MORGANTOWN - It was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And for that, Keith Tandy has paid a stiff public price.

Of course, to an extent he has no one to blame but himself. After all, cornerbacks aren't supposed to be in the wrong place at any time, much less the worst times. And last Friday against South Florida, the West Virginia sophomore was in that position twice.

The result was two long catches by USF's Carlton Mitchell, one for a 49-yard touchdown and the other for a 69-yard gain that set up a score in the Bulls' 30-19 win in Tampa. Both times it was Tandy lurking a couple of yards behind, which in pass coverage terms might as well be sitting up in the stands.

The thing is, though, Tandy's night wasn't actually as bad as it appeared. Oh, it was still bad. On that 49-yard touchdown he gave up, Mitchell simply beat him with a straight-down-the-field fly pattern, a little stutter-step fake thrown in the middle for effect. But on the other long play quarterback B.J. Daniels was allowed to scramble around in the pocket before he released. Ask any cornerback and that will be his greatest fear.

Well, that and perhaps facing the music afterward. In addition to answering to secondary coach Dave Lockwood and head coach Bill Stewart, Tandy chose to speak to the media, as well. That's not always a given. Several are the West Virginia players who are reluctant or simply refuse to do that even under the best of circumstances.

Tandy stepped right up and sat right down this week.

"You've just got to keep your head up whenever somebody makes a play on you,'' Tandy said, "because you never know when they'll come at you again and you have to step up and make a play.''

Perhaps to Tandy, the act of facing questions about his performance was no big deal. To Lockwood, though, it was a step toward moving past South Florida and making things right in time for West Virginia's home game with Louisville on Saturday.

"When it's all said and done, it's just a game and he's still here,'' Lockwood said. "He's still playing. He's not kicked off the team or anything.''

MORGANTOWN - It was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And for that, Keith Tandy has paid a stiff public price.

Of course, to an extent he has no one to blame but himself. After all, cornerbacks aren't supposed to be in the wrong place at any time, much less the worst times. And last Friday against South Florida, the West Virginia sophomore was in that position twice.

The result was two long catches by USF's Carlton Mitchell, one for a 49-yard touchdown and the other for a 69-yard gain that set up a score in the Bulls' 30-19 win in Tampa. Both times it was Tandy lurking a couple of yards behind, which in pass coverage terms might as well be sitting up in the stands.

The thing is, though, Tandy's night wasn't actually as bad as it appeared. Oh, it was still bad. On that 49-yard touchdown he gave up, Mitchell simply beat him with a straight-down-the-field fly pattern, a little stutter-step fake thrown in the middle for effect. But on the other long play quarterback B.J. Daniels was allowed to scramble around in the pocket before he released. Ask any cornerback and that will be his greatest fear.

Well, that and perhaps facing the music afterward. In addition to answering to secondary coach Dave Lockwood and head coach Bill Stewart, Tandy chose to speak to the media, as well. That's not always a given. Several are the West Virginia players who are reluctant or simply refuse to do that even under the best of circumstances.

Tandy stepped right up and sat right down this week.

"You've just got to keep your head up whenever somebody makes a play on you,'' Tandy said, "because you never know when they'll come at you again and you have to step up and make a play.''

Perhaps to Tandy, the act of facing questions about his performance was no big deal. To Lockwood, though, it was a step toward moving past South Florida and making things right in time for West Virginia's home game with Louisville on Saturday.

"When it's all said and done, it's just a game and he's still here,'' Lockwood said. "He's still playing. He's not kicked off the team or anything.''

None of that, however, changes the fact that Tandy was beaten a couple of times and it raised some natural concerns. Stewart said in the wake of last week's loss that Mitchell was simply better than Tandy. And if that's the case, there's no guarantee that other wide receivers the Mountaineers face over the final four games of the regular season won't be at a similar advantage. In order to lessen the impact against USF, Lockwood switched assignments between Tandy and his other starting cornerback, Brandon Hogan.

And, too, there is no doubt a look being given to other options this week during practice, perhaps including more playing time for someone else - veteran Kent Richardson or true freshman Pat Miller.

But Lockwood and Stewart both are trying to address the issue without making it more than it is, which is one guy getting flat-out beat on one play and turned around during a scramble on another.

"How many times in the past two years has a guy just flat-out thrown a ball over our head?'' Lockwood asked after that USF game. "It doesn't happen much. Any time you get one it seems like you get two and then confidence goes down. It's my job to get his confidence back up.

"I could very easily have pulled the kid out because he let a ball go over his head, but that kills his confidence. We've got to do a better job taking away the big play and defending the deep ball.''

Stewart harkened back to a year ago when Hogan was in a similar position. In the second game of the season and only a month after being moved from wide receiver to cornerback - Tandy, by the way, is also an offensive convert; he was a high school quarterback - Hogan was burned twice in a loss at East Carolina. The similarities are striking: Hogan, too, was simply fooled and beaten on one play (a long third-down conversion in which he looked the wrong way) and a victim of circumstances in another (he had perfect coverage in the end zone, but a much taller receiver outjumped him).

Stewart was chastised by fans for not giving up on Hogan, too.

"I'm not pleased we gave up touchdown passes,'' Stewart said. "But if I listened to every person in the country other than myself, Brandon Hogan wouldn't be on the team because I would have thrown him under the bus last season after East Carolina.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.