MORGANTOWN - Of all the debuts that will take place today when West Virginia opens its football season, that of Bruce Irvin perhaps stands above the rest in terms of anticipation.
Coastal Carolina senior quarterback Zach MacDowall (10) was recruited by WVU offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen when Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Wake Forest in 2006.
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MORGANTOWN - Of all the debuts that will take place today when West Virginia opens its football season, that of Bruce Irvin perhaps stands above the rest in terms of anticipation.
The guy is barely listed on the depth chart. Technically, he is a linebacker, but his name appears nowhere among those. Realistically, he is a defensive end, but there the name shows up only as a backup to starter Julian Miller, and even then it's with an "or,'' as in Will Clarke OR Bruce Irvin.
Know this, though: The first time Coastal Carolina faces an obvious passing situation today, West Virginia's 3-3-5 stack defense will morph into a 4-2-5. On the back end, one of the safeties will be replaced by a cover cornerback. In the middle, a linebacker comes out. And up front, nose guard Chris Neild lumbers off, with Scooter Berry remaining and Miller sliding inside as the two tackles in a four-man front.
And on will come both Irvin and Clarke as quarterback-crashing ends.
For Irvin, it is what he seemingly lives for. Having spent the past four weeks chasing down WVU quarterback Geno Smith and having to pull up just as he reaches his objective, Irvin is itching to carry it through.
"You don't understand how it is running at Geno and having to duck,'' Irvin said. "And with all the new rules protecting the quarterbacks, it's hard anyway. I can't wait to just tee off.''
Irvin, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Atlanta by way of Mount San Antonio Junior College in California, looks every bit the part of a quarterback-smashing machine. He had 15 sacks a year ago in junior college.
Oh, and he talks like one, too.
"I like Geno Smith,'' Irvin said. "But if it ain't Geno, the rest of them are pretty much pretty boys.''
nn
Speaking of quarterbacks, the one Irvin is likely to be trying to get to most today is Coastal's Zach MacDowall. He's the Chanticleers' 6-2, 200-pound senior starter.
He is also a former Jeff Mullen recruit, not at West Virginia but at Wake Forest.
Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Wake and recruited MacDowall in 2006. But during his true freshman season, MacDowall watched as redshirt freshman Riley Skinner replaced injured starter Ben Mauck and pretty much became a star. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, MacDowall transferred to Coastal.
"We tried real hard to hold onto him,'' said Mullen, now WVU's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. "The young man wanted to play football and saw a redshirt freshman have a pretty good year in front of him. I think Riley that year was ACC rookie of the year and second-team all-league and it's very difficult to dethrone that situation.''
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WVU notebook: Irvin can't wait to hit someone
MORGANTOWN - Of all the debuts that will take place today when West Virginia opens its football season, that of Bruce Irvin perhaps stands above the rest in terms of anticipation.
The guy is barely listed on the depth chart. Technically, he is a linebacker, but his name appears nowhere among those. Realistically, he is a defensive end, but there the name shows up only as a backup to starter Julian Miller, and even then it's with an "or,'' as in Will Clarke OR Bruce Irvin.
Know this, though: The first time Coastal Carolina faces an obvious passing situation today, West Virginia's 3-3-5 stack defense will morph into a 4-2-5. On the back end, one of the safeties will be replaced by a cover cornerback. In the middle, a linebacker comes out. And up front, nose guard Chris Neild lumbers off, with Scooter Berry remaining and Miller sliding inside as the two tackles in a four-man front.
And on will come both Irvin and Clarke as quarterback-crashing ends.
For Irvin, it is what he seemingly lives for. Having spent the past four weeks chasing down WVU quarterback Geno Smith and having to pull up just as he reaches his objective, Irvin is itching to carry it through.
"You don't understand how it is running at Geno and having to duck,'' Irvin said. "And with all the new rules protecting the quarterbacks, it's hard anyway. I can't wait to just tee off.''
Irvin, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Atlanta by way of Mount San Antonio Junior College in California, looks every bit the part of a quarterback-smashing machine. He had 15 sacks a year ago in junior college.
Oh, and he talks like one, too.
"I like Geno Smith,'' Irvin said. "But if it ain't Geno, the rest of them are pretty much pretty boys.''
nn
Speaking of quarterbacks, the one Irvin is likely to be trying to get to most today is Coastal's Zach MacDowall. He's the Chanticleers' 6-2, 200-pound senior starter.
He is also a former Jeff Mullen recruit, not at West Virginia but at Wake Forest.
Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Wake and recruited MacDowall in 2006. But during his true freshman season, MacDowall watched as redshirt freshman Riley Skinner replaced injured starter Ben Mauck and pretty much became a star. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, MacDowall transferred to Coastal.
"We tried real hard to hold onto him,'' said Mullen, now WVU's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. "The young man wanted to play football and saw a redshirt freshman have a pretty good year in front of him. I think Riley that year was ACC rookie of the year and second-team all-league and it's very difficult to dethrone that situation.''
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MORGANTOWN - Of all the debuts that will take place today when West Virginia opens its football season, that of Bruce Irvin perhaps stands above the rest in terms of anticipation.
The guy is barely listed on the depth chart. Technically, he is a linebacker, but his name appears nowhere among those. Realistically, he is a defensive end, but there the name shows up only as a backup to starter Julian Miller, and even then it's with an "or,'' as in Will Clarke OR Bruce Irvin.
Know this, though: The first time Coastal Carolina faces an obvious passing situation today, West Virginia's 3-3-5 stack defense will morph into a 4-2-5. On the back end, one of the safeties will be replaced by a cover cornerback. In the middle, a linebacker comes out. And up front, nose guard Chris Neild lumbers off, with Scooter Berry remaining and Miller sliding inside as the two tackles in a four-man front.
And on will come both Irvin and Clarke as quarterback-crashing ends.
For Irvin, it is what he seemingly lives for. Having spent the past four weeks chasing down WVU quarterback Geno Smith and having to pull up just as he reaches his objective, Irvin is itching to carry it through.
"You don't understand how it is running at Geno and having to duck,'' Irvin said. "And with all the new rules protecting the quarterbacks, it's hard anyway. I can't wait to just tee off.''
Irvin, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Atlanta by way of Mount San Antonio Junior College in California, looks every bit the part of a quarterback-smashing machine. He had 15 sacks a year ago in junior college.
Oh, and he talks like one, too.
"I like Geno Smith,'' Irvin said. "But if it ain't Geno, the rest of them are pretty much pretty boys.''
nn
Speaking of quarterbacks, the one Irvin is likely to be trying to get to most today is Coastal's Zach MacDowall. He's the Chanticleers' 6-2, 200-pound senior starter.
He is also a former Jeff Mullen recruit, not at West Virginia but at Wake Forest.
Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Wake and recruited MacDowall in 2006. But during his true freshman season, MacDowall watched as redshirt freshman Riley Skinner replaced injured starter Ben Mauck and pretty much became a star. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, MacDowall transferred to Coastal.
"We tried real hard to hold onto him,'' said Mullen, now WVU's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. "The young man wanted to play football and saw a redshirt freshman have a pretty good year in front of him. I think Riley that year was ACC rookie of the year and second-team all-league and it's very difficult to dethrone that situation.''
Mullen hasn't seen MacDowall play much and had no reason to watch tape of him prior to today's game. Mullen is more concerned with Coastal's defense. He did see him on tape a year ago when he was watching Liberty's defense and MacDowall was quarterbacking against the Flames.
But Mullen has kept in touch with MacDowall and understands why he transferred.
"It's hard in the position that I coach,'' Mullen said of quarterbacks, only one of whom generally plays much. "You want to see them all succeed, but yet you know it's going to be difficult for them. You love when guys like Jarrett Brown stick around and have a pretty good senior year or guys like Zach MacDowall, who make decisions and go on to have a good career.''
nn
West Virginia's first injury report of the season contained no surprises.
The Big East instituted a mandatory injury reporting system for teams this season, and each week's report is due two days before each game.
Running back Shawne Alston is listed as probable with a knee injury. Under "out for the season" is listed offensive lineman Nick Kindler, who is rehabilitating after shoulder surgery. Under "pending surgery" is listed a walk-on defensive lineman, Donovan Pearson.
No one is listed as doubtful, but five are on the report as questionable - safeties Sidney Glover and Trippe Hale (both hamstrings), linebacker Pat Lazear (knee, tibia), fullback Chris Snook (neck) and wide receiver Brad Starks (groin).
Fellow senior linebacker J.T. Thomas was talking about Lazear's injury earlier this week.
"He's not in the shape he wants to be in, but it's not like he's around here in a wheelchair,'' Thomas said. "Pat's OK. He'll be fine. You never know. You may see him Saturday.''
How each of the Big East teams approached the injury report varies. For instance, Cincinnati listed no one as probable, questionable or doubtful and Connecticut listed only one. Their short lists (three players each) were essentially confined to those who are out for the season or about to undergo surgery. South Florida, Syracuse and Pitt listed only players who are out for the game or the season.
Louisville had the longest injury report (11 players), eight of whom are out for either the game or the season.
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
WVU notebook: Irvin can't wait to hit someone
MORGANTOWN - Of all the debuts that will take place today when West Virginia opens its football season, that of Bruce Irvin perhaps stands above the rest in terms of anticipation.
The guy is barely listed on the depth chart. Technically, he is a linebacker, but his name appears nowhere among those. Realistically, he is a defensive end, but there the name shows up only as a backup to starter Julian Miller, and even then it's with an "or,'' as in Will Clarke OR Bruce Irvin.
Know this, though: The first time Coastal Carolina faces an obvious passing situation today, West Virginia's 3-3-5 stack defense will morph into a 4-2-5. On the back end, one of the safeties will be replaced by a cover cornerback. In the middle, a linebacker comes out. And up front, nose guard Chris Neild lumbers off, with Scooter Berry remaining and Miller sliding inside as the two tackles in a four-man front.
And on will come both Irvin and Clarke as quarterback-crashing ends.
For Irvin, it is what he seemingly lives for. Having spent the past four weeks chasing down WVU quarterback Geno Smith and having to pull up just as he reaches his objective, Irvin is itching to carry it through.
"You don't understand how it is running at Geno and having to duck,'' Irvin said. "And with all the new rules protecting the quarterbacks, it's hard anyway. I can't wait to just tee off.''
Irvin, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Atlanta by way of Mount San Antonio Junior College in California, looks every bit the part of a quarterback-smashing machine. He had 15 sacks a year ago in junior college.
Oh, and he talks like one, too.
"I like Geno Smith,'' Irvin said. "But if it ain't Geno, the rest of them are pretty much pretty boys.''
nn
Speaking of quarterbacks, the one Irvin is likely to be trying to get to most today is Coastal's Zach MacDowall. He's the Chanticleers' 6-2, 200-pound senior starter.
He is also a former Jeff Mullen recruit, not at West Virginia but at Wake Forest.
Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Wake and recruited MacDowall in 2006. But during his true freshman season, MacDowall watched as redshirt freshman Riley Skinner replaced injured starter Ben Mauck and pretty much became a star. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, MacDowall transferred to Coastal.
"We tried real hard to hold onto him,'' said Mullen, now WVU's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. "The young man wanted to play football and saw a redshirt freshman have a pretty good year in front of him. I think Riley that year was ACC rookie of the year and second-team all-league and it's very difficult to dethrone that situation.''
