By Jay Fisher
To be honest, I’m a little disappointed with WVU’s win against Colorado. I’m happy they won, and make no mistake, winning is hard in college football. But the Mountaineers were coming off their best game of the season, and Colorado was reeling. There was an opportunity for WVU to come out and take control of the game. Instead, fans saw a very uneven performance on offense. The defense overall played pretty well. They had a season high seven sacks, forced a turnover on a fumble, and another one on downs. They did give up nearly 300 yards passing, although credit to Colorado on some of those there were some plays were there was good coverage, but the Buffaloes simply made a good play.
Offensively, however, things never really got rolling. They had three turnovers, including two interceptions. The offensive line’s blocking was shaky, as evidenced by giving up seven tackles for loss. But a win is a win, and they did need to win this one. WVU was able to keep the ball after a late onside kick, and successfully ran out the clock to preserve a 29-22 win.
Next up is Arizona State, who enjoyed a much needed week off. They were a preseason Big 12 favorite, but haven’t quite had the season they were hoping for, and a big reason was injuries. Still, they are 6-3, and the only team to knock off Texas Tech this year. They have lost all-star QB Sam Leavitt, but Jeff Sims has played pretty well in his place. WVU is the underdog here, and justifiably so. The Mountaineers do have a shot at the upset, especially if the offense can play more like they did against Houston instead of Colorado.
The early returns on the men’s basketball team: pretty good defense, but the offense needs work. They opened the season with workman-like wins. The defense is doing a solid job overall. However the offense has been plagued by inconsistent shooting, and continuing a WVU tradition, iffy free throw shooting. But this is also a group still learning to play together, and there are two players (Jackson Fields and Chance Moore) who are getting ready to return to the lineup. My initial feelings are that I like this team, but I don’t have any illusion about them making a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
The women’s team, on the other hand, is not having any issues early. They have dominated on both ends of the court, winning by about 40 points in their opening games. The early returns for the women are that they very well could be a Top 25 team once again.
Notes: Kickoff for the Arizona State game is 1:00pm, and it will be on TNT (as well as TruTV and HBO Max)… The men’s basketball team has its Backyard Brawl game Thursday at 6:00pm (televised by FS1)…They also host Lafayette on Monday, November 17 at 7:00pm (ESPN Plus)… Good luck to East Hardy in the football playoffs!
