Click to view photos from the WVU-Marshall game
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- NO LONGER do I want to hear a peep from West Virginia University supporters about how the seven-year series with Marshall was foisted upon the Mountaineers by the governor of this great state.
After sitting through the third edition of the so-called Friends of Coal Bowl, I am convinced that Joe Manchin should have a 40-by-60 foot portrait built in his honor at Mountaineer Field.
Memo to Mountaineer fans: If you haven't figured it out by now, the guv did you a favor. It has now been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Marshall is the tonic for whatever ails the old gold and blue. Perhaps the game should be moved to a strategic point in November.
(Lest I butter up Manchin too much, I must note that he no longer owns my "Governator" title. Sarah Palin seized it, fair and square - she's the only governor who could hear hockey play-by-play legend Mike Lange's phrase "Let's go hunt moose on a Harley" and actually do it.)
I've heard the "this game is welfare for Marshall" and "we could schedule somebody else" cries. Phooey on all that - this game is made to order for the Mountaineers.
It helps WVU in constructing a five-game nonconference schedule, the one (and only) negative about the Big East being an eight-team football league. If you haven't figured it out, the Big East is the smallest BCS qualifying conference, so its members have the easiest route to the highest-money bowls, all other things being equal.
(And if you haven't figured it out, the Big East won the last round of conference realignment by an unbelievably large margin. Here's a brain-teaser: Recite the divisions in ACC football. No peeking.)
It also allows the Mountaineers an automatic win, as it turns out. An ironclad, stone-cold lock, which most of you saw Saturday.
More than a few of us thought the Herd had narrowed gaps in talent and team speed, and would give the Mountaineers a much better game Saturday. A few in the media chugged the green Kool-Aid and openly picked the Herd to win.
But WVU wasn't just a little better and a little faster in its deceiving 27-3 victory. The Mountaineers were more focused, more prepared and more emotional. Marshall was flat and uninspired to a degree I haven't seen since maybe the 2005 season finale at Memphis (a near-identical 26-3 loss).
That's the biggest, most mysterious disappointment for Herd fans. You can understand when Mark Cann goes a biiiiiit high on an early pass, but he really took a step back. You can understand that the Herd's young offensive line would have trouble with a fleet, blitz-heavy WVU defense, but that unit regressed almost to spring ball.
You can see how Marshall's defense, as improved as it is, would give up some long runs and that happened. (I'll take Noel Devine over Steve Slaton, by the way. He's really slick.)
Really, the Herd played better at Wisconsin, even with a 51-14 setback. At least the Badgers were pushed before getting some breaks and making the Herd pay. WVU had no worries whatsoever.
In this instance, Marshall coaches should burn the video. They wouldn't have been out of line to conduct a late-night practice after the team bus returned to Huntington.
Herd silver lining No. 1: Marshall plays Cincinnati at home Friday. If a short week has been better timed, I don't know about it.
The Bearcats would appear to be ripe for the picking, after escaping the Rubber Bowl with a 17-15 win over Akron. Tony Pike broke his non-throwing forearm in the game, the Bearcats' second major injury at quarterback.
UC is 3-1 with wins over Eastern Kentucky (40-7), Miami of Ohio (45-20) and Akron, and a 52-26 loss at Oklahoma. Dustin Grutza suffered a broken right leg against the Sooners, leading to the use of Pike and now freshman Zach Collaros.
Collaros has some weapons with whom MU and WVU fans may be familiar. Leading the way is Mardy Gilyard, who is averaging 108.8 receiving yards per game and owns a 97-yard touchdown on a kickoff return.
The Bearcats still run by committee, and their defense has probably taken a step back. They enjoyed an outrageous advantage in the turnover margin last year, but they're sitting at minus-1 so far. They have just six sacks, three coming against Akron.
Getting this game at home, it's a chance to put forth a better effort against so-called BCS competition. Grim stat under Snyder: If memory serves correctly, the Herd has beaten the point spread in just one such game in three-plus seasons, the 21-19 home loss to Kansas State.
I had wanted to chide MU's administration for its role in recently terminating the series with Miami (Fla.). But if the Herd can't be any more spirited in what high-profile games, why should I bother?
Herd silver lining No. 2: Marshall is in first place in Conference USA's East Division, all by itself at 2-0.
That happened when Houston beat suddenly struggling East Carolina 41-24. That wasn't a big surprise, but this is: Texas-El Paso hammered defending champ Central Florida 58-13.
You were warned C-USA is a little kooky, and this reaffirms it. The Miners were home, but had lost nine in a row and were smarting from a setback against New Mexico State. They got a huge boost at the end of the first half when Jose Martinez knocked through a 64-yard field goal.
UCF (1-3, 0-1) has problems. Quarterback Michael Greco was held out with a minor knee injury, but he hadn't exactly looked like Daunte Culpepper. The Kevin Smith-less running attack has fizzled. The secondary, which I thought to be top-flight, was caught off guard by the pass-run rotation of UTEP's two quarterbacks.
Houston scorched ECU for 621 yards and furthered the case that the West Division will be the dominant side in C-USA, as it was in 2006. Look for a 6-2 league mark to win the East.
Reach Doug Smock at 348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.
