All About Matchups
August 30, 2004 07:39 AM | General
Monday, August 30, 2004
I spent an evening with my ‘ole buddy Bill Stewart last month in New Martinsville. The colorful, live-wire of a coach, who would make even Tony Robbins looked depressed, said something that we should take into consideration.
When examining a football game, toss your emotions aside and closely examine the matchups. The veteran Mountaineer coach says it is match-ups that determine games, not uniform design, not pre-game boasts or a coach’s best Knute Rockne speech.
It’s all in the matchups.
With that said, look for the Mountaineers to have a positive outcome against East Carolina on Saturday evening. WVU is simply too deep and experienced for the Pirates.
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| Offensive lineman Tim Brown is one of the oldest players on the WVU team. You can see Tim profiled during this weekend's season debut of Mountaineer Magazine Friday night and Saturday morning.
(All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
College football is no longer a young man’s game. On Saturday night, WVU will start 23-year old Rasheed Marshall at quarterback, 23-year old Hikee Johnson at fullback, 24-year old Tim Brown at center, and don’t forget: 25-year old running back Kay-Jay Harris. Nearly half of East Carolina’s top 22 players on defense are freshmen, sophomores, or junior college transfers.
If you don’t think age makes a difference, go get a team of 12th graders and match them up against a group of seventh graders. At times it can be like men playing against boys. Remember WVU’s starting offensive line on the undefeated 1988 squad? It was comprised of five fifth-year seniors. Like ‘ole Bill Stewart says: it’s all about the matchups.
ECU’s lack of experience and depth on the lines should make for an enjoyable night for Mountaineer fans and a rather long evening for the boys from Greenville, North Carolina. WVU tagged ECU by a final of 48-7 last season. It wouldn't surprise me to see something similar this weekend.
A long-time observer of East Carolina’s football program tells me their current woes are the result of former coach Steve Logan’s obsession with winning the recruiting battles for in-state players. Logan’s philosophy of winning with North Carolina natives has left the ECU program with a lack of overall talent and depth. Second-year coach John Thompson hit the state of Florida hard in his most recent recruiting class and will continue to scour the Sunshine State for players.
Rich Rodriguez has great respect for Thompson. The two matched wits during their stay in Conference USA. In fact, Rich had Thompson on a short-list of potential assistant coach candidates before Thompson’s star bloomed as defensive coordinator at Arkansas.
Coach Rod will be the first to tell Thompson that it just takes time to get your program’s personnel established. One Mountaineer assistant tells me that for the first time in his four years at WVU, he’s finally got his personnel strong enough and deep enough to play the way he wants them to.
I’ll be surprised if you are not wowed by the renovations and expansion at Milan Puskar Stadium when you come in for Saturday’s game.
Now in its 25th season of operation, the stadium has matured into a totally enclosed state-of-the art complex. Unless you’re fortunate enough to be sitting in one of the new suites or Touchdown Terrace location, the biggest difference you’ll notice is the new sound system. The second you hear it, you’ll know it. It’s a great addition to an already beautiful facility.
Have a great week and don’t forget to listen to MSN Radio on Saturday. There will be no live television of the game.
