Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Tony's Take, Presented by West Virginia Tourism
October 05, 2018 08:19 AM | Football, Tony's Take
Tony's Take is a monthly sports column written by veteran West Virginia University play-by-play man Tony Caridi and is presented by West Virginia Tourism.
Football, by its very nature, is a game that leads to second-guessing.
There's the Monday morning quarterback and the armchair quarterback, two well-conceived monikers that basically say it all. Regardless of a game's outcome, we're going to talk about it ad nauseam.
With the Mountaineers off to an undefeated start and a spot inside the nation's top 10, the Monday morning conversation is different this season. There's less to criticize when your team is winning by an average of 24 points and has yet to trail for a single second.
So rather than debate major malfunctions, we instead focus on more stylistic topics.
This week the conversation wasn't so much about WVU beating a ranked Texas Tech team on the road, but rather how WVU beat the Red Raiders. Scoring all of your offensive points in the first half and then hanging on to win left fans and those within the program less than happy.
It was difficult to know if WVU won or lost in the locker room last Saturday afternoon. There was a general malaise because WVU's Ferrari offense that built a 35-10 halftime lead had gone into idle for the entire second half.
It's not the first time it has happened. It was eerily similar to last season's game at Baylor. Against the Bears, WVU led 38-13 before being outscored 23-0 in the fourth quarter and escaped with a 38-36 win.
Monday morning quarterbacks are justified in asking why is it happening?
Here's a thought that was shared with me this week, and I think accurately identifies the problem.
In both cases the Mountaineers tried to do something they're not good at doing and that's slow down. This is an offense that's built for speed and explosion. Its skill personnel operate at peak efficiency when attacking not when asked to idle.
Yes, it runs counter to every football rule that says to slow down and shorten the game. However, there are times when you bypass rules because they actually put you at a disadvantage.
Bob Huggins constantly preaches to his players to do what they're good at doing and not try to do things they can't do.
The same concept applies here. The Mountaineer offense is built to punch and not rope-a-dope a team into submission.
Last Saturday's scoreless second-half was not lost on the Mountaineer offensive coaching staff. Slowing down is no longer an option.
There's a good chance all of us Monday morning quarterbacks like that plan much better.
Football, by its very nature, is a game that leads to second-guessing.
There's the Monday morning quarterback and the armchair quarterback, two well-conceived monikers that basically say it all. Regardless of a game's outcome, we're going to talk about it ad nauseam.
With the Mountaineers off to an undefeated start and a spot inside the nation's top 10, the Monday morning conversation is different this season. There's less to criticize when your team is winning by an average of 24 points and has yet to trail for a single second.
So rather than debate major malfunctions, we instead focus on more stylistic topics.
This week the conversation wasn't so much about WVU beating a ranked Texas Tech team on the road, but rather how WVU beat the Red Raiders. Scoring all of your offensive points in the first half and then hanging on to win left fans and those within the program less than happy.
It was difficult to know if WVU won or lost in the locker room last Saturday afternoon. There was a general malaise because WVU's Ferrari offense that built a 35-10 halftime lead had gone into idle for the entire second half.
It's not the first time it has happened. It was eerily similar to last season's game at Baylor. Against the Bears, WVU led 38-13 before being outscored 23-0 in the fourth quarter and escaped with a 38-36 win.
Monday morning quarterbacks are justified in asking why is it happening?
Here's a thought that was shared with me this week, and I think accurately identifies the problem.
In both cases the Mountaineers tried to do something they're not good at doing and that's slow down. This is an offense that's built for speed and explosion. Its skill personnel operate at peak efficiency when attacking not when asked to idle.
Yes, it runs counter to every football rule that says to slow down and shorten the game. However, there are times when you bypass rules because they actually put you at a disadvantage.
Bob Huggins constantly preaches to his players to do what they're good at doing and not try to do things they can't do.
The same concept applies here. The Mountaineer offense is built to punch and not rope-a-dope a team into submission.
Last Saturday's scoreless second-half was not lost on the Mountaineer offensive coaching staff. Slowing down is no longer an option.
There's a good chance all of us Monday morning quarterbacks like that plan much better.
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