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Sunday, 05 September 2010 00:40

Written by Colin Dunlap

(Photo credit: Associated Press)

Some quick-hitter thoughts in the aftermath of West Virginia's 31-0 victory against Coastal Carolina.

* The offense had 400 yards. Really? It didn't feel like it.

* If the offense does anything throughout the season, because of how fast the defense is, this team has a real chance to be special --- well, at least special enough to win the Big East Conference.

* Tavon Austin, other than fumbling that ball out of the end zone for a touchback, played incredibly well.

* Geno Smith wasn't asked to do anything too difficult. Thus, it is almost impossible to rate his play. Seems almost every throw was an underneath or dink-and-dunk route and we never got to see what his arm is truly all about.

* Did Cole Bowers block anyone?

* While Robert Sands played a very good game --- and often is noticed because he knocks the stuffing out of people --- the play Brandon Hogan made on the interception was one of the best defensive plays you will see all season. More than that, it came at a time when Coastal still had a chance to get back into the game and, when Hogan made the interception in the back of the end zone, he ended their chances.

* Noel Devine had a ho-hum day. I'd say he was going about three-quarter speed, at least it looked that way.

* Something should scare you if you are a WVU fan. Has offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen truly cultivated a backup tailback yet? If you look at what happened, Trey Johnson got a few carries in mop up time, but where was zero carries for either Shawne Alston or Daquan Hargrett.

* Maybe I got that all wrong. Perhaps Mullen will just go "big" when Devine needs a blow and stick to guys like Ryan Clarke and Matt Lindamood and make it a rugby scrum.

* Looks like Jeremy Johnson is your third string quarterback. Stuck behind a sophomore. And a freshman. You want odds he isn't in Morgantown next year at this time?

* Guess Branko Busick really isn't ready, huh? The lengths that the defensive staff went to, with Pat Lazear out, to stick with experience and not start Busick was something to surely notice. Anthony Leonard was shifted positionally and Najee Goode bumped up in the depth chart. 

* Did Brad Starks do anything? Well, I mean, anything besides block that Coastal Carolina kid in the back and cut that big gain in half. Starks must improve if he doesn't want the younger receivers to pass him by.

* I said Corey Smith would win the punting job. Gosh do I look like a fool. Gregg Pugnetti averaged 49.2 yards a punt.

Comments (3)

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written by KeyserCouchburner, September 05, 2010 - 09:45 AM

I feel a little better after sleeping on it and seeing what happened to Ole Miss, Kansas, and with Florida and Oklahoma not looking super strong, although I don't think any of their opponents were the level of CCU. I'll reserve judgment for the next two weeks.

Pugnetti booted it well after the first punt. Looks like the kicking game is solid, Stewart seemed very worried about this last week.

Devine, Sanders, Austin combined for 39 touches on 71 plays, not a bad ratio. For a team with a supposed over-abundance of play-makers, this offense didn't produce a lot of what Coach Tomlin likes to call 'splash' plays yesterday against a very over-matched opponent. The O-line should have been able to blow these guys off the ball much better in my opinion. Pass blocking was solid. I though Geno stared down his receivers a bit but looked about as good as you could expect in his first live contact action. Brunetti seemed to throw a nice ball when he got in there. I agree, it is hard to rate Geno on this game, but I suspect the Herd will throw everything they've got into the box to stop the run and Geno will have to do more next week.

I was disappointed not to see more/any of Alston and Hargrett also. Stewart did go on record Wednesday night on the Sportsline that Ryan Clarke is Devine's backup and they would go jumbo if something happened to him. I think Alston may be a little dinged up, hopefully he or Hargrett will be able to take that backup job and own it.

It was not a good weekend for the Big East conference, this thing is wide open.

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written by pgheer, September 05, 2010 - 10:41 AM

2 thing, I kept saying dink and dunk also. Nothing vertical, must be saving that, I hope. Also in the first half twice inside the 10 and no sign of Clarke. Why? Inside the 5 put him in to block for Devine or pound it in.

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written by Jeff in Akron, September 06, 2010 - 12:37 PM

Great weather for a "vanilla" kind of day on offense. ESPN ranked Geno's day with a passer rating of 158.3, not bad for a first start. The short passing game allowed Geno to complete 74% of his passes.

Sands wasn't the safety that played the best on Saturday, from where I sat. That distinction should go to Garvin. He seemed to be everywhere during this game.

The o-line play has to improve, for whatever its worth, I am officially concerned about their play this season.

All in all, WVU did what was expected against Coastal. Hopefully, at some point, they will do what everyone doesn't expect, in a good way.

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