Greetings from the mountains

[PowderHorn]

Good spring to you all in USF land.  Hope all is going well with spring football workouts.  Haven't been on here for a while and thought I'd drop in and say, "hey".    Things are looking pretty good up here for the coming season.  Geno Smith has been hampered by recovery from foot surgery, but may get to play a few snaps in our spring(Gold/Blue) game on Friday night.  I will be in attendance and hope to have some news to report after that.  Coley White has been taking all the snaps in live action with Geno limited to skelton drills.  He, Geno, has added some weight to his frame for this year and has looked good passing the ball ,albeit with no pass rush in his face.  Our message boards are just getting ramped up for football after our Final 4 run in basketball.  The big talk is about what the BE is going to do or should do for the conference if the Big10/11 steals a team or 4 from us.  Other than that, same old message board stuff.  Stop by www.themountaineernation.com if you're interested in more WVU talk.  If not, no biggie.  Good luck to you all with new coach Skip at the helm.  Look forward to seeing some of you up here for the game on the 14th of Oct. 

[Mama_Bull]

Geno Smith was our top QB target when you nabbed him. I wonder if he would have ended up there, if not for your former coach Doc Holliday.

Anyway, our QB B J Daniels had off season shoulder surgery on his non throwing arm, but participated in spring practice and played in the spring game wearing a non-contact jersey. He has looked very impressive.

We lost a lot of players, especially on defense, to the NFL as well as some key players recently through injuries and dismissal. We are a work in progress.

[DERBY]

Thanks for coming by!  I live in North Carolina now and might try and make it to the WVU game this season.  Maybe I'll stop by your forum when it gets closer to get some info for the trip!

I think every sports fan in the Big East is up in arms about the possibility of losing teams.  We'll just see how things turn out and hope that whatever happens works out well for everyone involved.

[PowderHorn]

Nothing earth~shattering from the spring Gold/Blue game.  It was 1st team vesus the scrubs, so the Blue won 38-0.  Jeff Mullen has done a great job teaching Coley White how to throw a football.  He passed well and managed the offense well.  Sorry if you missed it, because that is quite possibly the only game he will EVER QB at WVU.  They had an alumni game before the scrimmage.  Over 100 former WVU players were there for two hand touch.  Game ended tied 6-6.  The old defensive guys had more game left than the old QBs as each side had multiple interceptions.  Major Harris QBed most of the game for his squad. 

As for the 2010 Mountaineers, it's more of the same.  We have 18 starters returning in all.  Devine looked great.  He had 70+ yds rushing.  Jock Sanders had a nice evening as well except when White floated a pass over the middle and got him body slammed.  A new face to watch is Steadman Bailey.  He caught two TD passes in the scrimmage.  Can't say much about whether the O-line has improved or not since they were going against 3rd and 4th team guys all evening.  Against that level of competition, they provided plenty of time for White to pass and opened up nice running lanes for all the backs.  Defense should be a strong point for the team.  Several players who have waited their turns to start should see the field alot this season.  LB Pat Lazear looks solid as do the other LBs.  A new face who caught my eye at the game was DB  Darwin Cook.  He rattled some teeth with several big hits. 

That's all I have for now. I'll be checking back in closer to the start of the season, or if something major breaks in the conference realignment mess.

Only 122 days until the opening weekend kick-off. 

[PowderHorn]

http://www.wvillustrated.com/wvufootball/topstory/id/820

Story about incoming WVU freshman QB Barry Brunetti working out with Tim Tebow.   

[PowderHorn]

West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart has been part of Big East championships, history-making seasons and BCS bowl wins but where does he rank the Mountaineers’ recent academic success?

“At the top of the list,†he said.

When seven student-athletes receive their diplomas this weekend (May 15-16), it will mark a 100 percent graduation rate for the 23 seniors from Stewart’s 2009 team; 16 graduated in December. (That doesn’t include kicker Josh Lider, who transferred into the program as a junior.).

http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2010/5/10/winning-with-and-in-class-football-team-scores-100-percent-graduation-rate

[PowderHorn]

Greetings USF fans. 

Well here we are 3 days and a wake-up, if you can sleep Fri night, from the start of the 2010 football season.  The biggest debate this week has been what our Nike ProCombat uniforms will look like.  That will be revealed tomorrow in NYC.  The second biggest debate has been how long the starters should play as we open up with mighty Coastal Carolina.  QB Geno Smith is said to be fully recovered from off-season foot surgery and will probably play longer than many fans would like to get some needed game time play since he was held out of all contact and live action during spring.  Coley White has moved to slot receiver and is no. 2 on the depth chart at the position.  Noel Devine looks to have a record setting year running the ball behind a more experienced O-line.  He needs 1,783 yards rushing to become the career rushing leader at WVU.  That's a lot of yards, but he had 1,465 last year.  The receiving corps is full of young and supposedly talented players.  We will see how they handle the pressure of performing on game days.  One newcomer to watch this year is DE/LB Bruce Irvin.  He is a pass rushing beast of a player.  He transferred in from JC and has made such an impact that the defense has some new packages just to get him on the field.  The rest of the defense is experienced and and is trying to get that Mountaineer swagger back.  Barring any serious injuries, this could be one of WVU's best defenses in several years.  On a WV homer note, walk-on fullback Matt Lindamood (Parkersburg,WV) was granted a full scholarship this past week.  Great kid with tons of heart.  On a historical note, this is the 30th year of what the old-timers call "new" Mountaineer Field.  It opened with great fan-fare including John Denver flying in by helicopter and singing "Country Roads".  Hope all is well in USF land.  Good luck this week against Stony Brook.  Look forward to seeing some of you all up here in October. 

[PowderHorn]

Just wanted to let those of you who are coming up for the game Thur night that the weather will be brisk by Florida standards.  The trees are starting to change colors and it should be a great atmosphere for the game.  Feel free to stop by and see us at the tailgate.  We are in the Blue Lot (between the stadium and the hospital) section C2a. 

[swamprat]

Just wanted to let those of you who are coming up for the game Thur night that the weather will be brisk by Florida standards.  The trees are starting to change colors and it should be a great atmosphere for the game.  Feel free to stop by and see us at the tailgate.  We are in the Blue Lot (between the stadium and the hospital) section C2a. 

It's not too bad. No humidity right now, though it looks like we may get rain tomorrow. Mrs. S and I may just come by the tailgate, but with this being our first time here, we may need to get the feel of the land. Thanks for the invite.

[PowderHorn]

I didn't get a chance to talk with any USF fans during the recnt game.  Hope all who traveled up had a safe return home.  Our team found out this week that you can't sleep on Syracuse.  It has gotten to complete melt-down level with some of our fans right now.  Anyway, as we all know losses suck.  Here's to getting a season turned around after a loss.  Good luck the rest of the way in what is now a truly wide-open BE race.