Monday, November 7, 2011

WVU-Lousiville and LSU-Alabama Recap


WVU vs. Louisville

There’s not much to say about the Mountaineers 38-35 loss to the Cardinals this weekend. WVU continued to put up gaudy numbers on offense, but couldn’t stop any one on defense. Special Teams was awful again and continued to get abused. The punting is awful and the kickoff return team is awful.
It’s tough to believe that this team was so good defensively last year, with the same Jeff Casteel 3-3-5 scheme, but is just not stopping anybody this year. Obviously it hurts that we lost 7 starters from that impressive defense, but we still have solid players and plenty of new talent. Bruce Irvin is a sack specialist and Darwin Cook is having a very solid year. Even Keith Tandy will make good plays, but he too will often give up the big play.
Offensively the Mountaineers have been lighting up the scoreboard. Geno Smith is a field general and can make all the throws. Stedman Bailey has spectacular catch ability and he too puts up big numbers. The speed of Tavon Austin is unmatched by anyone on the field.
There is no doubt that Head Coach Dana Holgorsen knows what he’s doing on offense. I don’t even fully blame him for the defense or special teams. There is plenty of inexperience and it’s starting to show.
There’s a tough matchup with Cincinnati this weekend and hopefully we actually look motivated out there. We can’t play only one half like we have been. We need to play a full game and put it together for a run at a BCS berth in the wild Big East.

LSU vs. Alabama

What an absolute defensive slugfest this game was. Most people were discouraged by a 9-6 victory with no scores in the game. But I thought it was great. These teams were so evenly matched and it showed on the field. The only difference was special teams. Alabama missed four field goals in the game and that truly killed them. Both of these teams have NFL caliber defenses and they look as if they are ready to play on Sunday’s immediately.
LSU’s secondary is absolutely filthy. From the “Honey Badger” Tyrann Mathieu, to Eric Reid, to Morris Clairborne. They are superstars in the making. That interception by Reid on the gadget play by Alabama was truly stunning. I was in shock when he came up with that football. That was the game changer that LSU needed to come through with a victory. LSU is truly becoming “Cornerback U” with the way they are producing playmakers. They produced Patrick Peterson last year that already is making the most of his opportunities in the NFL. LSU tries to recruit fast and physical corners who can play man to man so they can load up the box and leave their corners on an “island.” I would definitely say LSU is the favorite to win it all this year.