My Fiver on WVU's victory over the hated & despised Albany Great Danes Saturday in Morgantown...
1. Our OL dominated. 32 carries for 305 yards, 9.5 ypc, 4 TDs. This is what you're supposed to do with an FCS opponent. One bad play - Jahiem White's fumble after jetting downfield 36 yards. Other than that, we did what we wanted. Thought the OL had a really bad 2nd half vs. PSU - especially without Wyatt Milum. Got healthy Saturday.
2. Secondary. The elephant in the room is the defensive backfield. First, I actually thought that Ayden Garnes played well. UAlbany tried twice to go at him on end zone fade routes, and he was all over it. On the flip side of that coin, Garnett Hollis Jr. looks lost out there. I expected him to be Beanie Bishop part 2. Not looking that way right now. Dontez Fagan had a couple good plays, but also was flagged for two P.I. calls in the second half. He needs to learn to turn his head. One thing I'll say is that you look at some of the passes Albany completed - and they were prayers. They converted a 3rd & 16, scored on a 2nd & 16, and converted another 3rd & 17 with a prayer down the field. We have to clean that up.
3. For our WR corps to be effective this season, we need a guy who can stretch the field -- like EJ Horton did last year. Who is that guy right now? Jaden Bray had a nice deep ball grab from Garrett Greene, who made a perfect pass by the way, but there was very little separation there. From all accounts, RicDarius Farmer is the fastest guy in the room. Is he ready to take the next step? He dropped a wide open walk-in touchdown from Greene in the 4th quarter. Just flat out dropped it. We have some talent in this WR room. But, who is going to be the guy to take the top off?
4. We are now squarely in the negative in the TO margin through two games. 3 lost fumbles, 1 pick vs. 1 fumble recovery vs. PSU (which we completely wasted by fvcking up the snap on the very next play...the most WVU thing ever). So, a total of -3 on the season. This isn't being talked about enough. Our secondary is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so, so if we don't fix this fumblitis issue (Garrett has fumbled the fall at least 4 times that I can remember this season, luckily losing just 1 thus far) and lack of takeaway issue for our "D", then we're in trouble. The reason we lost that Pitt game two years ago in Pittsburgh wasn't the 4th & 1 punt. It was an interception that cost us the game. From this point forward, turnovers are huge vs. the rest of our schedule. We need to force a few, and we need to secure the damn ball.
5. The Backyard Brawl. Pitt has come out on fire, dropping 55 on Kent State and coming back from 21-behind to beat Cincinnati in Cincy. However, Kent State just lost to St. Francis (Pa.), and WVU absolutely manhandled Cincinnati last season, running roughshod over them 42-21 in a game which was never really that close. Here's the deal -- We are a better football team than Pitt in terms of overall talent and retention. We should go up to Pittsburgh Saturday and win this game by three touchdowns. This is reminding me of the 1992 Backyard Brawl in Pittsburgh. WVU opened that season with a shockingly bad 29-29 tie with Miami(OH), while Pitt beat Kent State by 50. Pitt had Alex Van Pelt & Curtis Martin and they were boasting about beating WVU handily the year prior in Morgantown. No one expected us to win, but we were just a better overall team with Jake Kelchner, Adrian Murrell, James Jett, etc., and we went up there and kicked their ass, 44-6. There is a chance we're about to do the same with Garrett Greene, Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac (who is just steamrolling people), Josiah Trotter, CJ Donaldson, etc. Yes, I do have concerns about our secondary. But, we have an advantage over Pitt everywhere else across the field. We also have some upperclassmen leaders who have now played together a while and have a vested interest in seeing this one through. I think we're going to put it on them Saturday. That will be our true jump off into the Big 12 schedule and some upcoming contests which will determine the outcome of this season.
1. Our OL dominated. 32 carries for 305 yards, 9.5 ypc, 4 TDs. This is what you're supposed to do with an FCS opponent. One bad play - Jahiem White's fumble after jetting downfield 36 yards. Other than that, we did what we wanted. Thought the OL had a really bad 2nd half vs. PSU - especially without Wyatt Milum. Got healthy Saturday.
2. Secondary. The elephant in the room is the defensive backfield. First, I actually thought that Ayden Garnes played well. UAlbany tried twice to go at him on end zone fade routes, and he was all over it. On the flip side of that coin, Garnett Hollis Jr. looks lost out there. I expected him to be Beanie Bishop part 2. Not looking that way right now. Dontez Fagan had a couple good plays, but also was flagged for two P.I. calls in the second half. He needs to learn to turn his head. One thing I'll say is that you look at some of the passes Albany completed - and they were prayers. They converted a 3rd & 16, scored on a 2nd & 16, and converted another 3rd & 17 with a prayer down the field. We have to clean that up.
3. For our WR corps to be effective this season, we need a guy who can stretch the field -- like EJ Horton did last year. Who is that guy right now? Jaden Bray had a nice deep ball grab from Garrett Greene, who made a perfect pass by the way, but there was very little separation there. From all accounts, RicDarius Farmer is the fastest guy in the room. Is he ready to take the next step? He dropped a wide open walk-in touchdown from Greene in the 4th quarter. Just flat out dropped it. We have some talent in this WR room. But, who is going to be the guy to take the top off?
4. We are now squarely in the negative in the TO margin through two games. 3 lost fumbles, 1 pick vs. 1 fumble recovery vs. PSU (which we completely wasted by fvcking up the snap on the very next play...the most WVU thing ever). So, a total of -3 on the season. This isn't being talked about enough. Our secondary is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so, so if we don't fix this fumblitis issue (Garrett has fumbled the fall at least 4 times that I can remember this season, luckily losing just 1 thus far) and lack of takeaway issue for our "D", then we're in trouble. The reason we lost that Pitt game two years ago in Pittsburgh wasn't the 4th & 1 punt. It was an interception that cost us the game. From this point forward, turnovers are huge vs. the rest of our schedule. We need to force a few, and we need to secure the damn ball.
5. The Backyard Brawl. Pitt has come out on fire, dropping 55 on Kent State and coming back from 21-behind to beat Cincinnati in Cincy. However, Kent State just lost to St. Francis (Pa.), and WVU absolutely manhandled Cincinnati last season, running roughshod over them 42-21 in a game which was never really that close. Here's the deal -- We are a better football team than Pitt in terms of overall talent and retention. We should go up to Pittsburgh Saturday and win this game by three touchdowns. This is reminding me of the 1992 Backyard Brawl in Pittsburgh. WVU opened that season with a shockingly bad 29-29 tie with Miami(OH), while Pitt beat Kent State by 50. Pitt had Alex Van Pelt & Curtis Martin and they were boasting about beating WVU handily the year prior in Morgantown. No one expected us to win, but we were just a better overall team with Jake Kelchner, Adrian Murrell, James Jett, etc., and we went up there and kicked their ass, 44-6. There is a chance we're about to do the same with Garrett Greene, Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac (who is just steamrolling people), Josiah Trotter, CJ Donaldson, etc. Yes, I do have concerns about our secondary. But, we have an advantage over Pitt everywhere else across the field. We also have some upperclassmen leaders who have now played together a while and have a vested interest in seeing this one through. I think we're going to put it on them Saturday. That will be our true jump off into the Big 12 schedule and some upcoming contests which will determine the outcome of this season.
