For the most part, the bowl games involving the Big 5 Conference teams have been pretty good. However 2 teams failed to maintain my interest after awhile as it was obvious they either were unprepared or maybe did not care as much. Those 2 teams are Vanderbilt, a 41-17 loser to North Carolina State, and West Virginia, losing to Miami, 31-14. Even though Vanderbilt lost by 24 points, they went into the game as a 6 point underdog, so many could expect them losing that game.
West Virginia was a 2.5 point underdog against Miami so I truly expected a close game. In some fairness, the officiating was questionable in a few instances that went against the Mountaineers.
Despite the officiating, West Virginia was not going to win this game even if they had every call go their way. West Virginia was regarded as having a high powered offense that throws the ball downfield to go along with a decent run game. As I watched this game. there were a few words that came to mind in regards to their offense and especially their play calling. Words like: pathetic, suspicious, or many times just wondering what on earth are they doing.
Looking at the stats:
QB Howard ran the ball 21 times for a total of 63 yards.
RB Crawford ran the ball 6 times for 16 yards
RB McKoy ran the ball 1 time for 6 yards and a touchdown (possibly got hurt in the game)
RB Shell ran the ball 6 times for zero yards.
TOTAL RUN PLAYS WERE 34 FOR 105 YARDS (3.08 YARDS PER CARRY) QB HOWARD HAD MORE CARRIES (21) THAN THE 3 RUNNING BACKS TOGETHER (13)
It was obvious the the running game was not effective, especially if a team is relying on their QB to be the main guy who was okay at times but will never be confused as a Cam Newton type runner.
So if you cannot run the ball,then maybe it would be time to put that high powered downfield passing game into play. That did not happen either as QB Howard threw the ball 26 times with 17 completions, for a total of 134 yards or about 8 yards per completion. Not what most would consider downfield passing, but more of a conservative game plan.
One part of the game that stood out was at the beginning of the 4th quarter, with WVU behind 31-14.
After West Virginia was penalized 10 yards for holding, they had the ball on their own 40, 1st down and 20 for a first down. Plays went something like this.
Run up the middle for 2 yards leaving 2nd down and 18
Run up the middle for 1 yard leaving 3rd down and 17
Run around end for 7 yards leaving 4th down and 10 at midfield
Going for it, they tried a 7 yard pass that went incomplete. Ball over to Miami at the 50.
DOWN BY 17 POINTS WITH 3 RUNNING PLAYS AND A SHORT PASS TO GET 20 YARDS
IN MOST CASES WILL NOT WORK. I WILL LEAVE IT UP TO ALL OF YOU AS TO WHAT WORDS WOULD DESCRIBE THE PLAY CALLING.
Coach, Dana Holgersen recently got a 5 year contract extension that will pay him around 3.7 million a year. ON THIS NIGHT, THE MOUNTAINEER FAITHFUL DID NOT GET THEIR MONIES WORTH
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