August 27-31 Blog
August 27, 2007 01:48 PM | General
We’re changing things up a little bit. For the past four years Campus Connection has kind of been like a weekly blog full of tidbits, notes, commentary, quasi-opinion and weak stabs at humor that have sometimes hit the mark and at other times completely missed. Well, to keep up with the Jones', we’ve decided to turn Campus Connection into a daily blog. If we miss a day then you know we’re struggling.
Hope you enjoy it …
More Rest for Slaton?
Posted By John Antonik: August 31, 2007 (6:29 pm)
Could Steve Slaton get a little more rest this year? West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez thinks that could be a possibility if true freshmen running backs Noel Devine and Jock Sanders continue to progress. Both are expected to see plenty of action Saturday afternoon against Western Michigan.
“You hate for them to have to go in their first game in a critical situation but at the same time we can’t be afraid to play them,” Rodriguez said. “They know enough that we can put them in there and be confident that they will execute whether it’s pass protection, running a route or handing the ball off to them. They’re taking all the same reps Steve is and running the same plays.”
The idea is to have three or four reliable and fresh runners to throw at defenses on a regular basis. Last year, Slaton’s production suffered during his remaining three games as his injuries began to pile up. Slaton had just 166 yards on 46 carries in games against South Florida, Rutgers and Georgia Tech. He was limited to just three carries for 11 yards against Georgia Tech in the Toyota Gator Bowl.
“There were times when we would take him out and put Owen (Schmitt) in simply because we didn’t want Steve to injure that wrist blocking,” Rodriguez said. “Of course that’s all out the window now and he can play more now because he’s healthier.”
Slaton appears much bigger physically, particularly in his upper body.
“He’s a little bigger now than he’s ever been,” Rodriguez said. “He probably can carry more of a load than he has in the past. We were really protective of him last year at times because of his wrist.”
Rodriguez said his initial use of freshmen Devine and Sanders will be predicated by game situations and field position.
“Whether we put Jock or Noel or Owen in his place really depends upon the situation and sometimes depends upon the play we’re going to call,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been pleased with what they’ve learned. They’re freshmen and you’ve got to limit their package but I think we’re deeper (at tailback).
“They’re still making a mistake or two but so did Steve at this stage of his career.”
Of course what Rodriguez didn’t mention is the fact that he also has the luxury of having quarterback Patrick White involved in the running game once again this year. White made up for Slaton’s injury in the Gator Bowl by rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown against Georgia Tech.
Coach Couch Potato
Posted By John Antonik: August 30, 2007 (10:29 am)
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| Bob Huggins |
West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins admits he’s a huge college football fan who often parks himself on the couch like the rest of us for a 12-hour day of sheer pleasure.
“I love college football. I’m a huge college football fan. I’m one of those guys that when the first game starts at 11 o’clock in the morning I’m watching at 11 o’clock in the morning,” he told MSN’s Tony Caridi. “I was watching Kansas State and Marshall at 11 o’clock in the morning.
“My wife said to me, ‘Are you going to watch football all day?’ I said, ‘Well … I think Ohio State-Texas starts at 8 o’clock so probably after that game I might be available.’”
Coach Huggs sounds just like the rest of us.
Huggins says he also plans to use Mountaineer football home games as a means to influence top high school prospects.
“Unfortunately TV has dictated that we’re not playing a lot of Saturday games so having Thursday games it’s hard to get guys in,” said the coach. “But I think the Saturday games we’re going to try and get at least a half dozen young guys in to experience the atmosphere here and see what great fans we have and the great enthusiasm they have for athletics here.”
Huggins has been to Milan Puskar Stadium to watch West Virginia games in the past but Saturday’s Western Michigan game will be his first one as the head basketball coach of the Mountaineers. He is hopeful that his new status will get him a decent parking spot.
“I can’t find a parking spot at the Coliseum,” he laughed, “so I’m not sure about that. But I love watching the Mountaineers.”
Team Entrance
Posted By John Antonik: August 29, 2007 (5:55 pm)
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| New train animation for the football team's entrance |
The cat has been let out of the bag a couple of days early – the West Virginia University football team will be making a grand entrance into Milan Puskar Stadium this Saturday when it opens the 2007 season against Western Michigan.
Gone is the band’s theme music from “2001: A Space Odyssey” that was popularized many years ago by South Carolina. The new entrance features a train animation, video highlights from great games of the past, Coach Rod getting the team fired up, and some footage of the players walking out of the locker room through the tunnel. The entire presentation is spiked with a little Metallica at the end.
“We’re trying to get the fans involved a little bit in the pre-game entrance,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “Once you run out on the field it’s over, but we want to create an atmosphere that’s second to none in college football and we want people to remember that before the game, during the game and after the game.”
The Pride of West Virginia will still play an integral part in the team run-on, forming a line down the field that the team will run through. As the players enter the field the band will either jump or raise their instruments over their head.
Fans are encouraged to get involved as well.
“You can sense the intensity,” Rodriguez said. “You want it to be the same all the time. When you run out of that tunnel the level of intensity should be at the ultimate every time. It’s been like that a lot but it hasn’t been like that every time we’ve gone out.
“That’s the one thing we’re hoping to have.”
Rodriguez said the pre-game entrance was a collaborative effort between his wife Rita, a former WVU cheerleader, video coordinator Dusty Rutledge and Jay Drury, director of The Pride of West Virginia.
Team MVP
Posted By John Antonik: August 29, 2007 (3:07 pm)
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| Keilen Dykes |
The team’s most valuable player this year will of course be Heisman Trophy candidate State Slaton, whose picture has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's College Football Preview the last two years.
Or will it be quarterback Patrick White, the guy that hoisted the team on his back and literally won last year’s Gator Bowl all by himself?
Believe it or not, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez has another guy in mind: senior defensive lineman Keilen Dykes.
“He’s probably one of the most valuable players on the team – let alone the defense,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
Dykes is West Virginia’s most dominant and versatile defensive lineman in a defense that requires a dominant and versatile guy in the middle.
“He’s a guy that can play all three positions up front. He’s our most dominant defensive lineman who has got a lot of experience,” Rodriguez said.
Because Dykes is in such great shape Rodriguez said it’s possible the Youngstown, Ohio, resident could play as many as 50 to 60 snaps per game.
“Normally you don’t want those guys to play over 60 snaps a game but with Keilen if he can do it and hold up physically then we’re going to do it because he’s so important to us up front,” Rodriguez said.
Dykes is a legitimate pro prospect who has made 31 total starts during his career. “I think he’s taken on more of a leadership role,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a guy that’s graduating, he’s been in the program a long time and I know he’s excited for this year.
“I think he’s in the best shape of his career and he’s playing his best so far. We’re going to need him to do that up front because he’s surrounded by new guys and some young guys that are going to be playing for the first time,” Rodriguez said.
Five Players to Watch
Posted By John Antonik: August 29, 2007 (9:45 pm)
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| Deana Everrett |
West Virginia’s Deana Everrett wasn’t one of the 46 college players named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List released by the Missouri Athletic Club earlier this month (WVU teammate Amanda Cicchini was), but that doesn’t mean the forward isn’t one of the top players in the country.
Last year as a sophomore, Everrett scored 18 goals to lead the Big East Conference and earn Soccerbuzz third-team All-America honors. She scored at least one goal in seven of West Virginia’s first nine games last year.
Despite the snub, ESPN’s Graham Hays certainly knows about Everrett listing her among his five top college players to watch this season.
Wrote Hays: “Pat White and Steve Slaton aren’t the only athletes in Morgantown who are hoping to make use of their blazing speed to lead a team to postseason glory. After scoring four goals in a successful but quiet freshman campaign, Everrett grabbed national attention last season by racing past opponents to score 18 goals and assist on seven others. Along with UCLA’s Danesha Adams, Everrett is one of the most exciting players in the nation to watch when the offside flag stays down and she bears down on a helpless goalie.”
Mountaineer fans in town on Friday night for the Western Michigan football game ought stop over to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and watch the No. 15-ranked WVU women open its regular season against Bowling Green at 7 pm.
Preparing for Ghosts
Posted By John Antonik: August 28, 2007 (6:22 pm)
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| Rich Rodriguez |
It has been said many times that coaches prepare for ghosts in season-opening football games. Are teams going to defend the way they defended last year? Will they change schematically based on personnel and coaching changes?
Those are just some of the questions Rich Rodriguez says his coaching staff must answer on the fly Saturday afternoon when his team takes on Western Michigan in the 2007 lid-lifter.
“Having done this 15-16 years you think you’ve seen it all and then you come into the season and someone gives you a different look and you’re like, ‘Wow, where did that come from?’ You have to be able to adapt to it,” Rodriguez said Tuesday afternoon.
Having an experienced quarterback under center makes adjustments much easier, says the coach.
“One thing I’m confident with our offensive staff and especially with the quarterbacks like Pat and Adam – they’ve seen a little bit of everything,” Rodriguez said. “I wouldn’t be shocked if somebody does something really unconventional and we’ll have to have an answer for it.”
Coaches spend a lot of time trying to figure out every possible scenario but the truth of the matter is there are always things that pop up during the game that aren’t accounted for.
“In the first game especially you’re always a little nervous because it’s a game and it’s against somebody different and you don’t know how they’re going to defend us. Are they going to defend us the way they did teams last year or the way their coaches did in the past? You don’t know until you play them,” Rodriguez said. “It can be ugly at times especially in the first game just trying to figure what their mode of attack is against us. We have to keep our poise and just execute what is called.”
Rodriguez admits coaches are generally more uneasy about the first game than any other game during the year because of the unknowns and uncertainties involved with both teams.
“Even with the guys you’ve got returning … are they as focused? Are they going to execute? Are they too excited? Will they forget their fundamentals?” Rodriguez explained. “The first game is the most nerve wracking every year and I think every coach will tell you that because there is no preseason game.”
In Saturday’s opener there will be seven new assistant coaches for both teams (three for West Virginia and four for Western Michigan) which could add even more intrigue.
“The coordinators are the same and when your coordinators stay the same usually the system stays the same,” Rodriguez said. “However, every year your coordinator may be the same on special teams and they may change. There is a lot of guesswork. All you can do as a coach is prepare for the base stuff and don’t be surprised if you get surprised.”
Big East Joining Radio Business
Posted By John Antonik: August 27, 2007 (2:22 pm)
The Big East Conference is now getting into the football radio business. Today the conference announced through its partnership with ISP Sports a 67-affiliate radio network that will carry the Big East/ISP Football Game of the Week beginning Aug. 31 with Syracuse’s season opener against Washington.
Each station will carry the seven weekly games involving Big East schools, subject to local blackout restrictions. The agreement gives the Big East a reach into eight of the top 10 and 12 of the top 20 arbitron markets in the U.S.
The games will also be available on the Big East official web site at www.bigeast.tv.
John Rooke and Bill Rosinski will share play-by-play duties, with former standouts Peter Brock, Dave Archer and Ricky Proehl providing color analysis.
Andy Demetra will serve as the network’s studio anchor.
West Virginia’s stations taking part in the Big East/ISP Football Game of the Week include: WAMN-AM (Bluefield), WCHS-AM (Charleston), WMMN-AM (Fairmont), WRVC-AM (Huntington), and WKKX-AM (Wheeling).
Those stations will not be permitted to air any WVU games that appear on the Big East/ISP Football Game of the Week.
Major national markets carrying the games include: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.
