Identity Crisis
October 18, 2004 03:31 PM | General
We may have reached the mid-point of the Mountaineer football schedule, but this squad’s identity remains a bit foggy. Yes, they’re 5-1 and rated in the Top 20 which is considerably better than being 1-5 and ranked in the bottom 20. But still there’s something missing when you try to define this squad. Are they explosive, undisciplined, dominating, overachieving, underachieving, a work in progress, or a finished product?
The answer is probably yes to all of these.
Through their first six games at times they’ve been all of the above. The question is which of those characteristics will become their legacy? Every team has a legacy. Every team develops a reputation that defines it perfectly.
Thursday’s encounter with Syracuse will go a long way in defining this team’s identity. Syracuse, formerly known as the Orangemen, is 3-3 with all three defeats coming against schools currently rated in the Top 10 (Purdue, Virginia, and Florida State.) That’s what we call quality defeats. Granted, getting pasted by Purdue 51-0 in their opener was embarrassing, however, all indications are that this is a Syracuse team which is improving each and every week. You may have seen Daddy and his Seminoles sneak out of the world’s largest marshmallow just in the nick of time with a hard-fought win.
The Orange may have struggled in the non-conference portion of their schedule, but they’re still very much a player in the Big East race. They’ll arrive in Morgantown with the mindset that they’ve already played three games against teams better than the Mountaineers. The big difference is that Morgantown on an October night is a much different animal than West Lafayette on a Sunday afternoon or preppy Charlottesville on a sunny Saturday in September.
The Orange’s biggest weapon is running back Walter Reyes -- one of the best in Big East history. Syracuse’s quarterback Perry Patterson is a first-year starter who’s improving, but is far from a finished product. The Syracuse defense, now coordinated by long-time WVU assistant Steve Dunlap, is solid and underrated.
Truth be told the key to victory over Syracuse doesn’t have much to do with Syracuse.
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| Quarterback Major Harris led what Tony Caridi calls a "talented, dominating and mature" football team in 1988.
AP photo |
The key is how well the Mountaineers take care of their own business. That means playing a clean game when it comes to execution and penalties. After six games I think it’s fair to say that the Mountaineers have seen the enemy and the enemy is them.
With five regular season games remaining, the time has come to put all the pieces together and develop the consistency that so far has been lacking.
I’m getting the sense that Rasheed Marshall is about to end this year playing the best football of his career. His performance at Virginia Tech and Connecticut spoke volumes. You can tell he’s ready to carry this offense on his shoulders if they’ll just come along for the ride.
One of the first passengers on Rasheed’s piggy-back ride will be freshman running back Pernell Williams. Even though he’s only got a baker’s dozen worth of totes, you can tell he’s a difference maker. The newcomer from New Lebanon, Ohio “honks it up in there” in football parlance. In other words, he runs like Avon Cobourne and Quincy Wilson.
Enough said.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and his staff are doing another quality job that once again is going unnoticed. The last time they allowed a meaningful touchdown was in the third quarter of the Maryland game. That’s a span of more than 12 quarters and is truly an impressive feat.
Yes, the ingredients are still there to live up to its preseason billing as Big East champions, the question now becomes when and if all the pieces will come together.
We’ll get another chance to look inside the oven on Thursday night.
