Sports - USF 30 WV 19

The Mountaineers could not get it done in Tampa once again. South Florida seems to have their number. The Mountaineers were able to move the ball through the air decently and could have done better in that area if the receivers wouldn't have dropped a few. Once again, however, South Florida shut down the run game. Offensively, the Bulls looked very good against the Mountaineers' defense. They were able to convert big plays and move the ball. The Mountaineers couldn't blame this one on turnovers since they only committed one. The one was a costly interception on a terrible pass by Brown. Brown was lucky he didn't lose a fumble or two. On the plus side, it was the best the special teams have looked this year. Overall, the game seemed to show what I felt all year despite a 6-1 record, the Mountaineers are just an average BCS team. In fact, I might have to put them 6th in the Big East. Cincy is #1 and Pitt is #2. After that it gets tighter. I really feel for UConn who lost another close game that it seemed they were going to win. An 80+ yard touchdown with less than a minute to go made them 4 point losers. They could legitimately be 8-0. I'm not sure the order I'd put UConn, USF, Rutgers and WV in in terms of who I'd take on a neutral field, but I'd lean towards putting WV at the end of that list. I would also have WV as underdogs in their final 3 games, although they could potentially find a way to win one or two of those. 8-4 would be a good finish at this point, 7-5 may be more likely. Either way it's not a disastrous season and it gives Stewart some time to establish himself. In terms of his start, perhaps it is will be the best two year start of any coach in WV history. I'm pretty sure no coach inherited a team one game away from playing in the national championship game with the start quarterback returning either, so that doesn't mean much. In recent history, excluding Rod's first year conversion, the worst two year regular season stretch WV has experienced is 16-7. I would guess Stewart's start will be worse than that. The three years previous to Stewart were double digit win seasons for the Mountaineers. So, the bar has definitely dropped. I hope it can be raised again in the next couple of years and I'm certainly willing to give Stewart that chance, but I doubt we will be seeing the top 10 again for a while. At the quarterback position, my support for Brown remains low. He's just not steady. He was fortunate to get out of the game with one turnover. He also had a play that I have never seen before. On the final play of the first half, the Mountaineers ran a Hail Mary. Brown got to the outside and had nobody around him. Instead of heaving down to the end zone, he ran out of bounds for a two yard gain. Was he concerned about his stats? Was he gun shy after the bad pick (he finished the half very poorly)? It's a Hail Mary. Your receivers will be covered!!! You throw it up and see what happens. You could get a touchdown, an incompletion, or an interception that ends the half. You take your chances. Brown continues to show me that he has a low football IQ. He's very talented, perhaps as much as any WV quarterback to come to the school, but a huge part of the position is mental. I'm excited to see what Smith can do, but at this point it's probably best not to turn the team over to him since they are likely to have little success in those final three games. Perhaps they could give him a couple of series. All this seems very negative because it's relative to what we have experienced in recent years. It's really not that bad. WV is currently an average BCS team and that's what they are projected to be going forward. Expectations will no longer be high and every once in a while you'll have a really good year. Unfortunately, when you are an average team, you'll also have a losing season every once in a while. Hopefully WV takes care of Louisville and gets to 7 wins. From there the pressure would be off in my mind. Any win would be a bonus.