West Virginia: What The Hell, Man?

West Virginia's been one of my favorite teams to watch for the past few years now. I loved Steve Slaton before he got bigger and lazy, and I think Pat White's one of the best college QBs of this decade. Noel Devine got me on his bandwagon LAST year, depsite his limited play (and really, he should've been starting over Slaton by mid-season of last year). They went 11-1, won the Big East, and they trashed Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. They lost Rich Rodriguez to Michigan, but everything would be ok with White back, right? Right?

Wrong.

First, they give up 21 points to a Division I-AA team. Not low-end Division I-A, but Division I-AA. Second, for some reason, Bill Stewart got it in his head that he could turn Pat White into a passer, and, for even odder reasons, people started buying it after White threw 5 touchdown passes against said D-IAA team. Then WVU played East Carolina, and got absolutely shellacked by them to the tune of a 24-3 loss. First thing's first: who in their right mind would try and turn a guy like White into a pocket passer? The guy won two BCS bowl games and two Big East conference crowns by making plays with his feet. Sure, he's a competent enough passer, but his running ability is what gives opposing defenses fits, not his arm. He was bottled up against ECU; minus two big runs for 11 and 23 yards (the former of which saw White put the ball past the first down marker--after the rest of his body had gone out of bounds), he was ineffective. Worst of all, the passing experiment failed miserably, as he finished 11-18 for a mere 72 yards.

However, none of that compared to WVU losing to Colorado last night. White ran the ball more, Noel Devine actually got touches, and the Mountaineers rolled up over 300 yards rushing. The result: they still lost. Why? They couldn't get yards when they needed them the most. They got stuffed on fourth downs, failed to take advantage of Colorado turnovers, and they called questionable plays at suspect times. Really, what coach in his right mind would go for a trick play when you're having the success West Virginia was having on the ground? And to Bradley Starks, just wow. You had a guy wide open 20 yards downfield, and yet you still managed to give the guy a skip pass. Congrats. It must take a whole lot of skill to mess up that opportunity. Bill Stewart looked like a hero when he was on the sidelines as WVU decimated OU last year; now, he looks like a clown. His piss poor clock management on WVU's last drive of the fourth quarter made that fact crystal clear. Seriously, what was WVU thinking when they got this guy? They must've taken a page from Miami's playbook and decided that hiring a guy on the cheap would be a better solution than getting a proven HC; given their success the past few years, I can't imagine that finding a replacement for Rodriguez would be that hard. Instead, they're stuck with a coach who is, at best, mediocre, and at worst, set to become a guy who managed to fail despite having a Heisman caliber QB to lead the way. Here's a few things the Mountaineers can do to turn the tide in their favor again:

- Dump Bill Stewart. Sure, you only have to pay him $800,000 this year, but is it really worth it if your team can't compete? Invest some money in a real coach, a guy who's proven himself and can run a spread to keep Devine, Jarrett Brown, and the rest of the offense happy. Guys like Craig Bohl or Jerry Moore would be good choices.
- Let Pat White be Pat White. Stick with what got WVU mentioned in the NC race last year and let White run. Forget about trying to make him into a passer, because that negates his greatest asset.
- Don't forget Noel Devine can play. He got a mere 9 carries against Villanova to start the year, and got only 12 against East Carolina. Against Colorado, he got 26, and responded by rushing for 133 yards. See what happens when you give your playmakers the ball?