West Virginia Football: Time To Cowboy Up!

Last Thursday, John Woolard outlined what the initial loss of the season is like for Mountaineer fans, in his weekly article for WVIllustrated, Musings of a Mountain Man.

Since John is the founder of WVFan, and my brother, we will look to his article to help bury the pain and frustration the LSU loss engendered.

Offensive line coach Dave Johnson should force members of the offensive line to watch the horror film that was the defensive pressure endured by quarterback Geno Smith.

To be fair, the LSU defense often sent as many as seven defenders to rush Smith. With only five offensive linemen to block, there were going to be instances that Smith would be hit.

Credit Smith for not allowing a sack in the LSU game, pressure eventually rattled Smith. Still, he maintained his composure far better than most sophomore quarterbacks put in the same situation.

Rest assured the WVU football team will see this tactic employed against them again. Smith is still considered a young quarterback. An old football axiom states, "The way to fluster a young quarterback is to blitz".

With the University of Nevada Las Vegas invading Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, the Mountaineers have the opportunity to improve many of the deficiencies the team has displayed in their first four games.

With the quick turnaround to the USF game, the Mountaineers need to put the Rebels of UNLV away early.

Noel Devine’s foot should be back to full strength, or at the very least to a point that it does not hinder his ability to cut effectively. Still, the Mountaineers should limit his carries against UNLV.

It is past time that a replacement is found for Devine. One of the reserve running backs need to step up and fill the void that is caused when Devine is out of the game.

Ryan Clarke is an excellent change of pace to Devine, a long-term solution he is not.

Either Shawne Alston or Trey Johnson should be allowed to contribute extensively in the UNLV game. By providing one, or both, added game experience will go a long way to solving the problem of an absence by Devine in the future.

Starting tight end Tyler Urban should be back in the fold as well. Urban injured his knee in game one, an MRI was done and no significant damage was reported.

Doubt lingers about Urban’s effectiveness when he returns. Playing snaps in games is the only way to stay in game shape, something Urban has been unable to do.

Starting left guard Josh Jenkins, who had arthroscopic knee surgery prior to WVU's week four match-up with LSU, may still be unavailable for UNLV.

Even if Jenkins plays, as with Urban, there will be questions about his effectiveness, and just how many snaps he can play.

Safety Robert Sands has been hobbled by a sore shoulder. Sands has played through the pain and has not missed significant snaps. Look for Sands to continue to play to his expected level of excellence.

Defensive lineman Julian Miller has been battling an ailing back. Miller is expected to play considerable minutes for the Mountaineers on Saturday. How much Miller’s back affects those expectations is still in doubt.

Certainly, other players have various health issues to varying degrees. All should suit up for the Mountaineers on Saturday.

The Mountaineers have had an extra week to heal their wounds through the first four games. While, players will not be as healthy as they may have been in the off-season, this Saturday will be as good as it gets until the first Saturday in November.

In the movie “The Cowboy Way”, actor Woody Harrelson is shot in the gluteus maximus. Co-star Kiefer Sutherland implores Harrelson to “Cowboy Up” to help him best the antagonists of the movie.

For many reasons, and on many levels, it is time for the Mountaineers to “Cowboy Up”.