WVU Football Ends on a Dud

Another football season in the books and another disappointing bowl loss that will fester all the way up to spring workouts.

It's been a day since the Champs Sports Bowl ended and the head-shaking hasn't stopped yet. For all the good and bad the Mountaineers have endured this year, it was widely assumed that the team had found its way out of its midseason slumber and was going to salvage a lost BCS game opportunity, but yet there was still more frustration to come.

West Virginia has been in the news a lot thanks to the hiring of new offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting Dana Holgorsen.

Athletic Director Oliver Luck said on the sideline of last nights game to ESPN how he thought the offense had underwhelmed this season and he felt the talent was capable of a lot more, and boy did he hit the nail on the head after last night's pitiful performance by the outgoing OC Jeff Mullen.

The one thing that's baffled everyone this season is how this team seemed to stop itself on offense, there always this feeling with the West Virginia offense that it was running in place a lot of the time because we know the speed that it processes and we know not many teams can keep up with an offense that had the potential to be so prolific, so what happened?

Overcoaching happened, it was so simple during the Rich Rod era to see the way this team scored points and assume that with the way that team was constituted that a more complex offense was needed in case defenses wised up.

It's not a bad startegy, but the execution of that idea is what's bogged down this offense.

The passing game became the focus instead of the classic running attack that the golden years were built around and while that's fine, at times the running game was seemingly all but forgotten and when you have a talent like Noel Devine in your backfield, that's a problem.

Geno Smith has been a revelation this year for the Mountaineers and there's no doubt that he will continue to improve, but under this system his good play seemed to come despite the questionable play calling at times and that's not what you want out of your offense.

Last night was less about Geno's rough game and potential future surgery and more about the fact that this team has gone as far as it's going to go in its current iteration.

As much as I think Bill Stewart has done a solid job this year, it's clear that solid is not what the WVU program should be. It should be elite and hats much go off to Oliver Luck for seeing and doing what's necessary to put West Virginia back where it belongs on the national scene.

There's nothing wrong with three consecutive nine win seasons, but coming from the cloud nine heights of 2005-2007, more can be attained with the players than what has been acheived and it'll be a point of interest to see if the hiring of Holgorsen is enough to get back to the top. 

Photos Courtesy Getty Images

Tuesday Night Football was Not Worth the Wait

I guess you can definitely say that the high from the Giants comeback has finally worn off. Last night the Eagles put forth their worst performance since Michael Vick was selected the starting quarterback and the explosive Eagles offense was missing in action as the Minnesota Vikings owned the Linc last night thanks in part to the play of an aggressive Minnesota defense and a coming of age display from rookie QB Joe Webb.

Webb made really clutch plays on the Vikings' final TD drive in the forth quarter which included a couple critical third down conversions.

Going into last night's contest all the talk was about how green Webb was and how the Eagles could get their defense on the right page by teeing off on the youngster from UAB who was originally drafted as a wide receiver.

When it all was said and done however, it was the Eagles defense that gave up the big plays in big spots that secured the Vikings victory.

As poor as the Eagles defense looked last night, we cannot forget about how terrible the Eagles offense looked. The rhythm, energy, balance, whatever you want to say an offense must have to be effective, it wasn't there for the Eagles last night.

It's surprising how tired and uninspired the Eagles look considering how poorly they started last week's game against the Giants. And now everyone's talking about how a prolific offense turns into what it's been the last seven and a half quarters.

Part of the problem for the Eagles as coach Andy Reid said after the game was the preparation of the team, it's evident that they just weren't ready and unfortunately Reid has a few games like this every year and last night was one of them. The question now has to be whether Andy Reid can now do the job to fix this team's problems before the playoffs.

Michael Vick played his worst game of the season last night, but a lot of that also has to go to play-calling, bad protection and some questionable route running. There's no question that Vick was part of the problem but as Reid said there's a lot of blame to go around.

Vick threw the ball 43 times last night which is one attempt shy of a season high that he had against the Bears earlier this season. In that game, Vick threw his first interception of the season and since that game he has thrown a pick in four straight games and in those four games Vick's completion percentage has been on a steady decline as his number of times sacked has been on the rise.

Vick was sacked a season high six times last night as the Viking rush made an impact as he made a couple game changing mistakes with a couple of fumbles and one of which was returned for a touchdown at the end of the first half and tied the game at seven.

The best option last night was the one that was maybe used the least, LeSean McCoy only had 17 touches last night and it was the forth time this season the he's had less than 16 touches in a game.

It was clear last night that every time McCoy touched the ball that he had a spring in his step that was largely absent last night from his teammates and the Eagles missed an opportunity to give him the football more to make up for what DeSean Jackson couldn't bring (2 catches, 32 yards).

The one positive we can take out of all of this is that the Eagles can decide to rest some players this Sunday since there is nothing on the line now and Vick can get a much needed breather.

And now you can offically say that the raging debate for who's the NFL MVP is effectively over. As remarkable a season Vick has had, his recent stretch of okay play should eliminate him from consideration. As for the talk about who's the best team in the NFC it looks like that conversation is pretty open ended right now.

Photos Courtesy Getty Images

The Smell of Success is Intoxicating

Well, I've had a couple of days to recover, but man is this overwhelming. What hasn't been said about the foursome of awesomeness that now compiles the Philadelphia Phillies rotation, it's something that many Philadelphia fans never thought they would experience, but how we probably should start getting used to it.

What a transformation this franchise has undergone since 2001, when the Phillies had their first winning season since 1993. That was the season where you can say this all began. There wasn't much, but you could begin to see something shining through for the Phillies and a change in philosophy, but I think the culture began to change in Philadelphia for the Phillies when they signed Jim Thome.

In December of 2002, the Phillies became big spenders and decided to enter the free agency market hungry with a three pronged approach. They wanted David Bell, Tom Glavine and Jim Thome. They got two out of the three and in terms of production and popularity they got one out of three right in picked Jim Thome.

By choosing Philadelphia, Thome marked a change in baseball for the city of Brotherly Love, it was becoming a destination instead a baseball black hole. And when Citizens Bank Park opened, it just got better and better.

The Phillies have won four consecutive division titles and have finished with a winning record the last eight seasons. Along the way, this team has acquired and developed a great mesh of talent which has become the great foundation for a World Series championship in 2008 and for what we see in front of us today.

Aggressive leadership, a electric sell out crowd, a beautiful ballpark and great management along with really good character guys have made the Phillies a destination for free agents.

We act surprised when things like what happened Monday night occur, but in all honesty it makes perfect sense. Cliff Lee loved his time in Philadelphia and he continued to make that known even while he was in Seattle and Texas and the team improved while he was away.

Even though Lee's decision was logical, it didn't make it any less cool. Roy Oswalt was willing to come here because of the positive reputation of the city and fans as given to him by Brad Lidge, Roy Halladay came to Philadelphia because he wanted to win a championship, and now players will take less money to come to Philly because they want to be a part of it.

It's a great feeling being on this side of the equation, the Phillies have slowly but surely turned themselves into a baseball power and that is a truly impressive feat considering where this franchise stood a decade ago.

The Mountaineers Rebound from Midseason Slump

The (9-3) West Virginia Mountaineers are the best team in the Big East, but if you saw the bowl selection special on Sunday, you wouldn't know that since the Connecticut Huskies are going to their first BCS bowl.

WVU beat Rutgers last weekend and clinched a share of the Big East championship alongside Pittsburgh and UConn. The Mountaineers can blame no one but themselves for not going to a BCS game, they did after all lose to Syracuse at home and the eventual Big East BCS repesentative UConn in a sloppy, mistake filled overtime loss.

In the end, the Mountaineers will travel to the best Big East bowl you can go to if not in the BCS, the Champs Sports Bowl...yeah that one.

We can talk about the lackluster Big East bowl lineup later, right now I want to talk about the masterful job two people in particular did with this WVU team. One will surprise you and the other won't. I'll start with the obvious pick.

1) Geno Smith- Geno had a historic first season as WVU starting QB, he led the Big East in passing efficiency and had 23 TDs versus only 6 interceptions. Smith's completion percentage was 65.8 which put him among the top 20 passers in all of college football. Not to mention that he led the Big East in just about all offensive categories and had 11 TDs and only 4 INTs in Big East contests, Smith outperformed all initial predictions.

He only had three games this year in which his completion percentage was under 60%, which is unbelievably pinpoint for a sophomore QB who played very little last season. He came in firing and ended the season on the same note having his best game of the season against Rutgers going 23-28 with 352 yards passing with a touchdown and no interceptions.

The way Geno has dealt with the pressure of being the third WVU starting QB in as many years on a team that was expected to be much better than they were last year has been picture perfect, I can say I can count on one hand this season the amount of times Smith has been visibly rattled, he's led the team with confidence and poise and finished off the season on the best possible note personally.

It took a lot in that locker room to get this team back on the right page after the Syracuse and Connecticut fiasco's, but the other reason they were able to right the ship was wait for it...Bill Stewart.

2) Bill Stewart- Bill is a man who has been the butt of many jokes in Morgantown. But honestly, when you look at what was occurred up in road in Pittsburgh with Dave Wannstedt, we should really be fortunate with what we've gotten here the last couple of years.

A lot of what people dislike about Stewart is his very nice and easy going exterior, the question usually is whether the players are motivated by such a figure. As someone who had been on the sidelines for all the Mountaineers home games this season, the Bill Stewart I see is one that isn't always huggable and cuddly.

He's the guy that got the Mountaineers to open their eyes before their season went by the wayside, he's gained an aggressiveness that wasn't as apparent his first season on the sideline.

Is there an argument to made about why WVU went into the slump in the first place, yes, but the outcome can't be ignored. Another nine win season and now Stewart is 27-11 as WVU head coach and 14-6 inside the Big East. In a college football landscape where coaches are expected to produce immediately if you look at the numbers, so far Stewart has.

He's getting the players to respond to him and even though you can say his first year was not what it could've been with Pat White under center and a preseason top 10 ranking, the last two years should more than make up for what occurred that first year under Stewart.

These Mountaineer teams were not the most stacked rosters in history, but they were still able to pull out consecutive nine win seasons in a constantly changing Big East, look at some of these powerful college programs and how they have dealt with coaching changes: USC, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Michigan and the results have been poor.

And you can't discount the effort it took to get this year's team back on track, there will be years where adversity will hit and to me the way you respond in seasons like this mean more than winning with a lot of talent under tropical conditions. Bill Stewart deserves a lot of credit for what he did this year and a lot less blame.

Werth Gone, But I Feel Nothing

I've had a couple days to sit and think about how important a loss Jayson Werth will be to the Phillies and their offensively charged lineup, but everytime I try to think about the topic, I suddenly get hungry and move on.

That's not to say Jayson Werth was not important to the Phillies or that he didn't influence our lineup because he did, but in the end him leaving generates an "ehh" from me.

Werth had four productive seasons and three of them were phenomenal in terms of the way he picked up the lineup on occasion, but never would you say that Jayson Werth was the guy. He was one of the guys, a piece of the puzzle, a part of the whole, but he never was THE guy.

Jayson, along with Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and even Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz in recent seasons have made this offense what it is and in clutch situations this team became Ryan Howard's and Chase Utley's ball club, it never became Jayson Werth's.

Yeah, we can all make light of the fact the Washington Nationals massively overpaid for a player who didn't become an everyday starter until 2008 or the fact that sometimes Werth can catch a strikeout bug the likes of which could even make Ryan Howard shake his head in disgust.

But the truth is that Jayson Werth is a good player, but he isn't a franchise changer, he isn't a guy you can put an entire team on when the offense is in a slump, he's a guy you would love to add to an almost completed puzzle, because it is at that point where he shines. He shined as a Phillie, but because the stars were already aligned for him to succeed.

I'm not saying that Werth won't succeed in Washington, but rather the team will not succeed because he does. A great season from Werth could still spell a losing record for the Nationals and more than likely will, but I guess you have to start somewhere if you're a franchise just looking to gain ground in a division dominated in recent years by the Philadelphia Phillies.

It will be very interesting to see Jayson Werth return many times to Citizens Bank Park with the Nationals, but it will be even more intriguing to see the impact he has in D.C.

Can Jayson Werth become a franchise player, a superstar, a hero, and more? Well if he does, it'll be the first time he's ever done it.

ill Take: LeBron Returns

LeBron James returning to Cleveland is going to be the highlight of the Cavaliers' season and tonight we will find out what the scorned fanbase has planned for the fallen King.

The Miami Heat has been THE story of the NBA season and since they are, we've been subjected to Coach Spo this and we want to chill that and the Pat Riley conundrum. But every so often something interesting comes from the overhyped coverage of the Heat and tonight's one of those moments.

There's no doubt that everyone wants to see how Lebron will be received at the Q and if he will do his powder dusting before the game. The honest truth is that tonight isn't about the Heat vs. the Cavs, it's LeBron vs. Cleveland and that's why the buzz is at the level it is.

Tonight is more about just a game between two okay teams, it's about how a desperate city will treat a man who was once their answer to everything. The reaction is what all this coverage is about, no one will remember who won this game, but everyone will never forget the response LeBron receives when he steps on the floor tonight.

I can understand the anger Cleveland fans hold towards James and why tonight is the equivalent to the NBA Finals for them and why media coverage will resemble the same. It's a chance to give back to a man who embarrassed your city on national television and dashed the hopes of a fan base who had grown to love the Cavs based on what that one man did for the team and a city. 

I can feel the pain the pain of Cleveland and I can only imagine the amount of pain they will unleash tonight. It's should be an exciting moment and not to mention the fans will get to see a game tonight as well.

Your....Scrappy Philadelphia 76ers

Great news everyone, the Sixers are no longer mired at the bottom of the NBA. They are now solely in the cellar of the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division.

I guess I can't say that anyone is really surprised by the developments of this season, but I will say I'm moreso dissapointed than anything. Even though this team wasn't expected to do anything special, at the very least as a fan of the Sixers (yes, they still exist) it's so unfortunate that this team continues to dwell and stall in last place.

When watching the Sixers there's a sense of inevitability that some how, some way the team will find a way to lose and when a fanbase feels that way about a franchise, the Wells Fargo Center begins to look the way it looks.

The positives for the 76ers are few and far between, but they are there. For one, the team is on a two games winning streak, which is their first such streak this season and their first two game winning streak since March 26th of last season.

The Sixers (5-13) beat the struggling Portland Trail Blazers last night 88-79 and they did it by playing suffocating defense. They held the Blazers to only 11 points in the fourth quarter and the Sixers went on a 15-4 run that basically iced the game.

Coach Doug Collins played everybody and their momma last night...well almost everybody. Darius Songalia didn't the call, but everyone else who got into the game scored and for the most part the Sixers keep up their energy throughout the second half. Which is something they haven't done many times this season.

Guard Andre Iguodala told CSNPhilly's Dei Lynam that he thinks the Sixers are improving on the court.

“I could just tell by the way we were playing we had that unity there as far as making the extra pass. The little things like making the extra pass, our rotations, guys saying I got to get there, just small things that I could see with the guys. The big things we do well. We go after rebounds, we try to box out, we try to play hard every night and when you play hard you give yourself a chance.”

It's nice to see consistent effort out of the Sixers becauseI feel that's the one thing we've seen out of the team this year, is an effort to win even though the energy level sometimes doesn't match.

Though, the toughest situation the Sixers are dealing with right now is the poor play of Evan Turner. The number two pick in this year's draft has not lived up to anyone's expectations and going back to summer basketball has looked unready to play at the level expected of him. 

Last night, he went 0-4 in 19 minutes of action and had one point with two rebounds, two steals and three assists and in his last four games has totaled only seven points on 2-14 shooting. Turner looks way too passive on the offensive end, he clearly a smart player and doesn't make big mistakes on the floor, he has a turnover differential of +2, he knows how to make plays but just hasn't made them consistently.

Well the Sixers are and will continue to be a work in process and hopefully we can see significant progress this season so we can start to feel a little better about basketball in Philadelphia. 

It Just Got 'Funner'

Roy Halladay. That name is now a synonym for spectacular, Roy Halladay last night had a 'Roy Halladay' performance. I think that works.

It's all been said in the past 24 hours about, Game 1 being his first playoff start, how he has been one of the best pitchers in the NL and will be a shoo-in for NL Cy Young, the first 20 game winner for the Phillies since the 80's and of course the perfect game he threw against the Marlins, but Roy had to find a way to top all that and he did.

Not very often is the result of a playoff game overshadowed by a singular performance, but Halladay made it so that all the talk this morning wasn't about the Phillies picking up an important Game 1 victory over a scrappy Cincinnati Reds team, but about a man who threw the 2nd no-hitter in postseason, I can see why that would get a little more press.

"It's surreal, it really is," Halladay said. "I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it's a dream come true."

Halladay is only the fifth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same season and obviously is the first to have one during the regular season and one in the playoffs. 

Believe it or not, there was criticism of Halladay's no-hitter, from the esteemed Rob Parker of ESPN First Take who rated Halladay's achievement a 5 on a scale of 1-10 and his reason was how weak the Reds lineup was. Well, in the regular season the Reds led the NL in average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790). As a team you can say they won the triple crown, but it wasn't impressive enough for Mr. Parker.

It just shows that people are still resistant to what the Phillies are doing here in 2010 and yet it's so impressive that the Phillies continue to flex their October muscles.

The Reds can swipe their brow now and look ahead to Game 2 because it couldn't get any worse right? We'll see what Roy Oswalt has to say about that.

Wednesday Lineup

Phillies Start Playoff Run

Quick note: I apologize for the lack of posts over the past week, sickness mixed with stress isn't a good combination. But this time of the year is too exciting to not post on this fine blog. There will be daily updates throughout the playoff run for the Phils and the season for the Birds, not to mention continued WVU football and basketball coverage and now that basketball and hockey seasons are getting underway there will be posts on those sports as well. It's time to get ill again.

This never gets old, the Phillies are once again in the playoffs and are the decided favorites this playoff season because of the hot streak they went on in September and the three aces they possess.

Today marks Roy Halladay's first playoff start against the Cincinnati Reds and he's aiming to show just how good he can be in postseason even though he's never made an appearance.

"It's definitely something I've thought about a lot, but you know, I think since we've got ourselves in the playoffs, it's been more of a preparation mode more than anything, and that's great for me," Halladay said.

It's a 5pm start time for Game 1 of the National League Division Series and Jimmy Rollins is saying that he'll be able to go today. There's not much that compares to Citizens Bank Park in October and it'll be rocking again today as the Phillies look to go to their third consecutive World Series, which I think would turn the tide from the town being pro-Eagles to being pro-Phillies.

It's amazing just how much of a football town this is that even after one championship and two World Series appearances and four straight division titles, football is still king. I have a feeling that no one can deny the Phillies the top spot if they can pull off another postseason run.

Photo Courtesy: Associated Press

Andy Reid has Outdone Himself this Time

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the catastrophe that became Andy Reid's Tuesday press conference announcing Michael Vick as the new starter of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Andy Reid has put himself into bad situations before decision wise but I'm not sure anything tops what he did to Kevin Kolb this week. He single handedly did more damage to Kolb's confidence than any Philadelphia fan could have ever dreamed of doing.

Kolb has been the good soldier through all of this and that has been commendable since he has ample reason to be pissed off at the lack of confidence his coach has in him after putting the franchise on his shoulders just a few months ago and now all of it has been taken away after one half of football.

The most amazing thing about what Andy Reid did is how quickly he flip-flopped on the issue, the fact that he no sold Vick's second half against the Packers and first full game against the Lions with a stout, "Kolb is our starter", to all of a sudden, "[Vick] sitting there as possibly the hottest quarterback in the National Football League at this time and deserves an opportunity to play." It's a little bit jarring and doesn't sync up.

I understand the pressure on Reid to make a move after Vick excelled over six-plus quarters this season, throwing for 459 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 140 yards. But the end result should have been about Kolb returning to his position as starter.

And now Vick has truly been given a second chance in this league to prove that he can be a winner because what he did in Atlanta was more gimmick than substance and with the way Vick has played this season, one would have to think that he has updated his game quite a bit and become a better passer and a smarter quarterback, something that was challenged when he was the leader of the Falcons in his heyday.

I must give Vick some applause for the way he has handled being thrust into the starter's role, as a man who's been known to say some controversal things, he's avoided saying anything harmful to the team during this ordeal and actually has come out of this more likable because of the support he's given to Kolb.

And now I want to deliever to you the most groan inducing line from Andy's press conference on Tuesday:

"I will tell you, I think it's a great thing how he's playing. I think we all sat there on Sunday and went ‘wow, this guy is back, and maybe even a little bit better,' and that's a beautiful deal. I think that's a beautiful deal."

Beautiful probably isn't the word, shocking is a much better fit and now the Eagles are getting offers from other teams for Kolb and Reid won't even confirm Kolb's presence on the team beyond the October 19th trade deadline.

What a fall for Kevin Kolb, just in time for Michael Vick to 'rise like a phoenix.'

Photos Courtesy Philly.com

How Sweep it Is

The Phillies (92-61) completed a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves last night which placed Philadelphia six games in front of Atlanta, their biggest lead in the division this season and it was the Phils first home sweep of the Braves since 2001.

Last night we saw another impressive performance from Roy Oswalt who did what he has done in his entire stint as a Phil and that's dominate and put the team in a great position to win. The Phillies are 10-1 when Oswalt is on the mound for the team.

This Atlanta series was big for a multitude of reasons,

1) It proves definitely who the best team in the NL East was as the Braves are now six games back with nine to play and are all but out of the divisional race.

2) The bullpen has been better as of late and it shined in this series as all three games showed that the Phillies now have a reliable back end with Madson once again impressing with his electric stuff and Brad Lidge has converted nine saves in a row and has only given up four hits in those save opportunities.

Lidge, as cliche as it sounds, has looked like the '08 version of Lidge and that's huge for the Phillies who last year has to go into the postseason with a half baked closer.

3)  We got a chance to see just how good the three aces look in succession, the three pitched 22 innings in this series and only gave up four earned runs and picked up for wins in the process. There was something gratifying to see that in every game in that series, if you are a Phillies fan, you had to be confident with who was on the mound and the result matched teh expectation and that doesn't happen often in baseball.

The trio of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt is undefeated in September which is stunning and the team is 18-3 in September, where's the drama?

In all honesty, this has been the most remarkable run from a Phillies team that I've ever seen and this team is already being proclaimed as manager Charlie Manuel's best team and it just might be as in previous years, this team was never considered the best team in baseball going into the postseason and now they very will could be.

In the next couple of weeks, the conversation will change from how good we are to how quickly and easily will we win the World Series. For once, the Phillies will be considered a definite favorite and it will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes for a team that has always been considered good to now being a team that considered the best, and as a fan of the team I'll take it.

Photo Courtesy the Associated Press

Phillies Send the Big 3 to the Mound

It's been a wonderful last couple weeks for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team has a three game lead in the division. The Phillies have gone 19-4 since being swept by the Houston Astros last month and the offense and pitching staff look the best they've been this season.

The talk has been nothing but positive around the Phillies which is strange for a team that sat seven games back a couple of months ago and looked dead in the water suffering from a multitude of injuries, but what a difference healthy players and a trade deadline deal can make.

Tonight, the Phillies begin a series against the Atlanta Braves as the regular season gets closer to its climax.

Sitting at 89-61 on the season, the Phils have streaked going 41-15 since July 21st and sit in a position of power with their three best pitchers going to the mound in this critical three game series. The Phillies are 28 games over .500 for the first time since 1993.

And right now I'm going to take a look at the Big 3 in order of how they're pitching in this series and what makes them so exciting and why the Phillies are so confident right now.

Cole Hamels (11-10, 3.01 ERA)

Hamels has been lights out in his last four starts, all games that he has won as he looks for a career-high fifth consecutive win tonight which is huge for the left hander after the struggles he endured earlier this season because of his offense not scoring for him.

Cole is finally being rewarded for the hard work he's put in on the mound and now he's really close to putting together a season with a sub 2.00 ERA which would be another accomplishment for the 26-year-old.

The 2008 World Series MVP had a 25 inning scoreless streak going into his last start against the Marlins and in the second half of the season has held his opponents to a sub .200 batting average.

He has allowed just one run in his last 31 1/3 innings, and is 5-3 with a 1.79 ERA in his last 13 starts.

Hamels had a season high 13 strikeouts in the win against the Marlins and has 201 strikeouts on the season which is a career high with 12 games left to play. The most Hamels had before this season was 196 in 2008.

Cole is in the Top 5 in the National League in strikeouts and falls inside the top 15 in innings pitched and ERA.

He's gone at least six innings in eight of his last nine starts and has giving up more than three earned runs only twice in those nine starts.

And Cole has been dominant in September so far with a 3-0 with an ERA of 0.44 and two of those games were in Philadelphia where he has an ERA under 3.00 on the season.

Roy Halladay (19-10, 2.49 ERA)

Halladay has been everything the Phillies hoped he would be when the team traded for him in the offseason and has consistently been amongst the best pitchers in baseball again in a new league.

His 19 wins are the most any Phillies pitcher has had since Curt Schilling and he might just be the first 20 game winner since Steve Carlton in 1982.

Roy has struggled in his last couple of starts however, he has an ERA of 4.41 in his last five starts, but is picking up an extra day of rest before his start before which could help make a big difference as he's approaching a career high in innings pitched.

The funny thing about Roy Halladay in his last three starts is that even though he has an ERA near 5.00, he's also 3-0 in those games which is helping to make up for the games he lost earlier in the season when the team was averaging two runs per Halladay start.

It's amazing when you look at how reliable Halladay has been when it comes to going deep in games, he's been a work horse as indicated by his inning pitched numbers, he's pitched into the sixth inning or later in his last 21 starts, yes I said his last 21 starts.

And even though Halladay has struggled, he's still been better than most, he's only given up more than three earned runs three times in his last eleven starts.

Roy Oswalt (7-1 as a Phillie, 1.94 ERA)

Here's the newcomer to the mix and he's helped to balance out the top of the rotation in such a way that many people are viewing the Phillies as the favorite, which wasn't happening to much earlier in the season.

Oswalt has pitched into the sixth inning in all of his starts as a Phillie and has only given up more than three earned runs twice in his stint as a Phil.

So far in the month of September, Oswalt is as hot as the team with a 4-0 record and a ERA of 1.59. And since Oswalt joined the team on July 30, the big three is a combined 18-5 with a 2.39 ERA

Oswalt has matched and surpassed his win total of six that he had with the Astros in his two month run with the Phillies.

You take those three guys and add a newly energized offense and you may have yourself another World Series appearance from the Philadelphia Phillies.

West Virginia is ready to make an Impact

On Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium, the #21 West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Maryland Terrapins in impressive fashion 31-17.

The offense was clicking on all cylinders and the team looked the best it has in a long time. In fact the only negative about yesterday's game was the 14 points the defense gave up in the third quarter, but even after those points there was never any real doubt the Mountaineers wouldn't come out with the game.

The Mountaineers scored 14 points and went up 28-0 after a Geno Smith touchdown pass to Stedman Bailey in the third quarter.

Speaking of Geno Smith, who has been the man of the season so far proving to many fans that so far he is the real deal and he has stepped up to every challenge and has been the lightning rod behind this offense being so effective.

Smith started out the game perfect, in the first quarter he went 7-7 with 122 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. At the half, Smith was 14-18 with 226 yards and three touchdowns...now that's amazing.

He spoke earlier this week about having extreme confidence in himself, but you could count on possibly two hands the number of people who had faith in what Geno would do for this team and now three games into the season he already has 800 yards passing while leading the Big East in total offense (271 ypg.), passing yards per game (266.7) and passing efficiency (157.7).

The name being thrown around in comparison is Marc Bulger who played for the blue and gold back in the late 90's, so it's been a while since these Country Roads have seen a passing game so prolific.

Plus, the Mountaineers are now carrying the flag for the Big East while the rest of the conference crumbles around them. They are 2-0 against FBS teams while the rest of the league is 2-9 and the Big East suffered a couple more bad losses this week with Cincinnati and Connecticut both losing on the road handily and put them at 1-2 on the year.

It's interesting to note that many people haven't even noticed what Noel Devine is doing so far this year as he ran for a season high 131 yards yesterday and is now averaging 118 yards a game.

And now the Mountaineers will arguably face their toughest challenge this season when they travel to LSU to play Tigers and it will be interesting to see how the best in the Big East fares on the road in SEC country.

Photo Courtesy The Associated Press

West Virginia vs. Maryland Video Preview

WVU Avoids a Crippling Loss to Marshall

For three quarters last night, the West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0) were coming up lame and were looking bound to be yet another Big East team to be upset on the road and in this case, to a less than quality foe.

WVU trailed 14-3 at halftime and 14-6 after three quarters and 21-6 with under six minutes to play, but still found a way to pull out a 24-21 OT victory over Marshall (0-2).

The Friends of Coal Bowl almost became what everyone in Morgantown always calls it, a trap game, a game that always seem to cost the Mountaineers a lot but gain them nothing. Last night was one of those nights, except in one sense. WVU gained a career defining drive from sophomore QB Geno Smith. 

The final drive of regulation was more than just spectacular, it was epic, it was stuff of legend and it came in a hostile environment in a "rivalry" game against an in-state opponent that has been starved for just one victory against their big brother football school and Smith prevented that with a final drive for the ages.

With the ball at the 2 yard line and down eight points with 3:09 to play, the Mountaineers went to work on a 98 yard drive.

On that final drive Smith went 9-12 for 75 yards and the touchdown that led to the eventual game-tying score on the two point conversion. A conversion which had Smith completing another pass to the back of the end zone to Jock Sanders to tie the game at 21.

On the first drive of overtime, the Mountaineers drove to the Marshall 2 yard line before calling on Tyler Bitancurt to easily slice through a 20 yard FG to take a 24-21 lead. 

Marshall tried to counter on their drive, but failed to gain a single first down and the Thundering Herd had to settle on a 39 yard attempt by Tyler Warner that just fell shy of the goal posts.

With that missed kick, Marshall lost their tenth conecutive game to a ranked opponent, a streak that began in 2004. And with the win the West Virginia Mountaineers improve to 10-0 all-time against the Herd.

This contest was the closest game this series has seen since these two teams renewed their rivalry in 2006.

And one has to think that Smith put forth a season defining performance last night, his numbers reflected such a performance. He was 32-45 with 316 yards passing and that touchdown on the final drive. Smith went 17 of 22 for 168 yards in the fourth quarter and in overtime.

Even though the Mountaineers offense chugged all night, Smith never committed the big error that could've cost them the game. He instead played with the poise of a veteran and at many points last night made throws that were down right impressive and even stood his ground in the pocket when facing pressure to complete some tough passes.

Noel Devine followed up on his 111 yard peformance last week with a 112 yard effort last night, he's on pace for another 1,000 yard season and maybe a potential trip to New York City at the end of the season.

The great thing about last night's game is that the Mountaineers pulled it out, but the negative is that this game was much closer than it ever should have been, was it a fluke, was it a sign of nerves, or was it the high energy and emotion from Marshall that almost made the difference? 

It may have been a little of all three and the question now is whether this team is still a worthy Big East title contender, but I guess after the first week of Big East action and what occurred last night, you could easily ask that question about all the Big East title contenders.

Photo Courtesy All-Pro Photography

ill Take: 5 NFL Questions Everyone is Pondering

With the season starting tonight, here are a few things I'm pondering about the season. Consider this thinking aloud.  

5) Are the Saints a one-trick pony?

The feel good story of last season will not rediscover mediocrity, the Saints are here to stay (unlike Reggie Bush's Heisman) as long as they have the ultra reliable and consistent Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees who knows what awaits the champs. Every team on the Saints' schedule is ready to throw their best at them and even though the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers are improved from last year, this years Saints' will have much of the same success they did last year. And the Saints will get a chance tonight to prove to the Vikings that they are who they thought they were, lame but it fits.

4) Are the Jets overrated?

The New York Jets aren't doing themselves any favors by being featured on Hard Knocks and calling themselves a 'dream team' and the Miami Heat of football and after making a huge off season splash, everyone is now wondering who's the best team in New York now? CB Darrelle Revis is back with the team and is finally ready to play and from what we've seen in the preseason, we won't have to wonder how entertaining this team will be. Mark Sanchez's performance last season left much to be desired, but will he be able to follow up on his better postseason play? The Jets are a tough team to crack and I feel like we'll know a lot more after their first three games, but I have a suspicion that the Jets will closely challenge the Patriots for the AFC East division crown and speaking of New England...

3) Are the Patriots done?

The New England Patriots have enjoyed a phenonenal decade run of success and dominance which has included three super bowl rings among countless division titles and 10+ win seasons. For the first time in a long time, doubt clouds Foxborough and the team lead by QB Tom Brady. There are some chinks in the armor of the usually well oiled Patriot attack including the now discontent Randy Moss and let's not forget about the rumors this off season about who's in charge. One has to ponder is it over for the evil genius? The Patriots are never out of it as long as the have Tom Brady and this year will be no different.

2) Are the Vikings a crappy team masquerading as a good one?

This question is built largely around the performance of Brett Favre, as is the hopes of the Viking franchise this season. Usually there's nothing wrong with hanging your hopes on a QB, but with this team it just seems like they're one bad play away from falling apart. Favre looks like a guy that doesn't want to play and it's doubtful he's going to be as good as he was last season so based on that alone they aren't as good as they were last year and with a slightly less glamorous Adrian Peterson, this team looks very undefined and I'm passing on them.

1) Is T.Ochocinco a Super Bowl winning combination?

People are very excited about the idea of Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco sharing the field in regular season games and lighting up the scoreboard and leaving the league's anti-celebration rules in their wake. But does adding T.O make the Bengals a Super Bowl contender, probably not. Very rarely does the acquisition of a WR make a tangible enough difference to be the x-factor between winning games and losing them. Might T.O. win them a couple games, maybe, but it'll be up to Carson Palmer to return to his 2006 form. But it's a lot of added pressure for him to take advantage to this two-pronged attack and if he fails he could also fall victim to the T.O venom of not getting it done. I think the Bengals will be better, just not Super Bowl better.

Photos Courtesy Getty Images and the Associated Press

Ryan Howard: Man of Power

Ryan Howard has been blowing up baseballs in a Phillies uniform since 2004 and last night he reached another milestone, he hit his 250th home run in his 855th career game. I'm not sure if you've been watching Sportscenter today, but that makes him the fastest to ever reach that mark.

Howard, since coming up to the big club has proved that being mainly a home run hitter isn't a bad thing, especially when you hit them at the right time. It's something that he's been doing his entire Phillies career and once again Ryan is on pace to light up another September.

In last night's game, Howard went three for five with six RBI and his 28th home run of the season in a 10-6 victory over the Marlins and since the turn of September he's been his usual self again.

Howard is hitting .324 with three doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs in nine games in September, after struggling mightily when he came off the DL last month.

In ten games since he returned to the lineup, Howard had only one home run and was batting .125 in 42 plate appearances. 

Howard told Phillies.com that even though the calendar has hit September, he doesn't feel any differently.

"It feels good to be able to go out and contribute," Howard said. "That's all I'm trying to do. September? I guess it just happens to be September. You know you're coming down the stretch and you know that every game counts, so I'm just trying to do my part."

Well it just so happens that Howard seems to dominate the month of September and after last night's home run according to ESPN.com, Howard now has 54 September home runs since 2005 which is the most in baseball.

Howard has come up huge since 2004 in the month of Spetember, he's hitting .314 with 141 RBI and his OPS is well over 1.000.

Howard already has four home runs in September after having six the entire month last season. He hit 11 in Sept and Oct. in 2008 and 11 in 2007 as well.

But Howard is more than just a September monster, he's a beast period. Coming into this season, he had 33 more home runs than any other player since 2006 and 81 more RBI, and 2006 was the year he just so happened to win the Home Run Derby.

Howard in his career is averaging 47 home runs and 139 RBI per season which puts him all by himself in terms of players that can compare to him currently.

Of active players, only a couple have numbers that are close to what Howard is averaging and that's Prince Fielder (38 HR and 105 RBI), Justin Morneau (31 HR and 116 RBI) and Albert Pujols (42 HR and 128 RBI)

The numbers are really eye popping when you look at his career numbers and see that since he officially broke into the lineup in 2005, he's had no fewer than 22 HRs in a season and that was in 2005 when he really only played in the second half after being called up, and then he went on to win rookie of the year.

In 2006, Howard won his first MVP award and in the three years following his accomplishment, he has placed in the top five in voting all three years. 

When you consider his numbers since he's been the regular first baseman for the Phillies in four seasons from 2006-2009 he's averaging 49 HRs and 143 RBI a season, now that's power.

So because of the time Howard missed this season, he's on pace for career low totals since his first real year in 2005 and considering he has 28 HRs and 95 RBI, he'll still be getting over the 30+ HR mark and will definitely break 100+ RBI. So a down year for Ryan Howard equals outstanding years for almost any other player in baseball, and he's only 30 years old which in baseball time means he still has a lot left to do, I mean look at Jim Thome.

Photos Courtesy the Associated Press

Phils Back On Top

The Phillies (80-60) are back in first place in the National League East for the first time since the end of May, and for many Phillies fans a return to the top spot was a inevitablility, but for the team it was a grind that isn't over yet.

Last night, the Phillies defeated the Florida Marlins 8-7 in a high scoring affair where the Phils banged out 13 hits.

Philadelphia has won seven out of nine and are threatening to take their fourth consecutive division as they now sit twenty games over .500 for the second time this season as this team has taken everybody's best shot and has kept rolling.

This team is a resilient bunch as they haven't let any of the gaggle of issues they've faced over the course of the intensly long baseball season drag them down and they have never been further than seven games back in the division and still played like a contender.

Even though the team looked shaky at the All-Star break, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. made a move that will make this team scary come the postseason. Even though the team stopped hitting for almost a month plus, they still played and gritted through, even though this team has suffered through a laundry list of injuries, tehy still competeted and look where they are now, back in first place by a half game.

The difference, as everyone has noted between previous years and this year, is the starting rotation. The top of this rotation since the addition of Oswalt has been as lights out record wise and stuff wise as you can get.

Even though Cole Hamels has been getting the short end of the record, he has been masterful on the mound and has played up to and better than his performance in 2008 and it's made this team an even deadlier foe in a playoff series.

Hamels has an ERA of 2.00 in his last 11 starts and has thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings while winning two starts in a row while having a 0.82 ERA in his last three trips to the mound.

Halladay has been a NL CY Young candidate winning 17 games on the season to this point and has an ERA of 2.36 while placing third in the NL in strikeouts and being first in the league in innings pitched, he has been a workhorse this season and has been worth the money.

And then there's our trade deadline acquisition Roy Oswalt, who is 5-1 as a Phillie with an ERA just over three and has pitched into the seventh inning in all of his starts.

Philadelphia has won 10 out of 13 and the Braves are 6-6 in their last 12 games including back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates, ouch babe.

It's strange to be as confident as Philly fans are about the Phillies, but it's because this roster has made us so. They take everyone's hardest punch and continue to get up repeatedly and it's a characteristic that has lead to a gazillion sellouts in a row at Citizens Bank Park and it's why the Phillies are challenging the number one spot in the city of Philadelphia that has been held by the Eagles for so long.

Perception is a funny thing considering a decade ago if one were to mention the Phillies, the response would be apathetic and indifference and now that same Phillies reference is followed by many people exclaiming their love and support for the team. It's great to see how the last decade has changed this franchise for the better, it's fun to sit back and look at how far we've come.

Photo Courtesy of Matt Slocum of the Associated Press

Kevin Kolb or Bust

The story of the offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles was the trade of Donovan McNabb to the rival Washington Redskins and the main storyline for this upcoming season will be the performance of the teams new 26-year-old starter Kevin Kolb.


Kolb has been preparing for this moment since he was drafted by the Eagles in 2007 and he now gets a chance to prove his worth.

It's been an interesting dilemma for the Eagles over the last couple of years with the continued Pro Bowl play of Donovan McNabb vs. the front office wanted to see their QB of the future.

The talk around town is that the Eagles were looking for a reason to dump the QB who has won 92 games as a starter for the Eagles, but last season's dissatisfying conclusion gave ownership all the ammunition they needed to make a change.

What makes this situation different is the dynamic of having two Kolb vs. McNabb showcases where all eyes will be intently focused on the response and performance of both men under what should most likely be prime-time circumstances.

Fans have been waiting for a real opportunity to judge Kevin Kolb and so far the preseason hasn't lived up any of the hype Eagles fans have lofted onto the fourth year starter from the University of Houston.

In this preseason, Kolb completed only 53% of his passes and threw no touchdowns with one interception. He threw for 324 yards in the preseason on 53 attempts as Eagles faithful yawn.

Kolb hasn't impressed in the preseason, but neither has his NFC East peers. Cowboys QB Tony Romo in four games this preseason has only completed 56% of his passes and has only thrown for one touchdown vs. two interceptions.

New York Giants Eli Manning has a 57% completion percentage with only one touchdown in three games after missing the second preseason game after taking a brutal hit from Calvin Pace.

McNabb has had injury concerns in the preseason as well as he has only played in two of the team's four games and has a 47% completion in those two games with one touchdown, so Kolb is holding form in the division as there has been enough questionable play to go around.

All the hype Kolb is receiving is receiving is built on the back of his two performances against the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs last season.

Games where Kolb averaged 359 yards and two touchdowns. He accumulated pretty good numbers on the way to becoming the first QB to throw for more than 300 yards in his first two starts. Kolb finished the 2009 season with 62 completions and 741 yards passing with 4 TDs and 3 INTs.

People are expected Kolb to shine as an Eagles because of his accuracy, he was a 61.7% passer in college and had a 67% completion percentage his last year in his college and right along those line, Kolb was a 62% passer last season.

Thanks to his above average accuracy, he's being compared to Aaron Rodgers on many levels and experts are saying that Kevin possesses many of the same skills as Rodgers not to mention how he's taking the place of an eventual Hall of Famer. And now fans are expecting the same results.

Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press

Phillies Scorching through September

The Phillies (78-58) picked up another win last night over the massively underachieving Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 as Philadelphia now sits 20 games over .500 for the first time this season and the man who achieved the win last night is the man who should be sitting atop the NL Cy Young candidates, Roy Halladay.

Halladay picked up his NL leading 17th win of the season, although he is tied with two others for the mark.

Now armed with a true ace, the caliber of Halladay and two other front line pitchers like Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt and four off days in September many see the Phillies going on another September which they have so far, winning the four games they've played this month.

Philadelphia has .628 winning percentage in the month of September since 2007 and have been a really good second half team since 2004. And if you look at their September records since '04, they've won 15 or more games is each passing September.

Their best mark in the month since '04 was in that year when they went 19-8. Their combined September record since '04 is 107-52.

After this series against the Brewers, the Phillies will only be playing divisional games the rest of the season and unless the Mets return from the dead, that means the only games the Phillies have left vs. competition over .500 is the Atlanta Braves, a team they play six times over the last two weeks of the season.

The NL East is almost a close as it gets right now with the Phils trailing the Braves by a game, but they lead the Wild Card race by three games.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has discussed the possibility of adjusting his starting rotation so that his three aces will pitch in the first series in Philadelphia, which would provide a huge spark for the Phils.

And you could argue that the top three of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt would trump a top three of Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson and Derek Lowe.

Now that it's September, time is starting to dwindle and every game possesses its own importance and those six games against the Braves will determine the season for both teams and I'm sure many baseball fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Photo Courtesy Jim McIsaac Getty Images 

Mountaineers Finish off Coastal Carolina

Another September means another season of Mountaineers football and this season has been more anticipated than most because of the hype regarding how good this team can be. Players are talking Big East Championship and BCS bowls, well before all that was a contest against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

The Mountaineers (1-0) picked up a solid opening game victory over Coastal Carolina, 31-0. New WVU QB Geno Smith was ready to take the field today after a summer full of predictions and talk, Smith was ready to finally take his first snap.

Smith started strong in the first quarter going five for six with 35 yards and a touchdown, but that was the only touchdown the Mountaineers put on the board in the first half.

West Virginia looked sharp on its first drive of the season, with Smith peppering passes right on target as he went five for five on his first drive including that TD to J.D Woods, the sophomore from Naples, Fla.

It was Woods' first catch of the game and the first catch of his career and it was a touchdown which was a treat for the receiver as he spoke about the moment after the game.

"I [had] to go to my right spot and I hoped to get the ball and when I saw Geno release it, it was all cheers and all smiles, " Smith said.

The drive took 18 plays and ran eight minutes off the clock and got WVU fans on their feet.

After that score, the Chanticleers picked up their play defensively and forced two consecutive three and outs.

On the third drive, the Mountaineers were able to drive the ball to the Coastal Carolina's four yard line and that's where the drive stalled. Three straight run plays to Noel Devine went nowhere and Tyler Bitancurt came on to kick a chip shot of a field goal from 21 yards out to give the Mountaineers a 10-0 lead.

The Mountaineers had another chance to score a touchdown in the first half when Tavon Austin caught a pass at Coastal Carolina's 15 yard line and as he raced towards the right corner of the end zone, Austin lost control of the football and it bounced through the end zone to force a touch back.

The next drive by Coastal Carolina resulted in a punt and what happened next could have been a game changer for the Chanticleers.

Dominique Davenport picked off the Geno Smith pass and took the ball all the way down to the West Virginia 21 yard line, but Coastal Carolina gave it right back when Brandon Hogan intercepted the next pass thrown by Coastal Carolina QB Zach MacDowall.

Smith talked about responding to throwing his first interception of the season following the game.

"You try to stay away from mistakes and I think the harder you try to not make mistakes, you then make a mistake," said Smith. You just got to get over it."

Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett had high praise for WVU following the game.

"We told our guys coming into this football game that this will be the best team we face all year," said Bennett. "We won't face anybody this good all year."

After a fumble on the opening kickoff by Coastal Carolina, the Mountaineers capitalized on the crucial error by scoring a touchdown on drive that took only three plays. Jock Sanders caught his first TD pass of the season and it was Smith's second on the day and that really took the air out of the Chanticleers sails. 

The Mountaineers were effective all day long, especially on third down going 9-17 and they also cut down on penalties only picking up three on the day. 

With the 31-0 shutout it's the first time the West Virginia defense has pitched a shutout since 2005 when they blanked Cincinnati and it's the first time they've done it in a opener since 1996 when they silenced the Pittsburgh Panthers 34-0.

Brandon Hogan talked about how the defense felt about getting a shutout to begin the season.

"It lets us know we're capable of doing a lot and can shut people out", Hogan said.

Noel Devine started off the season on the right foot as he had an 100 yard day on the ground. Devine had 111 yards on 23 carries, averaging 4.5 yards per carry with a touchdown.   

West Virginia won its seventh straight season opener and are now looking forward to in-state rival Marshall next on the schedule in the Friends of Coal Bowl next Friday night. 

Photos Courtesy All Pro Photography Dale Sparks

Saturday Lineup

Hamels Wins 1-0 Game

The Phillies (77-58) defeated the Milwaukee Brewers last night, 1-0 and pulled to within one game of the NL East leading Atlanta Braves and extended their lead in the wild card standings to three games.

Philadelphia has won four games in a row and after it looked like the offense had returned with a bang the previous day in a 12-11 win over the Rockies, Hamels got none of the same pop from the bats as the lineup squeaked out one only run for Cole to work with, but once again he has been masterful when put in such situations this year.

Hamels got win ninth win on the season and since April, he has been down right dominant on the mound with an ERA of 2.89, but he has a 6-8 record. In three out of Cole's last six starts he has pitched in 1-0 games and he has only won one of those games.

In August, Hamels complied an ERA of 2.79 and had a record of 1-3 over that span, the offense is averaging just under three runs a game in Cole's starts since the month of April, but none of that matters now as the Phillies are as close to first place as they have been in a month.

Over the last month plus of baseball, the Phillies have made up a lot of ground as they have a record of 29-12 since the date of July 21st, which is the best record in the Major Leagues.

Here's the last impressive stat on Hamels, he has pitched 18 scoreless innings and has allowed just two runs in his last three contests consisting of over 22 innings of work and the good sign for Cole is that he's won two starts in a row for the first time since mid-May.

Halladay will be on the mound tonight for Game 2 of the series against the Brewers and is looking for his 17th win of the season as he will try to make it five straight for the Phils.

Mountaineers Kick Off Season Today

It's a brand new season for the West Virginia Mountaineers and a brand new team taking the field today for the first time under sophomore QB Geno Smith.

Smith is going to try to maintain the success the Mountaineers have had in home openers. The Mountaineers have not lost a home opener since 2003, when they lost to Wisconsin 24-17.

While today is important for the fact that the team get to finally hit players wearing a different jersey, the eyes will be on an offense that underwhelmed last year late in the season after 30+ points in their first five games.

And although the Mountaineers have had success in the win-loss column on opening day, they haven't been as dominant as people would like in their last two season openers.

The Mountaineers struggled to beat Liberty last year by a score of 33-20 as the Football Championship Subdivision squad were able to pull to within four in the second quarter and were within two scores throughout the contest.

Two years ago, the Mountaineers opened the season against another FCS team in the Villanova Wildcats and the 'Cats were able to dominate time of possesion and stay in the game until halftime and were able to rack up some garbage time TD's to make the score a little closer.

Fans were uneasy about those two games and want to leave today confidence in their offense as they prepare to take on Coastal Carolina, a bunch that went 5-6 last season. Coastal Carolina is the second straight Big South team to open a season at West Virginia. 

Head Coach Bill Stewart is definitely ready for the 3:30pm kickoff.

“For the fans, I can’t wait,” Stewart said. “I can only imagine what it is like. When I come out of the tunnel, it is all business. It is fun, but it is business as well. I want to see how tough, explosive and fast the Mountaineers play. I also want to see us bond and fight fair as a family.”  

The fans won't have to wait long for kickoff as it's less than four hours away, and then fans will finally be able to lay their eyes on the newest WVU QB. And don't forget that What's Ill is your place for West Virginia coverage and we'll have video recaps and written summaries after every Mountaineer game.

Photos Courtesy Philly.com and NaplesNews.com

West Virginia 2010 Season Opening Preview

Last season was better known as the first season A.P.W, which stands for 'After Pat White' and this season will be mainly focused on the newest Mountaineer QB Geno Smith.

Smith will make his first career start for WVU on Saturday as the Mountaineers start another college football season with a new signal caller, their third in three seasons. Smith will be expected to step up as the Mountaineers are once again back in the top 25 and are only one of two Big East teams to begin the season ranked in both Top 25 polls.

So expectations are huge for the sophomore quarterback from Miramar, Fla.

But Saturday will not be the first time the highly recruited QB will play significant time for WVU, Smith saw the field in the Mountaineers' last game of the season in the Gator Bowl against Florida State.

Jarrett Brown, last season's starting QB injured his ankle on the second to last possession of the first half and Smith got the call to take over in a bowl game on New Year's Day opposite one of the most storied programs in college football, oh and it was Bobby Bowden's final game as head coach....just a little bit of pressure for the true freshman.

Smith did his best to keep the Mountaineers in the game when he engineered an 80-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown that pulled WVU within two, but that was as close as the old Gold and Blue got as the Seminoles finished the game on a 10-0 run.

The positives from that game is the experience Smith got from playing in a game of that magnitude, he finished the game with modest numbers. He went 8 of 15 with 91 yards on the day in a 33-21 loss.

Smith is ready to be "the guy" this year as he told WVIllustrated.com.

“I’ll probably have mixed emotions – I’ll probably be a little anxious, but I always calm myself down,” said Smith. “When the time comes to play I’ll be ready – and I just want to continue to progress as the season goes along.”

Head coach Bill Stewart wants Smith to take command of the team on Saturday when the first-team offense finally takes the field.

"I want Geno to play fearless and I want him to lead. I want him to get in that huddle and command that respect. That is what all great quarterbacks do – they commanded that presence."

A lot of people are down on this team because of their lack of confidence in Smith. And the funny thing about that criticism is that as a true freshman Smith got a good chance to see the field and performed fairly well.

In five games last year, he had a 65% completion percentage and threw 49 passes with only one interception, which isn't bad for a guy who was thrust into many undesirable positions last year and was expected to perform.

We may not learn much this Saturday since the first opponent is Coastal Carolina, but what we will see is how much being the guy from the beginning will help Smith is his development as quarterback for this team.

Now to Noel Devine, who is looking to leave his mark on this West Virginia football program as one of the best backs to step foot on the turf at Milan Puskar Field.

Devine has 3,381 yards in his career as a Mountaineer, which is the fifth-most in Mountaineer history, all while averaging 6.5 yards on over 520 career carries.

He was second in the conference last season in rushing with 1,465 yards and will need 1,784 to overtake Avon Cobourne as the school's all-time leading rusher and if he does that, you might as well give him the Heisman as well.

It's always exciting when football returns and it's even better when your team has something to be excited about and it looks like Mountaineer fans will have something special on their hands this season after consecutive 9-4 finishes.

Photos courtesy WVIllustrated.com and the Associated Press

Oswalt Silences Dodgers

Roy Oswalt struggled with his control today but was able to will his way into the seventh inning while throwing shutout baseball. Oswalt threw 115 pitches and got his fourth win as a Phillie.

The Phillies (75-58) got the series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers today by a score of 5-1. Philadelphia was fueled by a couple of lead-off home runs by Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino.

Philadelphia has now won their last two series on the road and are above .500 away from Citizens Bank Park with a record of 33-32.

Roy Oswalt is 4-1 as a Phillie and his ERA on the season now hovers just over three at 3.01. On the afternoon, he went 6.1 innings and gave up only one hit while walking six and striking out six. Oswalt didn't give up a hit until the sixth inning when Casey Blake lined a clean single to left field.

Oswalt's first September start is a good sign that he might be able to continue his momentum from the month of August. In the month, he went 3-0 with an ERA of 1.53 and in his last five starts including today he's pitched into the seventh inning and has only given up more than two earned runs once, when he gave up three against the San Francisco Giants in August 17th.

Oswalt had shaky command today as his six walks on the day is a season high and is one walk fewer than the seven he had in all of August.

Oswalt retired nine out of the first 11 batters he saw against the Dodgers. 

On the flipside for Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw pitched a great game but was hurt by the two home runs he gave up to Rollins and Victorino in the first and second innings.

Kershaw had Phillies hitters swinging and missing all day long as he piled up 11 strikeouts in six innings of work and only allowed five hits on the afternoon, but picked up his ninth loss of the season.

Philadelphia had 10 hits on the day and it's the first time they've broken the double digit mark in hits since August 24th against the Houston Astros in the 16th inning marathon and the last time they hit that number in a nine inning game was the previous night in the first game of the series against Houston.

Chase Utley had a three hit game and batted in two runs which is a great sign for the Phillies. The last time Utley had a three hit game was on June 24th against the Cleveland Indians.

The Phillies now have to go play a makeup game in Colorado tomorrow afternoon at Coors Field and Joe Blanton will be on the mound for that one and for all the struggles Big Joe throughout most the season, he's seemed to have corrected them in the past month.

Pitching on this team has not been a problem and Blanton has also been a part of the solution as in his career he has usually been a second half guy and it may be proving true again as his numbers in August were exceptional.

Blanton went 2-0 with an ERA of 2.81 in the month of August and in his last three starts he has pitched at least six innings in all of them and has an ERA of 1.86 with 19 strikeouts in those starts.

It will be interesting to see whether Blanton can continue his string of good starts and it now looks like the one thing that has always been a problem in the past for the Phillies is now the strongest component of this team, the pitching. 

Photo Courtesy: FoxSports.com

Phils almost No-Hit against the Dodgers

It has been a rocky last couple of weeks for the Phillies and the team took another dip last night when another quality start by Roy Halladay was wasted in Los Angeles.

The Phillies (73-58) were shutout for the 11th time last night as they were blanked by the Dodgers, 3-0. Los Angeles' starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda took a no hitter into the eighth inning when Shane Victorino lined a clean single to right field with one out in the inning to end the bid for Kuroda. Philadelphia had runners on first and second with one out but they got no closer as Carols Ruiz struck out and Mike Sweeney grounded out to end the inning.

Kuroda picked up his 10th win on the season and went 7.2 scoreless innings only giving up the one hit and struck out seven while only walking two batters.

It wasn't surprising to see Kuroda baffling the Phillies last night because in his career he has done exceptionally well against them, as he has an ERA under 1.00 against Philadelphia and has effectively silenced the Phillies lineup in his four starts, as the team is collectively hitting .084 against the 35-year-old. 

The Phillies are enduring another hitting cold stretch as the team in their last four starts is hitting a combined .137 and has scored more than two runs only twice in their past 13 games.

Ryan Howard has been a big concern since his return from injury as he has not picked up where he left off when the hit the DL. Howard in the month of August has a terrible average of .111 with no home runs and only one RBI. Compare that to the month of July where he hit .285 with eight home runs and 26 RBI.

And to make matters worse, since Chase Utley's return to the lineup he's been ineffective as well. Utley has hit .147 with three RBI in his last nine games and is only hitting .183 with no home runs and four RBI since his return against the San Francisco Giants on August 17th. 

If you are looking for one positive out of this bad recent stretch of play, it's the pitching because if you look at the last 12 games for the Phillies, the team's ERA is those games is 2.62.

Roy Halladay took to the mound last night and struggled early before settling into a nice groove and getting through seven innings while giving up 10 hits which is three shy of his season high against Cincinnati on June 30th.

In those seven innings, Halladay gave up only three earned runs and only walked one while striking out four batters on the night.

Halladay has lost his last two starts after winning his previous six starts and is currently stuck on 16 wins.

Roy finishes the month with a 4-2 mark and a ERA of 2.51 and went seven innings or more in all of his August starts and if we look back further than that, he has gone seven or more innings in 13 out of his 14 starts. The man has been pretty consistent since becoming a Phillie and you've seen my case as to why he should be this year's NL Cy Young and other media outlets are starting to come around as well.

The Phillies fell under the .500 mark last night on the road and now have a record of 31-32 away from home and also fell to three games back in the NL East, but they still have their 1.5 game lead in the NL Wild Card.

Philadelphia will need more good pitching tonight from Kyle Kendrick if they want to maintain their standing in the NL East, because the Braves are on a roll right now as they have won three games in a row and two of them have been in walk-off fashion.

Kendrick on the season is 8-7 with an ERA 4.64 and is 1-2 is his last three with a 4.91 ERA. In his last 24 innings pitched against the Dodgers, Kendrick has an ERA of 8.14 so as you can see Los Angeles hasn't been kind to Kyle over the years, but a good start from Kyle tonight can change his and the team's fortunes for the better as they look towards September.

It's Been One of Those Weeks

The past week at Citizens Bank Park marked what should have been a very winnable stretch for the Philadelphia Phillies who began this ten game homestand last Tuesday against the NL West and Wild Card contending San Francisco Giants.

After that very important series, were challenges against the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. The Phils were able to get two out of three against the Nationals, but have imploded against the Astros and part of that has been umpire fueled. 

Philadelphia has been fortunate enough to not have lost any major ground in both the NL East and Wild Card race because the Giants and Braves are going through mini slumps of their own.

Three straight days. three winnable games, three bad losses for the Phillies can be summed up in a couple words: costly mistakes and bad umpiring.

On Monday, in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Phils were up by a run with a chance to score more after an intentional walk to Carlos Ruiz, Jayson Werth was picked off of second base in a blunder that ended the inning and a opportunity for more runs and don't get me started on Rule 7.08.

Game two of this four game set was bizarre to say the least and after four plus hours of baseball, the Phillies threatened to win the game in the bottom of the 14th when third base umpire Scott Barry apparently had his period.

Barry instigated and mocked and ejected Ryan Howard who held up on two pitches which became a critical strikeout with men at second and third with two outs. I have never seen such a blatantly confrontational stance to that degree from an umpire, and he should be disciplined for such outrageous actions.

And yesterday, the Phils made another error on the base pads, it was very reminiscent of game one in the series when in the bottom of the seventh Ben Francisco stumbled over third base when backtracking of was picked off third with the Phillies down a run and runners at first and third.

The Phillies only got one more hit the rest of the game and lost by a run, wasting another good start by Roy Halladay on the mound.

That's how you get three consecutive losses by four total runs to a team 15 games out of first place.

Another recurring issue the Phillies have had this season is random power outages, this team has sputtered in relation to their offense. The Phillies have scored two or fewer runs in six of their last seven games and they're 2-5 in that stretch.

In the process, the Phillies remain 2 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and are virtually tied with the San Francisco Giants for the NL Wild Card lead.

Philadelphia will have a chance to salvage at least one game in this four game set when Kyle Kendrick goes to the mound today in a 1:05pm start time against Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros.

Kendrick is 8-6 on the season with an ERA of 4.58 and hasn't pitched well in his last three starts going 1-2 with an ERA of 6.32 and has had mixed success all season long. He's currently in the midst of another bad month, look at these numbers:

April W/L Record and ERA- 0-1: 7.61
May W/L Record and ERA- 3-1: 3.13
June W/L Record and ERA- 0-1: 4.60
July W/L Record and ERA- 2-1: 3.34
August W/L Record and ERA- 2-2: 5.40

Hopefully this means that Kendrick is due for a hell of a September.