Champs Sports Bowl Scouting Report – West Virginia Mountaineers

Before I get into the scouting report on the Mountaineers (I figured the WV native would probably qualify for the job), this will be a hard game for me to watch. I’m an NC State grad and a die hard State fan (or else I wouldn’t be here on this site) but I can’t turn my back on the Mountaineers that are such source of pride to West Virginians like myself either. So you see my dilemma… Anyway, on to the scouting report.

The West Virginia University Mountaineers finished the season 9-3 overall and tied for the Big East title with a record of 5-2. Bill Stewart is the head coach in his 3rd full season and has a record of 28-11 in Morgantown. Here is a link to Coach Stew’s “Leave No Doubt” pregame speech before the Fiesta Bowl. Even though he will be on the opposite sideline from the Wolfpack, you’ve got to admit that’s a pretty good speech. Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen will be brought in as head coach in waiting and offensive coordinator after the bowl game and will take over as the head man after the 2011 season. Here is an article with more details on the coaching change/hire.Former NCSU defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap is the assistant head coach and safeties coach for WVU.

The Pack and the ‘Eers had two common opponents in the Maryland Terrapins and the Cincinnati Bearcats. WVU beat the Terps 31-17 in Sept and Cincy 37-10 in Nov, both games were in Morgantown. The Wolfpack beat Cincy 30-19 in Sept in Carter-Finley and lost to Maryland 38-31 in the regular season finale in College Park.

Offense
WVU scores 26.7 points per game (65th in the nation) and total offense averages 376.6 yards per game (64th). On the ground, WVU averages 162.2 yards per game (49th) and through the air averages 214.4 yards per game (67th). The offensive coordinator, who will be replaced by Holgersen, is Jeff Mullen, the former QB coach at Wake Forest. WVU turned the ball over 23 times with 16 fumbles and 7 interceptions.

Despite the weapons the Mountaineers have on offense, that side of the ball has been the weakness for WVU this season. In a 20-14 loss at LSU, 2 WVU turnovers led to 10 points and had only 177 yards of total offense. Special teams were also key with 2 missed field goals and a 60 yard punt return by LSU. In the 19-14 loss to Syracuse, 2 interceptions led to 2 Cuse FGs and a 3rd int was thrown in the end zone. In a 16-13 OT loss that ended up giving UConn a BCS Fiesta Bowl bid, WVU turned the ball over 4 times including a Ryan Clarke fumble at the 4 yard line in overtime. The Mountaineers also struggled on offense in a 17-10 win over Louisville, a 20-6 win over South Florida and a 24-21 overtime comeback win over Marshall. However the Mountaineers have scored at least 35 in 3 of their last 4 games in wins over Cincy, Pitt & Rutgers.

Quarterback
WVU’s starting QB is #12 Geno Smith (2nd team All Big East). This season Geno is 219 of 333 passing (65.8%) for 2567 yards and 23 TD with only 6 interceptions (3 of those coming in the loss at Syracuse) and a QB rating of 149.71 (22nd in the nation). Geno does a good job of moving around in the pocket and the coaching staff has him running the QB option read more later in the season. While Geno is no Pat White (and really who is), he’s pretty mobile and has run for 158 net yards on the ground. It often seems to me if the downfield game isn’t working early, the coaches go conservative, allowing defenses to stack the box to stop the ground game and screen passes, so solid play from the secondary early could be a key for the Wolfpack. The backup is #11 true freshman Barry Brunetti, who recently posted on Twitter that he will transfer after the bowl game.

Running Backs
#7 Noel Devine is WVU’s leading rusher with 886 yards and 6 TDs. Devine has been slowed this year by a nagging foot injury explaining the drop off from 1289 yards as a soph and 1465 as a junior. While he doesn’t have the initial burst he used to have, a slower Noel Devine is still pretty darn fast and will have some time to heal before the bowl game. #32 Ryan Clarke fills the fullback slot left empty by runaway beer truck and Philadelphia Eagle Owen Schmitt. Clarke has been used a lot in goal line and short yardage situations and has 291 yards and 8 TDs but has some fumble issues of late. #20 Shawne Alston will see some carries (242 yards) and slot receivers Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin (more on them next) will line up in the backfield at times.

Receivers
The two main threats at slot receiver are similar to Devine, small and quick. #9 Jock Sanders (2nd team All Big East) has 64 catches for 670 yards and 4 TDs as well as 75 yards and 1 TD on the ground. #1 Tavon Austin (2nd team All Big East) has 53 catches for 757 yards and 8 TDs and 153 yards and 1 TD on the ground. Other receiving targets are #10 Stedman Bailey (256 yards & 3 TD), #2 Brad Starks (317 yards & 4 TD) and #81 J.D. Woods (191 yards, 1 TD). Devine has 30 catches for 237 yards and 1 TD as well and while WVU doesn’t use the tight end much, #6 Will Johnson does have 107 yards and 2 TDs. Sanders and Austin along with Devine are very, very good in open space at making you miss, so one on one tackles should be an area for concern for the Pack defense.

Offensive Line
The starters on the O-line are #64 Don Barclay (2nd team All Big East) and #57 Jeff Braun at tackle, #77 Josh Jenkins and #61 Eric Jobe at guard and #74 Joe Madsen at center. Madsen is academically inelligible for the bowl game (along with reserves DB Eain Smith and NT Josh Taylor), so Jobe will move to center and #72 Cole Bowers will probably get the start at guard. The O-line has given up 25 sacks this year (74th in the nation) and doesn’t appear to me to be as good as previous WVU O-lines. Although with Devine’s injury it’s a little hard to tell if they can’t hold their blocks or if Devine just can’t hit the hole as fast. This is an area, especially missing the starting center, where I think the Wolfpack defensive line and blitzers could try to find an advantage.

Defense
WVU plays a 3-3-5 defensive scheme that most teams aren’t used to seeing (although the NCSU coaching staff will have plenty of time to watch game tape) and has a very solid and very fast unit this year led by defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. The Mountaineers only give up 12.8 points per game (2nd in the nation) and is the only team in the nation that hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in a game this season. WVU gives up 85.1 rushing yards per game (2nd in the nation) and 166.3 passing yards per game (11th). Total defense allows 251.3 yards per game (3rd). WVU forced 22 turnovers with 10 fumbles and 12 interceptions.

Defensive Line
#90 Chris Neild (1st team All Big East) is the starting nose tackle and has 31 tackles, 4 for loss and 3 sacks. The other 2 starters on the 3 man front are #93 Scooter Berry (2nd team All Big East) with 34 tackles, 4.5 for loss and 4 sacks and #97 Julian Miller with 50 tackles, a team leading 13 for loss and 7 sacks. #11 Bruce Irvin (2nd team All Big East) is a JUCO transfer pass rush specialist that leads the team and ranks tied for 4th in the nation with 12 sacks.

Linebackers
The starting linebackers are #30 J.T. Thomas (1st team All Big East) with 63 tackles, 7 for loss and 2.5 sacks, #52 Najee Good with 44 tackles, 8.5 for loss and 3 sacks and #45 Anthony Leonard with 65 tackles, 6.5 for loss and 1 sack. #31 Pat Lazear, who picked off a pass to seal the 2008 Meineke Bowl win over Carolina, was injured early in the season but has gotten more playing time late in the year.

Secondary
The starting corners are #8 Keith Tandy (1st team All Big East) with 54 tackles and a team hight 6 interceptions and #22 Brandon Hogan (2nd team All Big East) with 37 tackles and 3 interceptions, tore his ACL and will not be available for the bowl game. The safeties in the 3-3-5 scheme are #28 Terence Garvin with a team high 71 tackles, 4.5 for loss and 1 sack, #2 Robert Sands (1st Team All Big East) with 45 tackles, 5.5 for loss and 1 interception and #4 Sidney Glover with 59 tackles, 6 for loss and 3 sacks. Not having Hogan is a big loss and his playing time would probably go to #6 Pat Miller with 15 tackles.

With Sands at 6-5, Garvin at 6-3 and the rest of the secondary around 5-11, the size and speed of the WVU secondary should make for a very interesting matchup with the size of the Wolfpack’s wide receivers. While the Pack threw for over 300 yards 8 times this season, the Mountaineers only gave up 200 passing yards 4 times.

Special Teams
WVU’s placekicker is #40 Tyler Bitencurt who hit 10 of his 15 field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards and was a perfect 40 for 40 on extra points. The punter is #36 Gregg Pugnetti who averaged 41.7 yards per punt with a long of 71.

The primary punt returners are Brandon Hogan (7.8 yards per return) and Jock Sanders (12.8) and ranks 50th in the nation. The primary kickoff returners are Sanders (21.2), Tavon Austin (20.0) and Hogan (22.2) and ranks 112th in the nation. With Hogan’s knee injury, we won’t see him returning kicks but there are other options with Sanders, Austin and Devine. WVU’s kick coverage has improved some after being a definite weakness over the past few seasons.

Final Thoughts
I think it will be interesting to see how this game plays out. When the Pack has the ball, who will win the matchup between the Pack’s passing attack and the Mountaineers’ 3rd ranked defense? Russell Wilson will have to prepare for the 3-3-5 look and the O-line will have to be aware of Bruce Irvin on the rush.

On defense for the Pack, a solid game from the defensive line will go a long way to stopping Devine before he gets going. The secondary and linebackers will have to tackle in open space or else Devine, Sanders and Austin will make one move and be off to the races. Forcing turnovers should also be a key for the Pack defense.

Then there is the question of how the Mountaineer players will react to the coaching change and if they will rally around Coach Stew or if all of this will end up being a distraction.

About WV Wolf

Graduated from NCSU in 1996 with a degree in statistics. Born and inbred in West "By God" Virginia and now live in Raleigh where I spend my time watching the Wolfpack, the Mountaineers and the Carolina Hurricanes as well as making bar graphs for SFN. I'm @wvncsu on the Twitter machine.

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29 Responses to Champs Sports Bowl Scouting Report – West Virginia Mountaineers

  1. vapackfan 12/27/2010 at 6:56 PM #

    outside of Coach Stewart, I am not hearing much credit for NCSU. What I do hear is that WV feels that they deserve to be in a better bowl and that playing NC State is beneath them and that the Pack isn’t much of a challenge. Don’t have any specifics, just a sense I get. Any thoughts?

  2. packalum44 12/27/2010 at 9:57 PM #

    Well I think I speak for most of Pack Nation when I say we aren’t too thrilled to be playing WV either. We are literally one play away (whether in the VA Tech, Clemson, or MD game) away from playing SC in the Peach Bowl.

    WV and their fans can go **** their mother if they haven’t already done so.

  3. WV Wolf 12/27/2010 at 10:09 PM #

    packalum44, I took a lot of time and effort to write this up and you have to go and insult me, my family and my home, and a tired cheap insult at that. Thanks so much. Happy holidays to you and yours.

  4. choppack1 12/27/2010 at 10:26 PM #

    from a matchup perspective – this looks like a nightmare for us.

    They have speed on the edges and do the kind of things that have given us trouble all year.

    One of things I’m looking forward to seeing is how the rest impacts our D. In our back 7 we didn’t play a whole lot of guys and it seems to me that we were pretty gassed toward the end of the year.

    We have struggled offensively at times and we’re playing a team that is statistically the best D we’ve played all year. This D looks pretty solid vs. the run and the pass. However, they do play in the pedestrian Big East, so who knows.

    I think a win here would be a huge feather in the Wolfpack’s cap and would demonstrate that yes, this 2010 football was a good one.

  5. WolftownVA81 12/27/2010 at 10:30 PM #

    Thanks for the write up. I want to be optimistic about this game but can’t seem to justify it in my mind. I’ll watch anyway and hope for the best. It would be great if we could end the season with a well played and well coached game.

  6. Greywolf 12/27/2010 at 10:43 PM #

    Nice write-up on WVU.

    TOB said in the N&O that he was expecting a surprise form WV’s D. I hope to god we are preparing a surprise or 3 of our own on offense. If not this could be a very long day. I don’t like long days.

    As far as their offence is concerned, we should be alright with our D rested and prepared. Nate wants to go out big and Defence did OK stopping Big East teams.

  7. Cosmo96 12/27/2010 at 10:56 PM #

    I have a bad feeling that this game is going to end up looking a lot like the ’95 Hall of Fame Bowl against Michigan. The team basically got steamrolled and made to look like they didn’t belong there.

  8. albunde6 12/27/2010 at 11:16 PM #

    Thanks WV Wolf for the analysis. This appears to be a quality team with lots of weapons. Will be a challenge on both sides of the ball. Will take this time to thank the entire team at SFN and the frequent comment team. This site has kept me from walking off a cliff sereral times this season. Thanks SFN, go Pack.

  9. 61Packer 12/27/2010 at 11:23 PM #

    We didn’t earn this one on the field. The only reason we’re in the Champs Sports Bowl is because that bowl didn’t feel Maryland could sell nearly as many tickets as we could, so they took us over Maryland. And probably ESPN wanted Russell Wilson more than they wanted any of the Terps. I doubt many Terps fans are happy about this, especially having to play a so-so non-BCS team that also beat us.

    In West Virginia, ESPN has at least one program with national appeal. I’m not saying that we’ll get steamrolled, but WVU is far and away the Big East’s best football program and I think is also the best team in that league this season. If Russell Wilson has a great passing game, we’re in good shape, but if he doesn’t, given this coaching staff’s seeming reluctance to let Wilson run more, we could be in for a long night.

    I also think WV Wolf did a great job on this writeup.

  10. BassPacker 12/27/2010 at 11:51 PM #

    Good read. Its gonna feel more like a WVa home game than a Bowl game in Orlando for Pack. 27 degrees at Disney now. The wind will be a factor also… mark it. Go Pack !!

  11. gcpack 12/28/2010 at 12:56 AM #

    packalum44,,,,you DON’T speak for me at all and I am insulted that you would say anthing like that as a State fan. Who knows maybe you aren’t a State fan after all.

    packalum44 looks like you have actually **** yourself.
    What a d-bag.

  12. inhoc... 12/28/2010 at 1:30 AM #

    Based on the vibe that pack man was getting, i dont blame his statement at all.

    and seriously? i dont really think much of NC carrys the same steriotype as WV.

    True or not, just sayin…

  13. inhoc... 12/28/2010 at 1:32 AM #

    Packalum44***

    can someone fix the “click to edit” feature? does not work for me, on multiple computers.

  14. El Lobo Loco! 12/28/2010 at 5:15 AM #

    Apparently NC State is the underdog in this matchup http://tinyurl.com/36g4nx3

    The game should be close in paper unless the players are not mentally up for it like the Terps game.
    I hope TOB and his coaches are smart enough to prepare themselves for a few scenarios and that RW will have his headlights on… if he wins this he can be a good NFL prospect (money is a great driver)

  15. PoppaJohn 12/28/2010 at 7:30 AM #

    Excellent analysis! And scary, I hope the men in red are up to this – I think we’ll have our hands full with these guys.

    GO PACK!!

  16. BassPacker 12/28/2010 at 8:44 AM #

    Officials reporting expecting up to 15,000 no shows for game due to east coast snowstorm and air travel cancelations and backups from Christmas rush.

    Should be a good game if the Pack comes in with a bad attitude after being knocked out of the ACC Championship game. I hope that loss still has a bad taste in their mouths. Go Pack !

  17. BJD95 12/28/2010 at 10:09 AM #

    If this game is lopsided, it will be WV doing the ass kicking. But in a tightly-contested game, it could go either way (but I like our chances to close it out in the end if we don’t get blown out of the water).

    As to the “we deserved better” sentiment from either team? Get over it. You play in the Big East and ACC, respectively. If you can’t win that kind of league (or in our case, at least second to VT), then you have no right to bitch.

  18. Wulfpack 12/28/2010 at 10:17 AM #

    Awesome write-up. Thanks so much for taking the time. I’ve always had a special place in my sports heart for WVU. Great place and even better people. Have been to a few games in Morgantown, driven through the majority of the state several times, and do my fare share of skiing there. Just a neat place.

    As for this game, I expect WVU to be a very tough out for us. They’ll be ready to play. RW and the offense is going to have to come up huge for us once again. WVU by a score.

  19. Texpack 12/28/2010 at 11:18 AM #

    I don’t think WVU has faced an offense comparable to ours this season, particularly in the passing game. If RW is on tonight this one won’t be close. If turnover Russell shows up, it will probably get ugly fast.

  20. TheCOWDOG 12/28/2010 at 12:05 PM #

    First off, I will not offend the folks from the great state of WV. Nice report, WV Wolf, but you can only have one team. Time to turn your back on the Mountaineers. It’s easy.

    I’ve watched this team some this year and that 33 is very “runnable.”
    However, Bible must be a little cuter with where and when. WV gets good run support from the DBs, but lays itself vulnerable to deception.
    Wilson can eat them up if allowed to bootleg.

  21. wolfwarrior 12/28/2010 at 12:21 PM #

    Excellent write-up.
    Would love to know the psych of this WV team with all the coaching changes and their senior leadership.
    Looks like many of the WV fans are a no-show for a #22 ranked team.
    Too bad for them, great for State.
    Hope the State seniors along with RW have their head and heart into winning this game and giving the 2011 Wolfpack team momentum for upcoming season.

    Turnover margin wins this game.

  22. StateofthePack 12/28/2010 at 1:46 PM #

    I think Russell’s proficiency in the red zone decides this game. His propensity to throw red zone, even end zone picks, has been a major factor in our four losses. If he cashes in when we get close I like our chances. We will have our hands full on both sides of the ball for sure. Go Pack!

  23. Gowolves 12/28/2010 at 2:05 PM #

    Wolfwarrior

    The receivers also need to bring their hands as well. If they “catch” the ball the way they did in the MD game it won’t matter if Wilson plays well or not. Make plays when they are there to be made!

  24. bradleyb123 12/28/2010 at 2:30 PM #

    packalum44, that post was about as uncalled-for as any I’ve seen on SFN.

    You are about as classless as they come.

    BOTH fanbases can legitimately feel “slighted” about being in this bowl, and for similar reasons. But we can do so without making comments about the opposing fans ****ing their mothers.

    Wow. You owe someone an apology, and not necessarily just the WV fans, but also State fans that had to read that tripe.

    I’ve seen SFN posts censored and/or deleted for probably much less than that. Hey SFN, may I respectfully suggest that one of your moderators edit that post? I think I speak for a few others when I say no one wants to see that garbage.

  25. packfan03 12/28/2010 at 3:17 PM #

    Great write up. I remember seeing Devine as a Freshman and simply marveling at his speed. Do you think he can have a Darren Sproles like career in the NFL?

    BTW, WV Wolf, who will you be pulling for in the game? Depends who wins :-)?

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