter? They will be lucky to win another game this year.

How about the wing T option? PJ played this in high school. We have the talent in the backfield. Time to adjust the system to the players strengths. Pound the freakin ball. PJ had 9 pass attempts in the UofL game. Seemed we were pretty successful then. How come we throw it 37 times against Pitt?? Andre's yards per carry was higher in the Pitt game and yet we give up on the run. Why not feed him the rock? Pitt Game 37 pass attempts 47 rushing attempts UofL Game 10 pass attempts 48 rushing attempts Unless PJ is the one calling the plays then the blame lies elsewhere.

Time to get off of PJs back. He should never be expected to carry this team. If the coaches didn't know this then that is where the problem lies. WVU is 6-1. They run the same offense. Here is the stat lines comparing PJ and WVU QBs for last weeks games. PJ 18 - 35 222yds 1 TD 0 int WVU 13 - 27 109yds 1 TD 0 int Notice PJ had a better completion percentage, more yards per attempt, more total yards and an equal td-int ratio. Maybe we shouldn't give up on the run so quickly. Their freshman RB had 31 carries compared to our senior top ten in the country RB who had 19. They were getting it handed to them while we were never out of it early. Somehow they stuck to the run and we decided that it was time for desperation passes way to early. If they can win with QB play below ours, a comparable D and an inexperienced RB then why can't we. Simple. It is the coaches calling the plays. They give up on our strength which is running the ball and expect PJ to do something that everyone knows he can't!! Stupid.