Recap/Look Forward

What was supposed to be a wild weekend for college football, turned out to be rather plain, outside of the Coal Bowl which was far too interesting for most WVU fans appetite.  I will have more on the Coal Bowl in The Email, so lets focus on the rest of the weekend.

Monster Matchups that were not:

It seems like every time we get amped up for a weekend of great matchups, they always fail to live up to expectations.  The truly great college football weekends are the ones that come out of nowhere to shock and amaze you.  This proved to be true for the much hyped afternoon games on Saturday.  The Notre Dame/Michigan game is the only game that lived up to the hype, but I would contend that outside of the Miami game, it was the only one that should have been hyped.  Not to say that I was not anxious to see the Alabama/Penn State and FSU/Oklahoma games, but I think most of us new ‘Bama would roll (no pun intended) and I at least thought Boomer Schooner would move on easily. 

I was highly disappointed in the play of Miami against Ohio State, and not simply because of my distaste of the Buckeyes; I thought that could be a hell of a game.  The problem is that for the last five years, the media has been cringing on every moment that they can declare the Hurricanes and Seminoles as “Back”.    I think both squads will have quality seasons this year, but they clearly are not at the top ten level that Oklahoma and OSU have been playing at for most of the past decade.  I would be surprised if these two do not compete for ACC’s BCS birth, but from now on, lets take it easy on the “they’re back!” comments until one of them actually beats somebody credible (i.e. Oklahoma or Ohio State).

Looking Forward:

Looking at week three’s schedule, it appears to be rather bland.  Lets hope the opposite of this weekend occurs.  I was quite impressed, though largely aided by many of the blowouts, that WVU was not only able to remain in the polls, but move up (#21 in AP and Coaches).  From top to bottom, there does not appear to be many potential losses in front of them that would aid in further movement.  Auburn receives a visit from Clemson, which should be a good game and LSU plays host to Mississippi State.  Dan Mullen’s crew looks poised to pull an upset somewhere this year, although hopefully not here as I would like to see the Mountaineers play an undefeated LSU in Baton Rouge. 

Iowa at Arizona, Arkansas at Georgia, and Maryland at WVU are probably the most interesting games in the top 25.   That being said, the best thing WVU can do is take care of business at home against a Terps team that appears to be an all around improved team.  If there was any concern of the ‘Eers looking past Maryland to LSU, there shouldn’t be now.  Clearly WVU has some things to work out, but thankfully Geno and his crew of WRs look to provide the best passing attack since the Bulger era.  I look for the Mountaineers to pitch the ball around a bit and win a close one at home to the Fridge.

Shoeless