FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.
Pat White will go out pretty high up in West Virginia football history -- h'es somehow the only player in the history of the NCAA to win four bowl games, and in his final outing as a Mountaineer, he set a career high for passing yards (328) and tacked on three touchdowns to boot.
Hakeem Nicks -- who became a star wide receiver at North Carolina after Brandon Tate was injured -- picked up a hat trick too, registering three touchdowns and a ridiculous 217 yards, the 20th player to cross the 200 yard plateau in NCAA history.
Naturally, his blowup was aided by the absence of West Virginia cornerback Brandon Hogan, who was absent for "personal reasons" (it appears as if someone in his family is sick, because he's not suspended and there are "thoughts and prayers" being tossed around).
The game itself was equal parts insanity (i.e. offensive firepower) and poor decisions; two fourth down attempts -- the Tarheels near the goal line and the 'Neers on a fourth and one late in the fourth quarter -- encompass the latter. The former was more or less made up by the first quarter, which ended with West Virginia up 21-14 on the 'Heels. It's only insane, point totals aside, because it seemed like it happened on exactly five plays: Nicks with two huge touchdown catches and White throwing darts all over the field.
Whaaaaaaa? Marion Barber might not be the only option in Dallas??? Go on ...
Winning your fantasy draft is easy. And free. Well actually, the free part is easier than the easy part, if that makes sense. (Why? Because you only need to hit up FleaFlicker and rock out all thefree fantasy football you can find.)
But easy isn't hard, and before I actually start confusing myself, let's cut to the chase: there are tons of "sleeper" backs in fantasy football drafts this year. And, handily, they can be broken up into convenient little tiers.
Power Naps Chester Taylor, Vikings -- I know, right? He's not even really a sleeper, just because he'll see tons of carries. But the fact, whether or not you choose to recognize it with your number one overall pick, is that Adrian Peterson hasn't finished a full season of football since he started getting money to play football. Or, if you prefer, since high school. If he goes down again, Taylor will be an absolute monster. Ronnie Brown, Dolphins -- Brown just returned to practicing sans cast but all you hear out of Miami is "Ricky this, Ricky that," because everyone thinks Ricky Williams will start and carry the rock for the Fins. I'm not buying it, personally. Brown was a top-five running back on easily the worst team in the entire league -- one that should have been passing from the 10-minute mark of the first quarter based on deficits -- until he got injured. Sure, he might not dive right in and be a dominant back, but when he's your third or fourth running back, the upside is too good to pass up.
This might be the last chance for West Virginia to win a national title, or it might just be the start of something better. It's hard to tell at this point. A coach hired because of an emotional win generally doesn't last long. But Bill Stewart and West Virginia are taking a different approach. If they can keep the best of the Rodriguez era and replace the bad with their own style, they might just have a chance.
Why They'll Win
Offense! West Virginia returns two of the most electrifying players in the country in Pat White and Noel Devine. Both are exceptionally fast and near impossible to bring down in the open field. One thing that will ensure they get their chances in the open field is that all five starters return on the offensive line. The line isn't one of the biggest in the country, but they move well and use proper technique to gain an advantage. The West Virginia offense uses deception to get the defense moving in one direction and creates running lanes for backside cutbacks When everything is clicking, it's one of the most dominating rushing attacks in the country.
West Virginia plans on exploring more of the field in the passing game this year. One of the downfalls of the offense in recent year was that it didn't force teams to cover the entire field. On the few occasions that the Mountaineers did pass, it was mostly bubble screens and quick hits. So in the few games that the rushing attack was slowed, it left no options to open the field back up. The coaching staff plans on more intermediate routes to keep the defense honest as well as more pre-snap motion to help White get a better read on what defenses are doing. Also of note is senior kicker/punter Pat McAfee. He's got an extremely strong and mostly accurate leg that should ensure that West Virginia has a field position advantage in most games.
Big time players often hear the chant, "overrated" when they fail to produce in a game. While other players shine in the shadow of a superstar without every having to carry the load themselves. They step up big on those one or two plays a game and let the big man do most of the heavy lifting. When the big man moves on we expect them to continue the success as if nothing had changed. This is the true test of a player being overrated.
Noel Devine, RB - West Virginia
With the realization that West Virginia doesn't lose many games when Pat White doesn't get injured, the running back position is going to be called on to do more this season. For all his many talents, Noel Devine doesn't strike me as someone that's going to be able to carry the load for West Virginia for a 13 game season.
There's some talent behind Devine at the running back position. But none have spent serious time in the backfield in games that matter. So for now, the only answer is Devine.
From the time he stepped on the field in Morgantown, he's been hailed as the second coming of, or better than Slaton. But for most of his career, Slaton was the every down back you could give the ball to 25-30 times a game. He did this while playing some of the 2005 and all of the 2006 season with a broken bone in his wrist. We haven't seen that kind of toughness and durability out of Devine yet. In fairness to Devine, he hasn't been given that chance. Until we see it on the field, though.....
West Virginia running back Noel Devine was among four Mountaineers' football players to plead no contest to misdemeanor battery charges after being arrested Thursday.
"Jockee Sanders," if that is his real name, is the only other 'Eer of note who participated in the nightclub altercation. Fulmer Cup points for all, but more importantly: WVU head coach Bill Stewart says that discipline in this matter has been handled "internally" and no one's off the team or anything rash like that. Upshot: we all get to see Noel Devine do cool stuff as long as he doesn't make this a habit.
The Daily Athenaeum is reporting that West Virginia junior running back Steve Slaton has decided to return to school for his senior year, rather than enter the 2008 NFL draft.
Although I'm a Slaton fan and enjoy watching him in the West Virginia spread offense, for the future of his football career, that strikes me as the wrong decision. The biggest problem Slaton faces is that with freshman sensation Noel Devine on the team, he may have a hard time earning the starting job in 2008. If he spends most of his senior year on the sidelines, he's not going to do anything to help his draft stock.
Survive is the best way to describe what almost happened to the Mountaineers today in the second annual Coal Bowl. The game mandated by West Virginia governor Joe Manchin. Who, by the way, didn't grow up in Huntington as ESPN would like you to believe. Maybe that's not a fair assessment. Pam Ward and company had a hard time getting anyone's name right or the actual capacity of Joan C. Edwards stadium all day. So the claim that Manchin was from Huntington could have just been another in a long line of goofs.
But back to the game. Marshall played a nearly flawless first half. From the 77 yard return of the opening kickoff, to actually out gaining West Virginia on the ground in the first half. And the Thundering Herd defense only gave up the one big play when Pat White connected with Darius Reynaud on a 46 yard touchdown pass. While holding Steve Slaton to two yards rushing and the entire West Virginia offense to 118 yards in the first half. And while the Marshall offense wasn't spectacular, they did manage to go into the locker room with a 13-6 halftime lead.
But that's when the Mountaineer offense came to life, along with Slaton to score touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half. And everything that was going right for Marshall in the first half turned 180 degrees in the second half. Penalties and turnovers set the Thundering Herd back. And the Mountaineer offensive line started generating holes for White and Slaton to get up field. Despite that, Marshall found itself down only 27-23 at the end of the third quarter.
But as the 4th quarter wore on, the Mountaineer offense continued to give White and Slaton more room to run. And Noel Devine came in to give Slaton a rest, and score two fourth quarter touchdowns.
For the second week in a row, the Mountaineers found themselves winning a game that seemed a lot closer than the scoreboard would indicate. The defense gave up way to many big plays on the ground and in the air. And the offense didn't look like the West Virginia offense we've grown accustomed to seeing every week. With Maryland coming up this Thursday night, it's not impossible to think that West Virginia might have been looking ahead a bit. But whether West Virginia thinks the Coal Bowl is a rivalry or not, one thing is for sure. Marshall does! And the Mountaineers are going to have to start taking this game a little more seriously in the future if they hope to keep the unbeaten streak alive against the Thundering Herd.
Deliciously good video from the week that was in college football. We promise to deliver any and all instances of Heisman candidates "meow"ing on the sidelines. It's important you see these things, and FanHouse is here to make it happen.
OK, so I made a comment recently about Noel Devine's first run as a Mountaineer. I thought it was a little awkward to give him a standing ovation for gaining no yards. So call me crazy. I'm a Mountaineer fan, and I get this bad feeling every time we make someone out to be the savior before they actually do anything on the field.
Here's the flip side of the coin as the offensive line creates a beautiful hole for Devine to run through, and Devine's speed makes it look easy. It's the kind of thing that would put a smile on the face former Mountaineer offensive line coach, Rick Trickett. But as I'm typing this (Clemson 24-3 in the third quarter), he is not smiling. And he shouldn't be.
Sunday College Football Hangover is a (hopefully) regular feature from a groggy FanHouse writer recovering from 16+ hours of watching as much college football as humanly possible. The Big Story
What else but perhaps the greatest upset in college football (sports?) history. As our own Ryan Ferguson wrote, Appalachian State is a very good lower division football team. They're the defending I-AA national champs, in fact. But Michigan's loss is absolutely inexcuseable and mind-bending in its implications.
A I-AA team beat Michigan. This shakes the foundation of my comprehension of the world to such a vastly greater extent than any upset, sighting, conspiracy theory, apparition, miracle or act of nature I could possibly cite. This is frogs raining from heaven. This is physically impossible
Indeed. I don't know whether this is a good or a bad thing for the sport. On one hand, we have a celebration of the underdog and further proof of why style and scheme matters so much in college football. The NFL is a robotic operation with 32 teams all doing the same thing over and over again with people paying them hand over fist to see it. College football's got soul, though, and it's expressed in Appalachian State's defensive effort and utilization of overlooked athletes.
On the other hand, this is clearly the story of the season. How does college football come down from this? There is simply nothing that can happen in the next 14 or so weeks that will come close to matching this upset. Nothing. USC could lose nine times and yet the event everyone will first recall from this season is Appalachian State's upset of Michigan.
The Sunday Morning Hangover is a weekly look at the head scratchers that fans and teams from the Big East provide us. And we'll try to match the drink of choice that lead to the decision making involved.
Noel Devine receives a standing ovation after his first collegiate run. A run for no gain mind you. The hype machine surrounding Noel Devine has been unlike anything West Virginia fans have seen. And considering how hyped Mountaineer fans were when Jason Gwaltney signed with West Virginia, that's saying something. A person could spend the better part of a day watching Youtube highlights of the true freshman if they so desired. And the highlights of Devine are very impressive.
But standing ovations should be something withheld for impressive plays or after goal line stands. Not in recognition of a players first carry.
Our only explanation for this would have to be Blue and Gold Jello Shots. They are mostly sweet and after about seven or eight you start to feel pretty good. But the next day you're left asking yourself why you didn't stop at two if you remember that you had them at all.
Honorable mention: You take your video camera to the game in the hopes of catching "that" play. You get up early the next morning and go over the video you have of Pat White's first rushing touchdown of the year. And in all the excitement as you are uploading it to Youtube, you label it Pat White TD Run vs. Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, whatever. It's the keg stands that made you do it, right?
FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.
Several members of the West Virginia team are now 
A look at the 2007 junior class as players 
Survive is the best way to describe what almost happened to the Mountaineers today in the second annual Coal Bowl. The game mandated by West Virginia governor Joe Manchin. Who, by the way, didn't grow up in Huntington as ESPN would like you to believe. Maybe that's not a fair assessment. Pam Ward and company had a hard time getting anyone's name right or the actual capacity of Joan C. Edwards stadium all day. So the claim that Manchin was from Huntington could have just been another in a long line of goofs. 
Noel Devine receives a standing ovation after his first collegiate run. A run for no gain mind you. The hype machine surrounding Noel Devine has been unlike anything West Virginia fans have seen. And considering how hyped Mountaineer fans were when Jason Gwaltney signed with West Virginia, that's saying something. A person could spend the better part of a day watching Youtube highlights of the true freshman if they so desired. And the highlights of Devine are very impressive.
