Why USF Won't Be Better Than WVU This Year

[windbane]

I think WVU will have a pretty bad drop off this year. Devine will be good, but after that....bad news for mountaineers

I agree.  I've been saying it for awhile, but they won't be as good this year.  Divine is awesome, no doubt, and Pat White is a great runner as well (except against us), but there's no way they replace everyone they lost.  Having Divine be a backup last year is not the same as not having a backup for Divine this year.  Reynaud, the guy this article seems to discredit, had 3 times more catches than the 2nd guy, who was Steve Slaton.  I don't think it's easy to replace that...and the FB...and 2 DLs...and 1 LB...and 4 DBs...and most of the coaching staff...come on.

[Blackice12]

If Jarrett Brown was the starting QB at West Virginia I would be concerned about WVU passing more since he has a stronger arm than White.  Brown's passing during the game last year helped WVU start  a come back against USF in addition to USFs inconsistent offense and the massive amount of fumbles and interceptions.

Also to Pat White's defense in the two years USF beat WVU Pat White did not play without injury. In the only game he finished without injury WVU won.

I also agree with the statement "Unless the running game takes off and Grothe can make better decisions, the South Florida offense will not compare to West Virginia's.  Defense can't do everything.  Sorry, USF—maybe you can win the Big East next year."

Unless the offense becomes more balanced between pass and run(also meaning getting the ball out of Grothe's hands), USF may be no better than they were a year ago. A matter of fact the offense may need to do more because of the changes on defense.

[bullwark]

I think it is great that Coach Stewie wants Whtie to throw more often, White's accuracy is not very good on passes over twenty yards, he is good at the dink and dunk.  Having White throw more often downfield will cause his interception total at the very least triple. 

[Stier]

I think WVU will have a pretty bad drop off this year. Devine will be good, but after that....bad news for mountaineers

I agree.  I've been saying it for awhile, but they won't be as good this year.  Divine is awesome, no doubt, and Pat White is a great runner as well (except against us), but there's no way they replace everyone they lost.  Having Divine be a backup last year is not the same as not having a backup for Divine this year.  Reynaud, the guy this article seems to discredit, had 3 times more catches than the 2nd guy, who was Steve Slaton.  I don't think it's easy to replace that...and the FB...and 2 DLs...and 1 LB...and 4 DBs...and most of the coaching staff...come on.

Let us not forget that we don't play them until the last game of the season which gives them time to gel. But at the same time it also allows us to do the same and in the end prove that we are better than WVU!

[NinjaPenguin777]

The past two years EVERY SINGLE writer of any sort said "USF doesnt have the speed to keep up with White/Slaton etc...." well guess what, not only did we keep up with them, we broke them. Southern football is better than Nothern football. See us, LSU, Fl, and Ohio State...

When Grothe escaped that sack last year against WVU and threw the TD pass to Mitchell we all knew USF was better and that Grothe was better than White. That play was inhuman

[Blackice12]

The past two years EVERY SINGLE writer of any sort said "USF doesnt have the speed to keep up with White/Slaton etc...." well guess what, not only did we keep up with them, we broke them. Southern football is better than Nothern football. See us, LSU, Fl, and Ohio State

What about western football USC?

[usfgrad84]

This is a pretty funny article.  The author seems to think all of the negatives are a one way street.  I habve nnver read a more contradictory article.

    "Receivers

West Virginia might have lost Darius Reynaud, but they return Dorrell Jalloh, their No. 2 target, and big 6'8" Wes Lyons.  Sure, Jalloh only had 272 yards, but he also didn't have that many receptions due to Pat White's tendency to run instead of pass.

Bill Stewart's plan for White is to get him to pass more, and Jalloh and Lyons should have no trouble replacing Reynaud's stats."

South Florida, on the other hand has Jessie Hester Jr. and Carlton Mitchell, who each had four touchdowns last year, but both are inconsistent and are constantly beat out by defensive backs"

Our top 5 returning receivers had more yards last year than their best returning receiver.  If Jalloh and Lyons are expected to improve in productivity, isn't it right to expect our entire receiving crew to improve? 

"He looks like he will improve, but it is never good when a team's quarterback has more rushing yards the previous season than a RETURNING STARTER at running back."

There is more of a disparity between Devine and White and Grothe and Ford.  Ford was not the starting RB last year.  They are both in the same boat.  This is an idiotic statement.

"Although Slaton is gone, sophomore running back Noel Devine showed he could fill in for Slaton perfectly with 13 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-28 rout of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl"  Ford and Devine had very similar yardage.  Ford had 2 games over 100 yards. 

This is a stupid article

[BullGrad95]

One of the most important things is that we are in Pat White's head.  After the beating he's taken the last two years, he'll be too worried about what side he's going to get hit from to be worrying about throwing the ball.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

Bullieve it or not Schmidt was the reason WVA did so good last 2 seasons.  He freed up the QB and RB with his diversion's. You're right, Stewart has his hands full and no one has even identified the weakness in loosing Schmidt.  All thoughts are on the RB that is now gonsky.

i've been talking about Schmidt being their biggest loss since the end of last season.

hell, i was talking about the loss of Lenard as the reason why Rutgers wasn't as good last year as they were in their "cinderella" 2006 season, and the WVU/Schmidt situation is not much different.

losing him is losing the muscle of that team.  without him, White is going to get banged all season, and Devine isn't going to have the big guy plowing holes for him to run through the way he [and Slaton] did last year.

u don't re-tool virtually the entire DLine, nearly the entire secondary, lose THREE key, proven, veteran offensive players [schmidt + Slaton + Reynaud] and throw in a new coach to boot and expect not to miss a step coming into the new season. i mean, they lost 2 conference games and split the BE title last season--- why should we expect them to do BETTER than that this year?

Auburn is going to be the litmus test for them.  that game will show us a lot about what level WVU will be playing on this year. 

[BullsOnThaRize8]

Im sure it has been said. Pat White isn't a good passer. That's not really true, he is pretty accurate and makes most of the passes he needs.

In my opinion, sitting him in the pocket will not make him a better passer as you can see from the moffit pick. If he sits there the pressure will scare him into bad decisions. When he runs he doesn't have to think as much it all comes natural. It seems alittle difficult to change what you have done for so long. Pat White the pocket passer. I'll pass. No pun Intended.

If Brown was starting, I would honestly be scared of WVU and despite White's sucess, I'm banking on that he will be put in the game regardless of how white is doing. He scares the living shi^ out of me.

The article says why we won't beat them...but all the reasons they have had every year against us. This year is no different. Their offense has got the nations attention year in and your out. If you think they got better by losing Slaton, and Schmidt and Reynaud..YOUR CRAZY!

They are an incredible team regardless but this article doesn't mean anything.