Upon Further Review
September 21, 2008 12:48 PM | General
September 21, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Before West Virginia can move on to Marshall in the Saturday’s Friends of Coal Bowl it must put to bed the Colorado game. The game tape West Virginia coaches review on Sunday with the team will undoubtedly show missed opportunities that could have made a big difference in the outcome of the Mountaineers’ 17-14 overtime loss to the Buffaloes Thursday night in Boulder.
West Virginia, 1-2 for the first time since 2003, must figure out how to kick start an offense that has scored just 17 points in the last eight quarters. Both touchdowns against Colorado were set up by long Pat White runs; White’s second, a 39-yard TD in the third quarter to tie the game, was actually a designed pass play.
“We had a couple of long drives that we felt pretty good about,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen. “There were times when we would get a penalty here and there and that really hurt us. That kind of took us a little bit out of it.”
Against the Buffaloes, West Virginia was determined to stick with the running game after trying to be more balanced in a 24-3 loss at East Carolina. West Virginia ran for a season-high 311 yards and had a pair of 100-yard rushers in White (148) and Noel Devine (133). But the real problem for West Virginia came on third down, specifically third and short yardage. The Mountaineers had six third-and-less-than-five situations and were only able to come up with one first down – a Devine six-yard run on third and four late in the game.
Four times on third and less than two West Virginia couldn’t move the sticks (three unsuccessful runs and an incomplete pass). Overall, West Virginia was 3 of 13 on third down against Colorado and is 12 of 34 on third down tries (35 percent) through the first three games.
After throwing the ball well in the opener against Villanova, West Virginia passed for 72 yards against East Carolina and only 43 against Colorado as it tried to reestablish the ground game.
“I think we rushed the ball really, really well,” Mullen said. “We purposely tried to limit the throw game to try and help our defense and keep them off the field.”
Through the first three games, West Virginia’s opponents have had a 236-177 advantage in total plays which obviously means more opportunities for opponents to possess the ball and keep White and Devine off the field. Against Colorado the West Virginia defense showed remarkable improvement, especially after a rough first quarter when it gave up 14 points – seven as a result of Bradley Starks’ fumble recovered at the Buffalo 28.
“Our defense did a heck of a job,” Mullen said. “My hat is off to Coach Casteel and our defensive football players. They played a winning night and I feel sick to my stomach that we couldn’t get a couple of more points on the board for them.”
Mullen said there were specific times when West Virginia was looking to throw the ball downfield but for one reason or another was unable to do so.
“Of course we had the double pass when we had a chance to win the football game,” Mullen said. “I thought we called them at the right time and our staff did a nice job of putting those on the play-call sheet at the right time. I felt good about that.”
As for the strategy at the end of the game, Mullen said the objective was to get Pat McAfee close enough to kick a game-winning field goal.
“Coach (Bill) Stewart was on the horn with me the whole time,” Mullen said. “We just felt like as a staff we needed to get that thing across the 50 and then with the two remaining timeouts take some shots to get those 15 yards. We felt like if we could get to the 35 Pat could go in there and kick it and win it.”
The key moment in the final sequence of plays came with third and one at the Colorado 47. A running play by Noel Devine netted a loss of a yard and West Virginia hurriedly called timeout with only four seconds left. By that time the distance was too far for both a McAfee field goal try and a long pass to the end zone from quarterback Pat White.
“We weren’t going to kick the ball at the end of the game,” Stewart said. “I absolutely wouldn’t change a thing. We weren’t going to put our defense on the 50 yard line with the game on the line.”
Had West Virginia converted the first down by getting to the Colorado 46 it was prepared to call timeout immediately and take a couple of shots at getting another first down to put McAfee in range to try a field goal.
“When it was third and one there was 24 seconds on the clock,” Mullen explained. “If we get that then we were going to burn a timeout and get a couple of play calls ready with one timeout left. We felt like we were going to get those 15 or 20 yards that we needed.”
West Virginia’s defense held Colorado to just 122 yards during the final seven possessions and limited the Buffaloes to only one first down through a quarter and a half of play. Colorado had one drive lasting longer than 10 plays and only two drives that covered more than 60 yards.
“We gave up 14 points early and then for 55 minutes we played like warriors, true warriors. I’m proud of the way (the defense) hung in there and played,” Stewart said.
It appears the defense is going to have to continue to grow until the offense can get its bearings.
“We still have our in-state rival coming in this Saturday. We have every game left in the Big East,” Stewart said. “We still have some so-called marquee games coming up at home.
“We have a chance to have a tremendous year if we grow. Our juniors and seniors will hold everyone together. They don’t feel good and I don’t feel good.”
