MORGANTOWN - The sun came up here Sunday morning.

Really, it did. It will come up again today, too.

The birds will sing, traffic will be an inexplicable nightmare and West Virginia's football team will be back on the practice field. It will be pretty much like any other Monday in Morgantown.

But perhaps - just perhaps, mind you - it might be time to make a few changes in the way that football team does things.

Just little things. Like the way the Mountaineers play offense and defense.

Granted, it's far too early to be reaching for any panic buttons. Two games do not a season make. But in those two games - a sometimes torturous win over Division I-AA Villanova and Saturday's 24-3 beat-down at the hands of East Carolina - this team has looked nothing at all like its immediate predecessors.

In some ways, that was expected, even designed. But it's become a little bit like trading in a car that runs just fine for a new and improved model, only to find out it isn't quite road ready.

Maybe it just needs a tune-up. Be patient and the mechanics will find the bugs and glitches and you'll be ready for the Autobahn in no time.

Then again, perhaps it's a lemon.

Truth be told, I'm not a mechanic or a football coach, so I'm not going to profess to have the answer. That's the tough part. The easy part is seeing that there are problems:

Let's address the defense first because that's the easy one. Easy to figure out what's wrong, that is, not to fix.

The Mountaineers simply don't have enough battle-tested defenders. It might have been hoping against hope that a unit with really three legitimate returning starters (tackle Scooter Berry, linebacker Mortty Ivy and safety Quinton Andrews) would be able to play to the level of the Fiesta Bowl defense right away. It got even worse when Reed Williams, the leading tackler last season, watched the first two games in street clothes.

Right now, this is a defense that can't tackle in the open field, can't cover receivers even in a nickel package and on Saturday was literally pushed around by East Carolina running backs Brandon Simmons and Jonathan Williams.

The defense will get better, of course, as almost everyone gains experience, but the bottom line is that even when it does improve it still might be up to the offense to outscore opponents.

And therein rests the bigger problem. The offense not only isn't outscoring anyone, it isn't scoring at all. Even with a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, one of the most electrifying players in the country at tailback, adequate wide receivers and a line judged by some as the best in the country.

Really, it did. It will come up again today, too.

The birds will sing, traffic will be an inexplicable nightmare and West Virginia's football team will be back on the practice field. It will be pretty much like any other Monday in Morgantown.

But perhaps - just perhaps, mind you - it might be time to make a few changes in the way that football team does things.

Just little things. Like the way the Mountaineers play offense and defense.

Granted, it's far too early to be reaching for any panic buttons. Two games do not a season make. But in those two games - a sometimes torturous win over Division I-AA Villanova and Saturday's 24-3 beat-down at the hands of East Carolina - this team has looked nothing at all like its immediate predecessors.

In some ways, that was expected, even designed. But it's become a little bit like trading in a car that runs just fine for a new and improved model, only to find out it isn't quite road ready.

Maybe it just needs a tune-up. Be patient and the mechanics will find the bugs and glitches and you'll be ready for the Autobahn in no time.

Then again, perhaps it's a lemon.

Truth be told, I'm not a mechanic or a football coach, so I'm not going to profess to have the answer. That's the tough part. The easy part is seeing that there are problems:

Let's address the defense first because that's the easy one. Easy to figure out what's wrong, that is, not to fix.

The Mountaineers simply don't have enough battle-tested defenders. It might have been hoping against hope that a unit with really three legitimate returning starters (tackle Scooter Berry, linebacker Mortty Ivy and safety Quinton Andrews) would be able to play to the level of the Fiesta Bowl defense right away. It got even worse when Reed Williams, the leading tackler last season, watched the first two games in street clothes.

Right now, this is a defense that can't tackle in the open field, can't cover receivers even in a nickel package and on Saturday was literally pushed around by East Carolina running backs Brandon Simmons and Jonathan Williams.

The defense will get better, of course, as almost everyone gains experience, but the bottom line is that even when it does improve it still might be up to the offense to outscore opponents.

And therein rests the bigger problem. The offense not only isn't outscoring anyone, it isn't scoring at all. Even with a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, one of the most electrifying players in the country at tailback, adequate wide receivers and a line judged by some as the best in the country.

The question is a simple one. In trying to tweak and improve an offense that was already one of the most explosive in the country, have West Virginia's coaches gotten away from what made it that way?

And if the answer might be yes, would it be wise to somewhat revert back to the basics or give the changes a little more time to work?

The thought here is that West Virginia needs to do a little bit of both. And new offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, in the wake of Saturday's loss at East Carolina, hinted the same.

"We'll get back to some zone blocking and things like that that we've done well [in the past],'' Mullen said. "It's just hard to call a lot of that when you fall behind like we did.''

Not that it would have mattered at East Carolina. Remember, this is a team with a history of coming up with ways to slow down West Virginia's offense. Last year it got away from them, but the two years prior to that the Pirates stuffed that old WVU offense, just like Pitt and South Florida have done. East Carolina is a good team, too. Don't forget that.

And that's the reason the offense was tweaked. Certain teams with good schemes and good athletes have been able to make it one-dimensional, despite a multi-dimensional quarterback like Pat White. The idea was to broaden what West Virginia is able to do without taking away the core of the offense. If it can be done - and that's apparently a big if right now - it's a delicate balance, one the Mountaineers haven't found.

It's not just the zone read plays that are missing, though.

"We tried that [Saturday]. And we ran the zone, not too bad a few times,'' coach Bill Stewart said. "What I want to get back to is that belly option, where Pat can read it, pull it or pitch it. We need to do more of that and that's what we're going to work on very, very hard this week. The zone's not been too bad, but the belly option is what we're lacking.''

The option was the offensive staple that is now largely missing and it affects how defenses play against West Virginia.

"We need to put the defense where they can't just lay their ears back,'' Stewart said. "They have to play assignment football.''

To do the option right, though, takes two backs, preferably one who is an inside power threat. And the lack of that, much more so than any change in schemes, is what has prevented the Mountaineers from running it.

"I hate to say it, but as good as Will Johnson is going to be and as good as he is, he's not Owen Schmitt,'' Stewart said.

So the discussions now are what to do about that second back. This week Johnson will get work there and so will Jock Sanders. It's a step in the right direction and one that Stewart knows has to be done.

"We're talking about making corrections to what we need in this offense,'' Stewart said Sunday. "We want to simplify, yet have enough firepower. And the belly option needs to be incorporated heavily into our arsenal. We need to get Patrick White back, make [the defense] play assignment football and make them take the ball out of Pat's hand.''

And avoid a lemon of a season.

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.