My Fiver on WVU's loss to the Horned Frogs on Saturday afternoon...
1. It's good that we came out and competed, unlike the pig vomit we put forward in Lubbock. However, when you have opportunities in a game like this, you have to cash in. We simply didn't. Two trips inside the red zone to start the second half, and we walk away with three points. Then, we get a huge INT by Malachi Ruffin to get the ball back with 3:50 to go, and we go three yards backwards in three plays. We had our chances. We didn't cash in.
2. Onsides kick down three with 4 minutes to go with three timeouts was an awful, awful call. Hated it. You kickoff, try to force a turnover, and get a stop on downs - get the ball back in good field position. We ended up getting an INT off of the TCU possession, but deep in our own territory. That INT would've had a different flavor altogether if it was made at midfield.
3. I missed the first half coaching soccer, but watched the highlights. And, was that fumble by JTD reviewed? It looked to me like his arm was clearly moving forward. Was that a legit call? On the back of the Texas Tech QB's fumble last week which was whistled dead while the ball was live, that's two calls in a row by the Big 12 refs which seem blatantly wrong to me.
4. It's the way of the WVU fan. We are putting up points, finally, in 2022. We put up 31 Saturday. In 2021, that would've been good enough to win 11 of our 13 contests. In 2022, "31" would've been good enough to win 8 out of 10. Now, we have a five-star QB, Graham Harrell, and put up 31 vs. Pitt and lose. 42 vs. Kansas and lose. 31 vs. TCU and lose. It's maddening. If we had Akeem Messidor, Daryl Porter, Tykee Smith, and Josh Chandler-Semedo this year, we'd be 6-2 at worst. But, we don't. Is what it is. It's hard to watch your team when you can't get a stop. It's bad football, giving up 4 plays of 50+ yards.
5. Four games left, and we gotta go 3-1 to make a bowl. That's a big ask of our offense when our "D" can't get a stop. Pretty soon, we'll need to transition into how we are going to rebuild this program for success next season and beyond after what we've seen in 2022. No one seems to know if that involves a head coaching change. If it does involved a head coaching change, it appears Hugh Freeze is likely "out" after his contract extension in Lynchburg. We need someone who can come in, rally the talent we have, and build us back up to be a pain in the ass again. East Carolina was an absolute dumpster fire when Mike Houston took over there in 2018. The had just finished 3-9, losing to Memphis 70-13 to end that season. Houston just led them to a victory at BYU to make them bowl eligible for the 2nd consecutive year. Between he and Cignetti, I don't think we could go wrong there. Speaking of Cignetti, JMU plays at Louisville Saturday night, after our thriller with Iowa State on the Ocho.
1. It's good that we came out and competed, unlike the pig vomit we put forward in Lubbock. However, when you have opportunities in a game like this, you have to cash in. We simply didn't. Two trips inside the red zone to start the second half, and we walk away with three points. Then, we get a huge INT by Malachi Ruffin to get the ball back with 3:50 to go, and we go three yards backwards in three plays. We had our chances. We didn't cash in.
2. Onsides kick down three with 4 minutes to go with three timeouts was an awful, awful call. Hated it. You kickoff, try to force a turnover, and get a stop on downs - get the ball back in good field position. We ended up getting an INT off of the TCU possession, but deep in our own territory. That INT would've had a different flavor altogether if it was made at midfield.
3. I missed the first half coaching soccer, but watched the highlights. And, was that fumble by JTD reviewed? It looked to me like his arm was clearly moving forward. Was that a legit call? On the back of the Texas Tech QB's fumble last week which was whistled dead while the ball was live, that's two calls in a row by the Big 12 refs which seem blatantly wrong to me.
4. It's the way of the WVU fan. We are putting up points, finally, in 2022. We put up 31 Saturday. In 2021, that would've been good enough to win 11 of our 13 contests. In 2022, "31" would've been good enough to win 8 out of 10. Now, we have a five-star QB, Graham Harrell, and put up 31 vs. Pitt and lose. 42 vs. Kansas and lose. 31 vs. TCU and lose. It's maddening. If we had Akeem Messidor, Daryl Porter, Tykee Smith, and Josh Chandler-Semedo this year, we'd be 6-2 at worst. But, we don't. Is what it is. It's hard to watch your team when you can't get a stop. It's bad football, giving up 4 plays of 50+ yards.
5. Four games left, and we gotta go 3-1 to make a bowl. That's a big ask of our offense when our "D" can't get a stop. Pretty soon, we'll need to transition into how we are going to rebuild this program for success next season and beyond after what we've seen in 2022. No one seems to know if that involves a head coaching change. If it does involved a head coaching change, it appears Hugh Freeze is likely "out" after his contract extension in Lynchburg. We need someone who can come in, rally the talent we have, and build us back up to be a pain in the ass again. East Carolina was an absolute dumpster fire when Mike Houston took over there in 2018. The had just finished 3-9, losing to Memphis 70-13 to end that season. Houston just led them to a victory at BYU to make them bowl eligible for the 2nd consecutive year. Between he and Cignetti, I don't think we could go wrong there. Speaking of Cignetti, JMU plays at Louisville Saturday night, after our thriller with Iowa State on the Ocho.
